Volume Six  Issue Two  February 2021
The History Center on Main Street
83 and 61 North Main Street
Mansfield, PA
The Museum of Us
Director- Joyce M. Tice: President - Deb Talbot Bastian: V.P - Kathy McQuaid
President's Day
Originally celebrated separately as Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's Birthday, the holiday was merged and commemorated as President's Day.

We are taking the opportunity to remember some of our own notables, those who were elected as presidents of their high school class here in Mansfield.

The Class of 2021 will be the 109th graduating class, so we can't highlight all the presidents.
Some Very Presidential Mansfieldians
Mansfield High School's yearbooks, the first of which was published in 1926, are a valuable resource to our studies of our community. Class group pictures were taken from the very first class in 1913. So, although we do not have individual pictures, we are able to extract photos from the group photos in the years before yearbooks. In the 1938 yearbook, all the class group pictures from 1913 through 1925 were included, and for many years, the high school commencement brochures listed all the senior class presidents to date. They are a valuable resource for our research and collection. In this month of Presidents Day, we are highlighting some noteworthy and presidential Mansfieldians who were elected as senior class president.

Gender preferences changed drastically over time for our local senior class presidents. For the first 73 years, only five girls were elected to the office of president - 7%. Female vice-presidents were more common, and class secretaries were predominantly female. From 2011 to 2020, 84% of the senior class presidents were girls compared to 16% boys. We are still investigating this and are curious whether there was ever a time of balance. The same is true of other class offices.
Presidential Firsts
Stephen Beach (1895-1961) was Mansfield High School's first class president. His Class of 1913 graduated three members. They all had to hold office. Stephen served in World War One and he was a Mansfield letter carrier.
Gertrude Jupenlaz (1912-2000) was the first class president to break the gender-based glass ceiling at Mansfield High School in 1929. A straight run of 16 males preceded her in the top spot, although there were many female vice presidents along the way. Gertrude was a cook-caterer and an MSTC librarian.
Presidential Pairs
Clarice Stilwell (1925-2003) Clarice was elected president for the class of 1943. She was also yearbook editor. She graduated from Mansfield State Teachers College in 1947 and became a teacher. In 1974 she earned her library degree. She married Les Evans, who was president of the Class of 1944.
Les Evans (1926-2015) Les was class president of 1944. He enlisted in the army a little before the end of his school year, so his father attended the graduation ceremony to receive his diploma. Les also graduated from M.S.T.C. and taught in the Mansfield schools from Junior High up to the college level. He jokingly referred to his and Clarice's sequential presidencies as a Dynasty.
Edwin W. Trask (1920-2004) President of the Mansfield High School Class of 1938 served in the Army in World War Two. He was a farmer and truck driver and, with his wife Eleanor Cleveland, owned Trask's Trailer Park in Canoe Camp.
Edward M. Trask, son of Ed W. Trask and Eleanor Cleveland, was president of the Class of 1959. He was a teacher and minister and is now retired in Florida.
John Baynes, (1920-2016) president of the class of 1936 went on to M.S.T.C. and also earned his Ph. D. at Boston University in Music Arts. He was a pilot in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He was band director at Mansfield High School and went on to teach at the local college. In 1991, he was the Citizen of the Year in Mansfield.
Richard Baynes, (1924-2013) president of the Class of 1942 followed in his brother's footsteps by also serving as a pilot in World War Two. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters. Following the war, Richard graduated from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute with a degree in civil engineering.
Jack Baynes, (1944-2016) class president in the class of 1962 was the third Baynes to hold that office. He graduated from East Stroudsburg State College and earned a Master's Degree in Athletic Training in Arizona.
He married Connie Trask, also the daughter of a class president. It's like the marriage of Julie Nixon and David Eisenhower, children of presidents. They served two years in the Peace Corps.

For his career in athletic training, Jack was inducted into the Northeastern University Hall of Fame in 1995, the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Athletic Trainers of Massachusetts Hall of Fame in 2005.
Ernie Vosburg (1907-1985) Ernie left the orphanage in Harrison Valley and found his way to Mansfield where he asked the Vosburgs to adopt him. Ever enterprising, he not only became president of his class of 1928, but he was the second longest serving Mayor in Mansfield's history. He and his wife, Fran Brace, operated the Mansfield Restaurant for over twenty years.
President More Than Once
James Stacy Coles (1913-1996)
Stacy Coles was not president of his senior class of 1930 at Mansfield High School, but he was the treasurer.

This son of Mansfield Advertiser Editor, Edwin Coles, and grandson of editor Sheridan Coles graduated from M.S.T.C. in 1934. He also earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University. He was awarded the Presidential Certificate of Merit in 1948 for work he did in World War Two in underwater explosives research.

From 1952 to 1967, he was president of Bowdoin College. He was the nation's youngest college president for a short time before a younger person displaced him in that honor. Coles Tower on the Bowdoin campus is named for him.

He became president of a research foundation for science and technology.
Show Your Face!!!
We are able to present a display such as this because so many families have been willing to share their family photos with us, making them part of the community archives and a permanent part of Mansfield's history. When we select individuals to commemorate, we are more likely to select if we have a photo to go along with the text. If you have photos of our local families, businesses or events, we hope you will share them with us so that your family members can be represented by face in the Museum of Us.
1950s Valentines - Remember the Valentine Box?
Hometown Treasures
Businesses, individuals, and events leave behind items and mementos that remind us of their existence and which record our town's history. We will include items from our collection in each issue of the newsletter.
1913 Pennsylvania Auto License Plate
Green Enamel
Keystone Shield intact.
1915 Pennsylvania Auto License Plate
Blue Enamel
The Keystone Shield has fallen off this one.
Things We Need! Donations Requested
  • Blossburg/North Penn High School Yearbooks
  • Liberty High School Yearbooks
  • Old Phone Books (1920s to 1990s)
  • Local House Photos past or present (High resolution digital, or bring printed originals in, and we will scan them. Identify photos by street and number address)
  • High School Commencement programs
Upcoming Events
We are on hold for events and Art Classes for the present, but we'll be glad to see you if you stop in.

We are open for visitors noon to 3 T, W, Th or by appointment. Masks required.
Update on Our Renovations
Our renovation of the rooms at the back of our museum building is coming along very well.

Construction is coming together. We are painting the walls. We have heat installed. Flooring is next. We are very excited about the progress. It has been a pleasure to work with Matt Neal and his crew.

Having the library and archives in this building will cut in half the costs of operating two buildings, and it will make it more efficient to work. It will be a more unified experience for our volunteers, students, visitors and researchers.

Most of the outside work will have to be delayed for further funding, but we expect to be using this facility this year.

Rebuilding With YOUR Help!!!
Your Town, Your Ancestors, Your History

This is progress. Future home of our library and archives.
Volunteer painters include James Davies, Mary Robinson-Slabey, Steve and Zach McCloskey, and Denny Murray.
This is the before of the picture above.
Amos explores the future home of our archival storage area on the second floor.
For the New Year. Consider a gift membership. Members will receive our 40 page printed journal by mail 4 to 6 times a year with new articles that have never been researched before and outstanding photos to illustrate. Share your love of the Mansfield area with your friends and family.
Why do we ask for donations in every newsletter? Because we have to.
It's the only way we can continue offering our important services to the community.
Your help will make it possible.
Membership- Renew for 2021
Annual memberships are an important part of keeping us operating. Please consider a new or renewed membership.

Members receive four to six issues annually of our printed journal Voices From the Archives.

Membership dollars are an important part of our operating resource. Be sure to renew your membership for 2021 or become a new member. A renewal card will be included in the next journal which will be mailed this month.
Annual Membership Levels
Family $50
Individual $35
Senior (Over 65) $25
Business Level $100
Lifetime $500
MHS Class Memorial $200

Checks to
The History Center
83 N. Main Street
Mansfield PA 16933
or by the PayPal Donate Button
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Thank You to Our Gold Level Sponsors
Law Offices of Larry Mansfield
First Citizens Community Bank
Mansfield Auxiliary Corporation
Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative, Inc.
Lutes Foundation
Matt Neal Construction
Thank You to Our Silver Level Sponsors
Strohecker Vision
Elite Therapy
Mansfield University Foundation
Dandy Mini Marts
UGI, Inc.
The History Center on Main Street
570-250-9829
histcent83@gmail.com
The History Center on Main Street provided no goods or services in exchange for your contribution. Your contribution is deductible to the extent provided by law. The official registration and financial information of The History Center on Main Street, may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling toll free, within Pennsylvania, 1-800-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement