Mary Ellen Withrow Collection now open at Marion County Historical Society

Mementos from the career of a Marion County icon are now on permanent exhibit.

The Marion County Historical Society unveiled the Mary Ellen Withrow Collection along with two other permanent displays last week. The Woodland Elves Collection and Buckeye Telephone Company Collection were also introduced to the public for the first time.

"Our mission is to collect, preserve, and share Marion County history," said Brandi Wilson, executive director of the Marion County Historical Society. "We're fortunate that we do have people who believe in our mission and they continue to help us do what we do. There's just so much that we're wanting to do and planning to do and we're looking forward to sharing so much more with the community."

Withrow, now age 91, served as the 40th Treasurer of the United States from 1994 to 2001, appointed to the position by President Bill Clinton. The Marion County native served as the 42nd Treasurer of the State of Ohio from 1983 to 1994. Prior to that, she served as Marion County Treasurer from 1977 to 1983.

Withrow began her career in public office in 1969 when she was elected to the Elgin Local School District Board of Education. She was the first woman elected to the school board in the Elgin Local School District.

"It was so great to have the opening and have everybody come and see it," Withrow said after the ribbon-cutting ceremony for her collection, which is located on the lower level of Heritage Hall across from the Warren G. Harding Collection. "It looks great. They did a terrific job on it. It's been a lot of fun. (The ribbon cutting) sort of reminded me of when I did the same thing at the Federal Reserve. I cut the ribbon there when I had my money released a long time ago."

Withrow served as U.S. Treasurer when the $5, $10, $20, $40, and $100 bills were redesigned in the 1990s.

She said she hopes the exhibit will provide both education and inspiration for those who visit it at the Marion County Historical Society.

"I hope they realize the things that were accomplished and the things that happened and how hard it was to get there," Withrow said. "It was a lot of struggle to achieve all those things and it's very important to do that if you have the opportunity."

Former Ohio Gov. and Congressman Ted Strickland, a longtime admirer of Withrow, was a surprise guest at the ribbon-cutting event for the Withrow Collection.

"She is the First Lady of Ohio and someone that is a historical figure, and this proves it," Strickland said. "I'm proud of you, Mary Ellen."

Wilson echoed Strickland's sentiments about Withrow, adding that she is also "the first lady of Marion."

"To have her collection here and showcase somebody rising from a wife, a mother, on up to the U.S. Treasury, just is phenomenal because it shows that you can do anything and that anything's possible," Wilson said. "To be able to showcase that and have that here in Marion is just a blessing."

Woodland Elves exhibit

"The Woodland Elves" book and music series was the brainchild of local residents Shary Williamson, Jay Johnston, and Russ Kendall. Written by Williamson and illustrated by Johnston, the first book in the series was published in 2014 and Kendall created a companion music CD for it. Williamson said the series

Williamson, who now resides in Orlando, Florida, and Johnston attended the ribbon-cutting last week at the historical society.

"We have been blessed and honored and humbled by this," Williamson said in regard to the collection's addition to the historical society's exhibits. "My purpose has always been to pass the joy of life around, which has become our goal together. But especially in these times we are continuing to be purveyors of hope and joy in a world that desperately needs all the hope and joy it can get."

Wilson said having The Woodland Elves Collection in Heritage Hall serves as inspiration to those in the community who are creative and artistic.

"The Woodland Elves is such a unique exhibit in and of itself," Wilson said. "It's a good way to show diversity and that you can spread joy with just the little things you do in life. So to have that collection and to be able to share that with the community is just wonderful. And there's a lot of different avenues we can take with that. It's really special that Shary entrusted us to have her collection."

Buckeye Telephone Museum

The Buckeye Telephone Museum Collection celebrates the contributions to the community made by GTE in Marion and features vintage telephone equipment from The Claire E. Williams Telephone Museum Association. The exhibit includes Marion city directories published by R.L. Polk & Co., various types of rotary-dial telephones, switchboards, and even a telephone booth.

"For the community, GTE had quite a big workforce here for a number of years and was just really important to the community," Wilson said. "To be able to showcase and share those memories and just to show the phones. I get a kick out of the rotary phone and people coming in to see that. To showcase how they've changed over the years from the rotary to these little pocket-sized phones we have now, they're like little computers. It's just been wonderful to have that history to share and to show how it's evolved."

The Woodland Elves and Buckeye Telephone Museum collections are both located on the main floor of Heritage Hall.

For information about the Marion County Historical Society, go to its website www.marionhistory.com. Heritage Hall is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is $6 for adults, $5 for senior citizens, $3 for children age 5 and older. Children under age 5 are admitted at no cost.

Email: ecarter@gannett.com | Twitter: @AndrewACCarter 

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Mary Ellen Withrow Collection open at Marion County Historical Society