Three sisters donated the campaign poster to the museum for permanent display.

Three sisters donated thecampaign poster to the museum for permanent display.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- As the race to become the next president heated up, voters would do anything to promote their candidate.
Stumping political conventions on his behalf, hosting large rallies to garner support, even hanging posters with the candidate's likeness and political message were not uncommon.
What is uncommon is that any of those political posters survived, let alone remained in good condition, for 108 years. One used for a presidential run by William McKinley did, and it hangs proudly in the McKinley Birthplace Home and Research Center downtown.
The piece was donated by three sisters -- Carol Kutner, Linda Freedman and Connie Kean, who now live outside of Ohio -- in honor of their parents, Lenora and Simmon Gordon. The couple owned a former opera house in the southern Ohio town of Hillsboro, and the campaign poster hung on a second-story wall for well over 100 years.
Dispersing stored items
The opera house, which the Gordons converted to a general-type store decades ago, is up for sale and the daughters have been cleaning house, looking for good homes for many of the items stored inside, said Patrick Finan, director of the McKinley Memorial Library, which operates the McKinley Birthplace Home.
"They wanted a place that would permanently display the poster, and not keep it locked up," Finan said.
Library officials decided to show off the newest acquisition in the upstairs meeting room of the Birthplace Home, and even had a frame custom built to help preserve the piece for several more decades.
Yet despite its age, the poster shows remarkably little wear and tear.
Description
The lithograph poster, which measures 8 feet by 10 feet, features a portrait of President William McKinley, who was born in Niles. Emblazoned with the words "The Advance Agent of Prosperity," the work also features scenes of farmland, industrial sites and harbors, as well as two men -- a businessman and a factory worker -- facing each other and shaking hands in front of a shield covered with the Stars and Stripes.
Created by the Morgan Lithographic Co., which still operates in Cleveland, the poster consists of eight panels, still attached to the original cardboard tubes they were rolled against.
"It was probably used at a campaign rally for his 1896 bid for the presidency," said Finan.
Finan said McKinley conducted a "front-porch campaign," meaning he didn't actively meet the people and stump for votes. Instead, his supporters would conduct rallies and try to persuade others to vote for him.
Finan said research shows there are possibly only two or three posters like this in existence, but he doubts they are in as good condition.
Apparently, he said, the poster was simply left hanging after the rally was over, and no one ever bothered to take it down for the next 100-plus years. Since it wasn't exposed to light, and because access to the second story of the building was limited, the poster received very little damage, he said.
Marking Presidents Day
The library received the donation last summer, Finan said, but was unable to display the piece until the custom frame was completed. But now, in honor of Presidents Day on Monday, the Birthplace Home will reveal the work during normal business hours, he said.
The Birthplace Home is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and from 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. The center will also be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Finan said. There is no charge for admission.
For information on the Birthplace Home, call (330) 652-1774.
slshaulis@vindy.com