Arms Museum opens treasure trove of Valley's glorious past

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

One aspect of Olive F.A. Arms’ personality that was etched in stone was her intolerance for hurtful words toward others.

“She was well educated and embraced all religions, but she did not like gossip,” Teresa Kinney said about Arms, who had the inscription, “Around these hearthstones, speak no evil word of anyone,” inscribed in stones above the fireplace in the sitting room of the mansion she lived in until her death in 1960 at age 95.

Kinney, a tour guide with the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, shared a variety of facts about one of the Mahoning Valley’s most prominent families during an open house Sunday afternoon at the 113-year-old home, now the Arms Family Museum, 628 Wick Ave., on the North Side.

The four-hour gathering was largely to celebrate MVHS’ 143rd anniversary, which is today, said H. William Lawson, the historical society’s executive director, who noted that Olive Arms bequeathed the home and its contents to the MVHS.

Read the full story Monday in The Vindicator and on Vindy.com.