Meet Massillon historian Margy Vogt

Margy Vogt is the owner of Margy Vogt Visions and the Massillon Museum public relations coordinator. Plus, she writes the Massillon West Stark Chamber of Commerce newsletter.

She has been married to Joel Vogt for more than five decades; she said the two cherish time they spend with their son Steve and his wife Amy.

Vogt graduated from Massillon Washington High School and earned an associate degree with an emphasis in public relations from Kent State University.

“My dad, Bob McFadden, exuded PR skills, though his only training was a Dale Carnegie course,” she said. “He loved Massillon, his adopted community, operated a small business, and dabbled in local politics. As I worked at his laundry beginning in junior high, he mentored me constantly on dealing with the public. I enjoy writing and studied photography and design at Kent State. Public relations has always been part of my adult life.”

Her mother, Isabel McFadden, was an artist and a MassMu volunteer. She had Vogt volunteering there as a teenager.

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“I started working at the Massillon Museum in the early 1970s. My initial interest — influenced by my mother — was in the art side of the museum’s mission, but I was soon captivated by the things I learned about Massillon’s colorful past. I was hired to work in the collections, but my responsibilities soon morphed more into public relations and design,” she said.

In 1999, she resigned from the museum staff but a new director asked her to return as a contractor in 2002.

"The best of all worlds," Vogt said. "I work from home, writing all of the museum’s media releases and designing most of its publications and ads. I also enjoy designing exhibition wall panels, photographing events, and helping with many other creative efforts. As a volunteer, I chair the museum’s Brown Bag Lunch series."

She has also coordinated the walking tours since they began in 1984. The tours started when the Stark County Medical Auxiliary asked her to take the group on a walking tour of Massillon’s historic Fourth Street.

“Leery of inclement weather, they also hired me to create a slide show about the mansions, in case the tour was rained out," she said. "That launched years of public speaking, which branched out into other Massillon history subjects.

"I added Massillon Cemetery tours in 2001 and downtown history walks the next summer. I rerouted the downtown tour this month and titled it 'Flag Day in Downtown' to focus on Massillon’s marvelous support of its veterans. After a two-year hiatus, I was happy to see there’s still interest!”

She has also edited the Massillon West Stark Chamber of Commerce newsletter since 1984 and has served twice as interim president, while the board searched for new chamber executives.

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What do you feel is the importance of local museums?

Local museums establish a sense of personal connection to history. They illustrate how our community connects to the world around us. In Massillon, the museum helps spark pride in our community’s rich heritage — its inventors, artists, civic leaders; its varied industrial and economic eras; and, of course, its football traditions.

Local museums can help people research the history of their own families, homes and businesses. They preserve family treasures — quilts, photographs, clothing, household goods — that might not otherwise be retained or available for the public to view. They augment classroom learning and make it possible for students to see in person some of the artifacts they read about.

The Massillon Museum strives to be the cultural hub of downtown Massillon, creating a free and comfortable place where the community feels welcome. It also displays thousands of locally historic photographs on its website, helping to make our local history accessible to everyone. It helps develop community cohesion and pride.

What have been some of your favorite events in the Massillon Museum?

Probably most people’s favorite Massillon Museum event is the Island Party. Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band have been with us since 1995! His music, the Caribbean food and beverages, and the island atmosphere always bring a diverse and happy crowd to our amazing museum and our charming downtown. Admission is free — a thank you to the community for yearlong support.

That same year, we started the monthly History Discussion Group, which flourished until the pandemic — and it will be back! It’s a casual group — most people attend every month; others come when the topic interests them. Subjects are always local — schools, gas stations, fires, floods, neighborhoods, circuses, restaurants, parks, Massillon trivia.

Guests share memories or just listen while they enjoy coffee and pastries. It’s a wonderful educational and social opportunity, especially for older folks, and we all learn fun and interesting stories about Massillon’s past.

Since the popular monthly Brown Bag Lunch series started in 2003, we’ve hosted programs about Massillon Big Leaguers, Dorothy Fuldheim, the Lincoln Highway, the life of a circus clown, Unsinkable Molly Brown, Coxey’s Army, local railroads, unsolved Massillon murders, bird calls, and dozens more. Speakers have ranged from local favorite Rudy Turkal to baseball legend Bob Feller.

The free program always draws a crowd — I love the way it builds friendships and makes people feel a part of MassMu.

Who are some of your favorite artists and historians?

Ansel Adams and Edward S. Curtis rank as my favorite photographers — the Massillon Museum has exhibited incredible images by both of them. I love the soft-focus, thought-provoking photographs by Nell Dorr, who grew up in Massillon and gained international acclaim.

Favorite painters include Morris Louis, Edward Hopper, and Mark Rothko. In our home, we display many contemporary prints and a wall-sized mural of halftone-style works by Scot Phillips, as well as many of my mother’s watercolors.

I enjoy books by historians David McCullough and Doris Kearns Goodwin and appreciate Ken Burns documentaries. Locally, I admire Rudy Turkal and Mandy Altimus Stahl for their efforts to save Massillon history and share it with others.

What is your writing and research process when writing a book?

I’ve written three Massillon history books — "Fourth Street: A Century of History and Design," "Towpath to Towpath," and "Massillon: Reflections of a Community."

I was fortunate in my career to be surrounded by files and files of primary source materials for local history and the museum’s massive collection of photographs. I absorbed that information as well as the oral histories local people have shared with me.

Massillon Public Library is a treasure trove of local history files and newspaper microfilm. In each case, I tried to make the books visually inviting and concisely organized so local history would be fun and memorable for readers.

What are some of your favorite ways to share Massillon history?

Definitely, walking tours are my favorite way to share Massillon history. I’m a walker, so that part comes naturally. I love to hear people say, “I didn’t know that!” as we walk through the downtown they’ve taken for granted for their entire lives.

Who doesn’t like to look at Massillon’s mansions as we stroll along the brick-paved historic Fourth Street? And I force myself to limit cemetery tours to the most symbolic architecture and short stories about 50 Massillonians who made a difference in our town or the world.

Editor's note: Five questions with ... is a Sunday feature that showcases a member of the Stark County community. If you'd like to recommend someone to participate, send an email to newsroom@cantonrep.com.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Five questions with Margy Vogt of Massillon