Steel industry historian to lecture

Staff report

LIBERTY

Steel historian Thomas E. Leary will give a presentation at 10 a.m. Saturday in the meeting room at Kravitz Deli, 3135 Belmont Ave., as part of the Share Memories of a Lifetime series, sponsored by the William Holmes McGuffey Historical Society.

Admission is $6 ($5 for society members) at the door. Reservations are suggested; call WHMHS chairman Richard S. Scarsella at 330-726-8277.

The event will include complimentary refreshments, a raffle and music by Dolores DePietro.

Leary was born in Rochester, N.Y., and earned a bachelor’s degree from St. John Fisher College and a doctorate from Brown University in American Civilization.

He has been a curator at Slater Mill Historic Site (Pawtucket, R.I.) and curator and director of research at Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society in New York. Leary also was a partner with Industrial Research Associates, a Buffalo, N.Y., consulting firm.

Currently a professor of history at Youngstown State University, Leary is also on the management team of the Youngstown Historical Center of Industry and Labor. He is a former board member of the Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation and Museum.

His published articles include “From Fire to Rust: Business, Technology and Work at the Lackawanna Steel Plant, 1899-1983.”

Leary’s talk will touch on his experiences in the field of steel heritage preservation, including projects in Pittsburgh and Johnstown, Pa., as well as in Youngstown.

He will also discuss how deindustrialized communities remember and preserve their heritage.

The society conducts programs, open to the public, in an effort to keep alive the legacy of McGuffey, who published the nationally known “McGuffey Eclectic Readers” in 1836.

Still in print today, they stress the importance of citizenship, conservation, character, values and literacy. They are considered America’s first textbook series.

The McGuffey homestead, located on McGuffey Road, Coitsville Township, includes 78 acres and is a National Historic Landmark.

Donated by the society to Mill Creek Metroparks in 1998, it is now known as the McGuffey Wildlife Preserve. A bridge, highway and school are also named for McGuffey, due to society efforts.