mabel hartzell Archives - Alliance Historical Society

25 Top Historical Events in Alliance – Mabel Hartzell

2020 | Historic facts

#18. Mabel Hartzell Helps to Shape the Community

Mabel Hartzell, ca. 1932

Mabel Hartzell was not only a founder and benefactor of the Alliance Historical Society, she also helped to shape the Alliance community through a life dedicated to civil service and education. The daughter of Dallas Hartzell and Margaret McArthur Hartzell. Mabel was adopted by Matthew and Mary Earley in 1886, after the death of her mother.

A Life of Education

Mabel received a teaching degree from Mount Union College in 1898, and began her teaching career at Clayshaft School in Bolton, and then Park Avenue elementary school in Alliance. She then moved to Alliance High School, where she taught for 30 years and served as the head of the Social Science Department. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Mount Union in 1905, and a master’s degree from Ohio State University in 1924. During a hiatus from teaching and after her retirement, she served several terms on the Alliance Board of Education. First elected in 1911, she was the first woman to serve on the board, being elected 9 years before women had the general right to vote.

Sorority sisters – Mabel Hartzell, front row with parasol

A Life of Community Service

Mabel Hartzell never married, likely due to her dedication to her career as an educator. She was not only an educator, however. She was incredibly active in the Alliance community:

Member of Alpha Xi Delta Sorority and Alumni
Co-Founder of Alliance Chapter of the American Red Cross and a Director for 33 years
Founder of the Alliance Historical Society
Founder, President, and Treasurer of Mount Union College Women’s Club
Founder and first President of Alliance Woman’s Club
President of Alliance Sorosis Club
President of Alliance Garden Club
President and Woman of the Year of Alliance Quota Club
Member of the Retired Teacher’s Association
President and Board of Directors of the Alliance YWCA
President of Associated Charities
Director and Recording Secretary of Alliance Community Chest
Director of City Savings Bank & Building Company
Life Honorary Member of Stark County Historical Society

Daughters of America Drill Team

Member and State Counselor of Daughters of America
Member and Past Noble Grand of the Rebekah Lodge
Member of Daughters of Scotland
President of Alliance Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU)
President of Alliance Suffrage Association
Volunteer for Salvation Army
Member of Ever Ready Club
Member of First Christian Church and its Women’s Fellowship group, and a teacher of King’s Helpers Sunday School Class

Mabel Hartzell, ca. 1900

Her Legacy Lives On

Mabel Hartzell’s legacy goes beyond her contributions to education and community service outlined above. Her beautiful Victorian house, which she donated to the Alliance Historical Society and is now known as the Mabel Hartzell Historical Home, is a centerpiece of Alliance history. It sits adjacent to Earley’s Hill Park, the land for which was donated to the City of Alliance by Mabel Hartzell in memory of her adoptive father, Matthew Earley. Thank you, Mabel Hartzell, for your service to our community!

New Banner Will Clearly Identify Mabel Hartzell’s Mini-Museum

2019 | Alliance Review, Museum

The Mini–Museum at the Mabel Hartzell Historical Home soon will take on a new look, thanks to the artistic talents of Kathleen Gray Farthing.

On Sunday, July 28, at 2 p.m. two 8×4-foot banners will be unfurled and placed on both the east and west side of the mini-museum which will focus on the local history contained within the Mabel Hartzell annex. The project was funded by a grant from ArtsInStark.

Mini Museum banner

The banners read, “Welcome to Alliance History Mini Museum,” and within the bold letters spelling out ALLIANCE, are pictures illustrating the city’s heritage — Glamorgan Castle, City Cemetery, the railroads, Freedom Square, the Alliance Woman’s Club, City Hall, Alliance industry, and the University of Mount Union.

Farthing, who designed the banners, said she got the idea for the banner when Karen Perone, past president of the Alliance Historical Society, shared with her a vintage Alliance postcard. She and Perone have known each other for years, having both served on the Alliance Chamber of Commerce marketing committee.

“Originally we talked about painting a mural on the mini-museum,” Farthing said, “but other murals on buildings have required a lot of maintenance so we decided on banners.”

“For the past six years we have had a banner for the Carnation Playhouse, which has held up well,” she said, “plus with a banner you can have a lot more detail.”

A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in graphic design, she has had a long career in a variety of art forms and for the last 34 years has operated Farthing Graphic Design & Illustration. (www.farthinggraphicdesign.com)

Kathleen Gray Farthing

She has wide experience in designing logos, brochures, ads, direct mail, posters and newsletters; and her illustrations are in a variety of styles including pen & ink, woodcut, pastel, oils and more.

For the past 18 years she has been involved in the Carnation City Players, both on stage and off. Her most recent on-stage performance was in “Mama Mia,” but for years her work has been behind the scenes designing the CCP programs and newsletters and even helping paint sets.

Although she has kept busy with her graphic design, in recent years she has been shifting toward her other love, “plein air painting,” or painting on location. About six times a year Farthing leaves her studio and travels to locations all over to experience oil painting the sites and landscapes she visits. Some locations are juried and competitive where those accepted will paint for several days, followed by a show.

She is a member of the Ohio Plein Air Society and just last month she participated in a weeklong experience in Nova Scotia. She also has been selected in August as the artist in residence at Hypatia-in-the-Woods in Shelton, Wash., on the Olympic Peninsula.

The banners will bring more attention to the Mini-Museum which originally was opened in 2016 following a major remodeling effort by the Alliance Historical Society. Originally just a garage across the alley from the Mabel Hartzell Home used mostly for storing historic items, it was renovated into a museum annex, complete with new walls and ceiling, bright lighting, new insulation, and air conditioning. As a result, much more of Alliance’s history is properly displayed, with the main focus of providing a secure, climate-controlled home for the only remaining automobile built in Alliance in 1910.

Once the building was remodeled, it allowed the Society to safeguard and display a wider range of Alliance’s history, beyond what was part of the Mabel Hartzell Home.

When Mabel Hartzell willed her 1867 home to the Alliance Historical Society after she died in 1954, the house became a museum of sorts, complete with lots of display cases and a photo gallery, but in the 1980s the display cases were removed and the house was restored to its original Victorian splendor.

The opening of the mini-museum offered a perfect place to showcase other items from the history of Alliance businesses, institutions, and buildings. Items added since the mini-museum opened include a section of the original viaduct bridge and a Hillgreen Lane pipe organ display.

The Mabel Hartzell House will be open to tours during Carnation Festival week, Aug. 4 to 9 from 1 to 4 p.m. each day. Other times during the year, tours may be arranged by calling 330-736-1116.