Archivist to lead Q-and-A discussion
Mandy Altimus Stahl
Massillon Museum archivist Mandy Altimus Stahl will lead a Q-and-A discussion about the Titanic following the Saturday, Jan. 6 and 13 productions of “Scotland Road” at the Little Theatre of Tuscarawas County.
While Stahl is presenting a Q-and-A for the theater, her regular presentation is “The Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era.” She discusses the Titanic from concept to completion, the sinking, the stories of the passengers and why Titanic was so significant.
During that presentation attendees receive a boarding pass featuring a real passenger aboard the Titanic. After the program passengers may check for their names in the sea of 2,208 passengers on the list.
Stahl, who is available to speak on many different subjects, said she first began researching the Titanic in 1997.
“During my career I have spoken to 70 different groups about it,” she said. “I am delighted to be able to show audiences some unusual artifacts from the ship. One is a medal awarded to crew members of the ship, Carpathia, who rescued Titanic passengers from the water.”
Stahl discovered one of them, Edward Abbott, moved to Massillon in the 1920s and worked at Republic Steel. One of the items his estate donated was a list of second-class passengers who survived. It is kept in the U.S. Capital Visitors Center with congressional investigations.
“My favorite item is a sinking bath toy,” Stahl said. “If you put it in water, it will fall apart and sink in the same manner the Titanic did. I actually have two of them because the first one was beginning to wear out from use. The price had gone from $20 when I first bought it to $3,000 on eBay today. I was able to find someone with a 3-D printer who made me my second toy.”
Stahl began her Massillon Museum career in 2004 after graduating from Kent State University with a summa cum laude with honors BA in History. She has produced documentary works for the museum such as “Massillon in the Great War,” “Voices from the Archives,” winner of the 2017 visual communications gold award, “The Legacy of Steel,” “The Greatest Generation” and “Faces of Rural America.”
In 2018 Stahl was inducted into the YWCA Canton Women’s Hall of Fame. An award-winning photographer, she has produced photo series such as “A Long Time Ago,” “The Fairytales of Mandy Altimus Pond,” “Face of Hunger in Stark County Ohio” and the middle school student project, “Images of World War I.” In her spare time, she can be found with her son Donovan, singing with her husband Bryan or leading local walking tours.
“I am excited that people are still interested in the facts about the Titanic,” Stahl said. “I love finding new ways to present the stories.”
The Little Theatre is located at 466 Carrie Ave. NW in New Philadelphia. Tickets for the performances of “Scotland Road” are $15 and may be purchased at the KSU PAC box office, by calling 330-308-6400, online at www.thelittletheatreonline.org or at the door. The show, sponsored by Machelle, Jed and Meghan Miller, is presented through special agreement with Broadway Licensing.