Youngstown biographies

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Petty Officer, 2nd Class Bruce Arthur Manton

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Picture of Bruce Arthur Manton

I grew up in Youngstown watching the Vietnam War on the evening news. Meanwhile, young men from Youngstown were serving, fighting and dying in Vietnam. The war was unpopular, and sadly, we took it out on the returning soldiers, who, living or dead, did not always receive the honor they deserve. Each year, on Memorial Day, I remember one of those who died, representing the sixty-four from Youngstown who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Until May of 1967, North Vietnamese troops used the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the countries as a sanctuary and staging area for attacks into the South, assuming they would be safe for attack. That changed on May 18 when Marines, along with South Vietnamese troops were sent in to clear the DMZ of North Vietnamese troops in what was called “Operation Hickory.” They succeeded in heavy fighting with the largest death toll up to this point in the war, 337 Americans killed.

One of those Americans was Bruce Arthur Manton, of Youngstown. He was a Navy hospital corpsman, Petty Officer 2nd Class assigned to the 3rd Battalion of the 9th Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division and they were engaged in combat in Quang Tri Province. He was fatally wounded on May 20, 1967 while treating wounded servicemen during “Operation Hickory.”

Bruce Arthur Manton was born November 22, 1945 in Berea, Ohio. He and his family moved to Youngstown around 1960 when his father, a Methodist pastor became pastor of Belmont Methodist Church. He graduated from The Rayen School where he he sang in the boys octet and chorus. He was active in his church and a district officer of the Methodist Youth Fellowship. Upon graduation, he enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University but interrupted his studies after his sophomore year to enlist in the Navy in May 1965.

After basic training at Great Lakes, he went to Bethesda Naval Hospital, and then on to Camp LeJeune for further training as a hospital corpsman. He arrived in Vietnam in August of 1966.

Petty Officer Manton was awarded the National Defense, Vietnam Service, and Vietnam Campaign medals as well as being awarded the Purple Heart posthumously. His name appears on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall on Panel 20E Line 63. He gave his life saving the lives of others.

Rayen classmate Harry Kidd, who suggested this article, wrote this about Bruce Manton on the Wall of Faces:

FRIEND, CLASSMATE AND FELLOW NAVY VETERAN

Bruce and I attended the same high school – The Rayen School, Class of 1963. He and I separately both joined the Navy and are Vietnam Vets. I was lucky enough to come home. Bruce was remembered his fellow classmates at our class reunions.

Who do you remember this Memorial Day?

WE REMEMBER.

Other servicemen remembered in this series:

Lance Corporal Charles F. Azara, Jr.

SP4 Robert Thomas Callan

SP4 Patrick Michael Hagerty

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Henry K. Wick

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about Henry Wick, noting the challenge of keeping the various Wicks straight, particularly when Henry had a cousin, Henry Kirtland, or H.K. Wick. Henry K. was born August 31, 1840, the son of Col. Caleb B. and Maria Wick. He had eight siblings plus a brother who died in infancy and two half siblings. His education was exclusively in the Youngstown schools. At sixteen, in 1856, he began working as a clerk at the Mahoning National Bank.

Like Henry, H.K pursued a number of business interests including a process of planishing iron, producing sheets with a high polish. He owned a mill near Niles the grew into a large concern which he sold to a group led by James Ward. He also had timber and mining interests as well as serving as a director for the P., Y., and A Railroad and for the Youngstown Dry Goods Company. He was also the first president of Republic Rubber. But his big interest was coal, essential for the growing iron and steel industry. and from 1869 on focused major efforts on the coal industry, forming the H.K. Coal Company, one of the leading coal companies in the country, making him a multi-millionaire. The business interests extended far and wide and some of the largest were headquartered in Buffalo.

He was known as a gregarious man who loved to entertain. In the early 1880’s, he and his brother Caleb built what was known as the Wick Log Cabin in what was then the wooded area that eventually became the Wick Park district.

Wick Log Cabin from an 1889 photograph.

H.K. married twice. He married Clara Wells in 1886. She passed in 1899. He then married Millicent Rathbone Clark in 1900, moving first to a stately home on Wick Avenue and later building a lavish estate, named Ainwick, on Logan Avenue in Liberty Township. It took four years to build, being completed in 1914. A seven page spread appeared in the February 22, 1914 edition of the Vindicator, including the photograph below.

H.K. Wick helped found the Memorial Presbyterian Church and the Mahoning Institute of Art, a predecessor of the Butler.

Sadly, H.K. did not get to enjoy his Ainwick home for very long. He had struggled with failing health but felt well enough to visit his Buffalo headquarters in March of 1916. He became ill upon arrival on a Tuesday. By Saturday, it was clear he was fighting a serious case of pneumonia and Mrs. Wick rushed to be at his side. He died on March 22, 1916, three months to the day after his cousin Henry’s death from the same cause. He was transported to Youngstown and is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, as are many of the Wicks. Millicent lived until 1953 but the couple had no children.

It is my understanding that the Ursuline nuns came into possession of the house and estate, eventually selling it off for development, resulting in the demolition of the mansion. What a loss, both architecturally, and as visible evidence of the life of H.K. Wick.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Henry Wick

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A picture of Henry Wick in his youth
A picture of a young Henry Wick

The Wick name is one of the most well known names in Youngstown. As it turns out there are a number of Wicks who rose to prominence in Youngstown. Perhaps it has already been done, but a genealogical work showing the family lines and relations of the various Wicks would be a great asset for anyone who writes about Youngstown.

Henry Wick is a case in point. He might easily be confused with Henry K. (H.K.) Wick. The two men were born six years apart. H.K. was born August 31, 1840, the son of Col. Caleb B. and Maria Wick. Henry Wick was born born May 13, 1846, a son of Hugh Bryson and Lucretia Winchell Wick. As it turns out, this part of the family tree is relatively easy. Caleb and Hugh were both sons of Henry and Hannah Baldwin Wick, who came to Youngstown in 1801, establish a mercantile business, making Henry and H.K. their grandchildren and cousins to each other.

Henry was educated in the Youngstown schools of the day and graduated from Western Reserve College. He began working as a coal operator in Youngstown and Pittsburgh, forming the Witch Hazel Coal Company, of which he was president most of his working life. This led to an interest in the growing iron business. He organized and ran the Youngstown Rolling Mill Company, an early successful company in the iron business. He then joined forces to incorporate The Ohio Iron and Steel Company, serving as its vice president for many years. He also organized the Ohio Steel Company, a pioneer in Bessemer steel in the valley. A few years later they merged with the National Steel Company, of which he became president. Later this company was absorbed by Carnegie, which in turn became U.S. Steel. He also bought and reorganized the Elyria Iron and Steel Company, supervising its operations until his death.

He also was engaged in mining, lumber, and ranching operations in the west as well as operating several large farms near Youngstown.

If that wasn’t enough, he was involved in several key financial institutions in the city beginning with his partnership in the Wick Brothers & Company, and as an officer in the Wick National Bank, which was the successor of that firm. He also served was a director with First National Bank, Dollar Savings and Trust, and Youngstown Sheet and Tube.

Joseph Butler, in History of Youngstown & The Mahoning Valley, Ohio – Vol. II, summarizes his portrait of Henry Wick:

“Henry Wick was a vital and compelling force.  He was a tireless worker and a natural leader of men.  He was a hater of sham and show, and a lover of truth and justice.  He was loyal to friends and just to every one.  He had a veritable passion for home and for the near ones who are the life of home.  His domestic life was one of peculiar charm and unusual happiness.  He was an active and influential member of the First Presbyterian Church, and an interested and liberal contributor to substantially all of the welfare agencies of his home city, and an active worker in many.“

Henry Wick died of pneumonia December 22, 1915. His wife, Mary Arms Wick, passed five days later. The Vindicator for December 23, 1915 published a story, “The Death of Henry Wick” which included this story, suggesting the character of the man:

“Speaking of how he stood steadfast to his principles, a close friend said that it was never better demonstrated than when several years ago he allied himself with a cause, in the winning of which he thought the community was to be bettered and benefitted. In support of the cause he gave unsparingly in money and indefatigable personal support. He was assailed by opponents but never faltered in the fight. The cause for which he battled went down in defeat, but he was never heard to criticise or complain. He fought for a principle and that it was not by the majority accepted may have caused him regret, but the defeat left no rancor with those he disagreed.”

How rare this is today! Perhaps this explains why he was so sought out to lead companies and sit on boards and enjoyed such success. His business interests included coal, iron, steel, mining, ranching, livestock and agriculture. One wonders how he crowded all this into one life. He is one of the reasons the Wick name enjoys such a reputation in Youngstown to this day.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Dick Thompson, WHOT Good Guy

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Reproduction of 1963 newspaper ads for WHOT 1330 AM
WHOT Good Guys in 1963, when WHOT moved to 1330-AM and became a 24 hour station. Dick Thompson is the second from the left.

In the 1960’s, the disk jockeys at WHOT were known as “the Good Guys.” To this day, we all remember Boots Bell’s “Yes indeedie-doodie-daddy. Have yourself a happy…” or Johnny Kay’s morning broadcasts of the school lunch menus or shouting “Run, Bambi, run!” at the beginning of deer hunting season. Some of us remember Jerry Starr, Smoochie Causey, George Barry, and A.C. McCullough. He may not have been as memorable, but perhaps the mainstay of WHOT was Dick Thompson.

Dick Thompson was born in nearby Oil City, Pennsylvania in 1928. He got his start in radio when he hosted a program as a high school senior in Oil City. He had two stints in the army with
Armed Services Radio in Korea (Boots Bell was also a Korean war vet with a Purple Heart). Thompson briefly attended Grove City College between his two tours of duty.

He got back into radio when he came home. Later he moved to California, where he met his wife Sherry and worked for a time with Regis Philbin a newscaster at KSON-AM, where Thompson was working as program director. He also worked at radio stations in Erie, Pennsylvania, and Columbus, Ohio.

He was one of the early disk jockeys at WHOT, coming to Youngstown in 1958 when the station was a daytime only station at 1570 AM. He was soon joined by Johnny Kay and with the explosion of rock ‘n’ roll, they headed up one of the top 40 stations in the country. Boots Bell came in 1959.

As others joined the station, he took on more of a management role as program director. He still filled program slots in the day and on weekends. He also became “Big Al Knight” when WHOT started broadcasting 24 hours. Thompson recorded these programs, which ran from 12 to 6 am, saving the station from hiring another DJ. For many of us who stayed up, or were out late with the radio on, this is when we listened to Dick Thompson (and not all of us knew it). Thomas John, a later program director at the station said of him, “He did everything. It was fascinating to go by his office because you never know who would be in there.”

He worked at WHOT for 35 years. After a couple of years in retirement, he and his friend Johnny Kay teamed up once more in 1995 to do work together at WNIO and later WSOM, retiring once more in 2007. Johnny Kay passed away in December 2014. Thompson outlived his friend by a few years, dying at age 89 in November 2017.

While these voices no longer fill the Youngstown airwaves, you can listen to Dick Thompson as Big Al Knight on this clip from January 1, 1973:

He truly was one of the “Good Guys.”

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Judge Frank X. Kryzan

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Photo of Frank X. Kryzan being sworn in for his first term as Youngstown mayor in January 1954.
Frank X. Kryzan (l.) being sworn in for his first term as Youngstown mayor. Youngstown Vindicator, January 2, 1954 via Google News Archive

He was the mayor of Youngstown when I was born and one of the political names I grew up hearing in Youngstown. He served as mayor during a time when Youngstown was still a developing community. The new Chaney High School, an addition to East High School, North High School, and Cardinal Mooney would all open during these years to serve the Baby Boom generation. A new Playhouse building was under construction as well as residential homes and urban housing projects. Market Street and Oak Street bridges were replaced. Exits from the Ohio Turnpike were opened and plans for Youngstown’s freeway system were underway. He was mayor during the time when population began to shift from the city to the suburban townships around Youngstown.

It was a time of rising organized crime activity in the Valley. Kryzan and his new police chief Paul Cress (who was later police chief at YSU during my student years) warned gambling interests not to set up in Youngstown. On one hand the Jungle Inn was fined for delinquent taxes. On the other, bombings related to organized crime were on the rise. It was a challenging time to be mayor and federal law enforcement in this era was not focused on organized crime.

Frank X. Kryzan was born on November 27, 1913 in Youngstown. He graduated with a law degree from Youngstown College. He served in World War II in the United States Army, receiving the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star and two Combat Stars for his service. He married Carolyn Siembieda of Campbell and they had two children, Carol and Alice.

Prior to winning the mayor’s office in November of 1953, he served as president of City Council. He won a hard fought race against three-term Republican mayor Charles P. Henderson, edging him out by 1796 votes. Henderson had become increasingly unpopular because of his police chief Edward J. Allen, who aroused controversy over his law enforcement efforts, including a campaign against pornography. One of Kryzan’s first decisions was to replace him with Paul Cress.

Kryzan served three terms as mayor, deciding to run (unsuccessfully) for a judgeship in 1959. His wife Carol passed away in 1970. In 1971, he married Tina Siembieda Zbell, to whom he was married until her passing in 2009. In 1972, Ohio Governor John Gilligan appointed Kryzan to a vacant position on the bench of the Youngstown Municipal Court. He served in this position until retirement in 1987.

Charles Bannon, a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court judge was long a friend of Kryzan’s and paid him this tribute in the Vindicator obituary: “I had a ton of respect for Frank Kryzan. I was always impressed with how he handled himself. When you saw him he commanded respect.”

In the last six years of his life, he moved to Crown Point, Indiana. He passed on March 13, 2010, at age 96, surviving his second wife, Tina, by a year. He was buried in Youngstown.

War hero. Popular mayor in the Baby Boom years. Respected judge. And mayor during my earliest years growing up in working class Youngstown as one of those Boomers. Seventy years ago.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown – Grant E. Hamilton, Political Cartoonist (1862-1926)

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A line drawing of Grant Hamilton, political cartoonist

Growing up, there was one other place in the Vindicator I would go beside the comic section for cartoons and that was the editorial page for the political cartoons. Political cartoonists taught me that politicians made some of the best comic figures, often because they took themselves too seriously, and didn’t realize how funny this might look to others.

Not until this week did I know that one of the great American political cartoonists of all time grew up in Youngstown. Grant E. Hamilton was born in the city on August 16, 1862. He was the son of Homer and Adeline Hamilton, an old Youngstown family, who lived at 111 Woodland Ave. There is little information about his growing up years and it appears that by age 20 he was in New York City. The earliest cartoon online is from January 17, 1883 in the New York Daily Graphic. By 1884, his work appears in Judge, a New York magazine of political satire allied with the Republican party. He worked for the magazine over twenty years, becoming its art editor.

He supported the candidacy of William McKinley, who had strong ties to the Mahoning Valley, in both 1892 and 1896. Perhaps his most famous cartoon (which I could not find online) was his “full dinner pail” cartoon in support of McKinley, against William Jennings Bryan. Here is a sampling of his cartoons:

Representative political cartoons drawn by Grant Hamilton

The one on the left appeared in Judge in 1884 showing Tammany Hall’s “Boss” Kelly in the aftermath of the 1884 Democratic convention that chose Grover Cleveland, perched on Kelly’s right arm. The center cartoon attacks William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold” speeches during the 1896 campaign against McKinley. The caption underneath (not visible here) reads “The Sacrilegious Candidate. No man who drags into the dust the most sacred symbols of the Christian world is fit to be president of the United States.” The one on the right is from 1899, showing an unhappy baby (with a spear no less!). The caption reads “The Filipino’s First Bath. McKinley–‘Oh, you dirty boy!’ ” After the Spanish-American war in 1898, the Philippines, following a rebellion seeking independence under Emilio Aguinaldo, essentially became an American colony. McKinley saw our mission as one of uplift, to have a civilizing and Christianizing influence on the islands, hence the bath of “the dirty boy.” The baby is thought to be a caricature of Aguinaldo.

Obviously, Hamilton could be as biting in his political satire as any political cartoonist today. His services were much in demand and he was art editor at points for Leslie’s Weekly and The Graphic as well. He also contributed cartoons for Puck and Life. During World War I, he was chief of the government art bureau. By the 1920’s he was in ill health and left New York around 1924 to move to California, hoping the climate would rejuvenate his health. He died two years later, on April 17, 1926. At the time of his death, he had two brothers living in Youngstown, John and Nick, and a brother Scott, living in New Castle.

Hamilton’s story is one largely in outline and much of what we know of him is associated with his work. It would be a fascinating project to learn about his Youngstown years and how he got his start in political satire.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Franz Bibo

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Franz Bibo, “Youngstown Symphony Orchestra Celebrating 90 Years,” special insert to The Vindicator, September 11, 2016.

I remember two conductors of the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. One was John Krueger, the conductor who led the children’s concerts we attended as elementary school children at Stambaugh Auditorium (it was actually called the Youngstown Philharmonic in those days). The other was Franz Bibo, who led the orchestra from 1965 to 1980. I had classical musician friends during college and went to a number of symphony performances during this time. Student seats were cheap! Franz Bibo conducted most of these including an amazing performance of the Nutcracker What I had not realized was what an accomplished musician he was and what a pivotal role he played in the Youngstown Symphony’s history and Youngstown’s cultural life.

Mr. Bibo was born in Germany in 1922. He came to the United States in 1946, becoming an American citizen. [Several readers  of this article who knew Bibo gave eyewitness accounts of Bibo showing them the serial numbers tattooed on his arm that marked him as an Auschwitz survivor.] He studied at the Mannes Music School in New York City, at New York University, and the Juilliard School. By 1948, he was on the music faculty of Brooklyn College. He was also the assistant conductor of the City Symphony Orchestra of New York, an orchestra of mostly amateur musicians founded by Leopold Prince, a New York City judge. When Prince died in 1951, Bibo took over as conductor and led the orchestra for ten years. In 1955, he was one of three conductors chosen to share a Rockefeller study grant of $49,500, a major sum at this time and a distinct honor.

In 1961, Bibo moved to Ohio, joining the faculty of the Oberlin Conservatory of Music as conductor of the Oberlin Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, and Opera. Oberlin is a highly recognized school to this day and Bibo had the opportunity to work with talented musicians. Musical organizations establish their reputation in part by touring. A story in the March 15, 1964 Vindicator announced that Bibo and the orchestra would be performing at Stambaugh Auditorium as part of a tour performing concerts in Hartford, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Washington, Youngstown, Buffalo, and Cleveland. The article notes that it was believed that this was the first undergraduate student orchestra tour of its kind. The New York Times reviewer for their New York appearance, performing the same program, noted their “lovely natural phrasing and tone that kept beautifying the performances all evening.”

In retrospect, this may have served as an early audition for the position as conductor of the Youngstown Symphony. In 1965, John Krueger, battling colon cancer, stepped down. Bibo was selected to be the new conductor. For the first time “Maestro” was used to refer to him. One of his contributions was to stage locally produced operas. He and his wife Jacqueline, a concert pianist and musical director for a number of groups, moved to Youngstown and embraced the city.

It was during his tenure that the Youngstown Symphony, through a gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Powers, saved the old Warner Theatre from demolition and restored it to its glory. Bibo played an active role in the restoration work as you can see from this picture:

The Vindicator, March 4, 1969.

The new facility opened September 20, 1969 with a gala performance of “Die Fledermaus” conducted by Maestro Bibo.

Bibo led the orchestra for twelve seasons. He hired musicians from outside Youngstown, raising the standards of the orchestra. He was succeeded by Peter Leonard in 1980. Franz Bibo passed away some time in 1986. Jacqueline continued to live in the Youngstown area and was actively involved in development work for Channels 45/49 and the Warren General Health Foundation as well as supporting other arts and community organizations including Opera Western Reserve. She lived until March 7, 2018 and was remembered in the Opera Western Reserve program for Puccini’s Madame Butterfly in November of that year.

Maestro Bibo brought all the training and artistic sophistication of New York and Oberlin to the city of Youngstown, introducing many to opera for the first time. He will always be remembered for leading the symphony in its move to and gala opening at Powers Auditorium and the belief that Youngstown could be a city known for great music and operatic performances. And his wife, Jacqueline, a great musician in her own right, carried forward that legacy. Bravissimo!

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — John DeMain

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John DeMain, Music Director, Madison Symphony Orchestra. Photo by Peter Rogers. Used with permission.

I’ve received many wonderful article ideas from friends who live or used to live in Youngstown. This idea came from a friend living outside of Madison, Wisconsin. He’s attends a number of the concerts of the Madison Symphony Orchestra. He raves over the leadership their Music Director, John DeMain has given over the past thirty years of his tenure. He thought I should write about him because he grew up in Youngstown.

So I dug into Maestro DeMain’s story and discovered that his experiences in Youngstown established the whole arc of an amazing music career that included a Grammy and a Tony Award, premieres of several major works, as well as his many accomplishments with the Kenley Players, the Houston Grand Opera, a brief stint with the Youngstown Symphony, and his long and fruitful tenure in Madison, as well as numerous guest appearances with major orchestras throughout the world. So, I was surprised and delighted when he spent an hour this past week talking about his musical journey as a young man in Youngstown..

John DeMain grew up on the Southside of Youngstown, living on Southern Boulevard, just north of Midlothian. His musical career began at age two when he sang a boy soprano part in the Lady’s of Mount Carmel church choir. A solo for his kindergarten class led to him being featured in the Rotogravure section. He continued to sing and his parents decided to buy him a piano to develop his musical abilities. After three years with a piano teacher, he learned all she could teach. She connected him with Hermann Gruss and his wife Blanche, who continued his instruction after Hermann died, through high school.

As a young boy of nine, he performed as a singer in a joint Youngstown Symphony and Playhouse production of Amahl and the Night Visitors. He had early experiences of observing Michael Ficocelli, founder and first director of the Youngstown Symphony, and also diocese music director and John’s band teacher. John observed Ficocelli conducting and substituted for him when he was absent. He worked under Lillian Stambaugh who was the pianist for a production of Paint Your Wagon at the Youngstown Playhouse at age 13. The following year, at age fourteen, he conducted music with a pit orchestra for Brigadoon at the Playhouse. He spoke of “bossing around people old enough to be his grandparents…and loving it.” He did this for three years. During these years he also accompanied productions at Cardinal Mooney and briefly served as a rehearsal pianist at the Kenley Players. He also accompanied for opera students and was observed by Lawrence Lawler, a benefactor who took him to see the Met when they were in Cleveland

In the summer of his junior year, while a student at Cardinal Mooney, he entered a piano competition with the Youngstown Symphony, performing Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto. He was amazed to find out that he won the competition, beating out a student from Juilliard and debuting with the Youngstown Symphony. He credits this as an important factor to winning admission at Juilliard with Adele Marcus, the teacher of the student who he beat out in the competition. He earned Bachelor’s and Masters Degrees from Juilliard. His time in New York exposed him to the vibrant New York and New England musical scene, including a chance to conduct The King and I. He also returned in the summer as assistant conductor for the Kenley Players. He then served as the Music Director for the Kenley Players from 1965 to 1975 and spoke glowingly of John Kenley. We realized that our paths had actually crossed. One of my high school dates was at the Kenley Players production of Man of La Mancha with Giorgio Tozzi. He directed that production and told me about the huge staircase designed by the set designer.

He went to serve as conductor of the Houston Grand Opera in 1975 and immediately became involved in one of the signature productions of his career, a staging of the full score of Porgy and Bess. After the initial 1935 production, much of the content and distinctly African-American and jazz influences were cut from the production. These were restored by the Houston Grand Opera and the result was that the 1976 recording, conducted by John DeMain, won Grammy, Tony and the French Grand Prix du Disque awards in 1976. When they brought the production to New York, Leonard Bernstein told DeMain that this was the Porgy and Bess production that he had waited forty years to hear. In all, he has performed the opera over four hundred times.

John DeMain told me that this was the musical achievement he was proudest of and mentioned two others. One was the premiere performance of John Adams Nixon in China in 1987 and the other, the premiere of Leonard Bernstein’s opera, A Quiet Place. DeMain’s work on Porgy so impressed Bernstein that he asked DeMain to conduct a new production of West Side Story, after which he wanted DeMain to premiere his opera.

It was during his time with the Houston Grand Opera that he also served as an Acting Music Director of the Youngstown Symphony, during the mid-1980’s. After seventeen years with the Houston Grand Opera, DeMain became the music director of the Madison Symphony Orchestra in 1994. At that time, the Orchestra played in the old Oscar Mayer Theatre and consisted of section chairs from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and student musicians. He instituted blind auditions, a standard practice in top professional orchestras and now draws players from throughout the country. He also led the orchestra in performances of the complete Mahler Symphony cycle.

In 2004, he helped open the new Overture Center for the Arts, home to nine different Madison arts organizations and an amazing Concert Organ. Maestro DeMain told me that he thinks the concert hall acoustics, already celebrated, continue to become more resonant as the wood in the hall seasons. The symphony will celebrate its 100th year in the 2025-26 season. DeMain, who just turned 80, announced that he will step down at the end of that season so that a new director can take the orchestra into its next century. As he prepares to step down, he leaves an organization that is fiscally sound and enjoys the largest arts endowment in Wisconsin.

He will continue to be involved for now as artistic director for the Madison Opera but also hopes to do some travel and teaching but does not anticipate another music director position. In January 2023, DeMain received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Opera Association.

John DeMain’s amazing career began in Youngstown. He was a childhood prodigy as singer and pianist. He was conducting ensembles before he was in high school, experiences that solidified for him his love of conducting, even though up to that time, he’d had little formal training. He’s achieved an amazing body of work and we may be justly proud of this musical director who began as a young man from the Southside of Youngstown.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Admiral Giles Bates Harber

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He grew up on the West side of Youngstown, received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy from then-congressman James A. Garfield, mounted a heroic 2667 mile expedition to rescue a stranded polar expedition, was the Executive Officer on the USS Texas during the Spanish-American War, and rose to the command as Rear Admiral of the Pacific Fleet at a time when the U.S. was becoming a global naval power.

Despite all these accomplishments, I suspect few of us know of this distinguished naval officer who both was born and died in Youngstown. He was born September 24, 1849 to Joseph and Ann Eliza (Darrow) Harber. He graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1869, starting out as an Ensign on a sailing frigate, the USS Sabine., moving to a screw frigate, the USS Franklin, in the European squadron from 1870 to 1871. By 1881, he was in command of the torpedo boat, the USS Alarm.

In 1882, Lt. Harber was on a journey through Russia when called on to mount a rescue or recovery operation when the USS Jeanette, commanded by Lt. Commander George Washington DeLong, attempting to explore and lay claim to Arctic regions, became icebound. Leaving from Irkutsk in Siberia by steamer, Harber and his search party covered 2667 miles by boat, reindeer, and dogsled team. There were no survivors, but Harber and his party recovered the remains of ten men who perished, including the body of Lt.. Commander DeLong. When he returned in 1884, he received a hero’s welcome at a reception in the old Opera House on Central Square in Youngstown.

He married Jeanette Thruston Manning of Baltimore in 1889, the wedding reported in the New York Times. After a staff assignment at the Naval Academy and command of a US coastal steamer, Hassler, off the Alaska coast, he was promoted to Lt. Commander in 1896 and served as the Executive officer of the battleship USS Texas in Guantanamo Bay during the Spanish-American War, doing blockade duty. He was promoted to Commander and served as naval attaché in both Paris and St. Petersburg from 1900 to 1903. This was followed by command of the USS New Orleans, from 1903-1905, as part of the Asiatic Squadron, being promoted to Captain in 1905. After graduation in 1905 from the Naval War College, he commanded the USS Independence and the Mare Island Navy Yard from 1905 to 1907.

His crowning achievement was promotion to the rank of Rear Admiral, heading the 3rd Squadron, and then the whole Pacific Fleet from 1907 to 1910. This was the time when American sea power was growing under President Theodore Roosevelt, symbolized by the Great White Fleet of sixteen battleships that circumnavigated the world. In his final year, before mandatory retirement at age 62 in 1911, he served as president of the Naval Examining and Retiring Boards in Washington, DC.

Harber and his wife lived in Washington until she passed away in September of 1925. He moved back to Youngstown, but soon followed her in death on December 29, 1925. He died at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital of a bladder infection. Both he and his wife are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Harber distinguished himself throughout life, holding posts and commands in Europe, East Asia, and Central America as well as over the whole Pacific Fleet. The recovery expedition could easily have shared the fate of the Jeanette. Instead, he brought his fellow seamen’s bodies home on an amazing journey. And Youngstown remembered and celebrated him. He also remembered Youngstown. He was the second depositor of the First National Bank in 1863 (at fourteen). On his death, it was found that he had remained a depositor all those years. And it was to Youngstown he returned and spent his final days. We can truly say he was a hometown hero.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!

Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Mayor Jack C. Hunter

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Mayor Jack C. Hunter in 1969 when elected for his first term as Youngstown’s Mayor, Youngstown Vindicator, November 5, 1969 via Google News Archive.

[This is a post about a historical public officeholder in Youngstown. Please don’t use this article for online debates about contemporary Youngstown or national politics.]

He was the only mayor of Youngstown I ever voted for, voting for him for his last two terms in office in 1973 and 1975. He is the only mayor in Youngstown history to complete four terms as of this date. And the mayor was a Republican in a city known at that time as a Democratic stronghold.

He was born March 13, 1930, growing up in Youngstown. A graduate of South High School, he served for four years with the Marine Corps, including a tour of duty during the Korean War as a sergeant. He graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Denver and a Master’s degree in political science from Kent State University. He taught at Youngstown State University and served as a trust officer and then a vice president at Mahoning National Bank, a position he held prior to and after his years as mayor.

For many years, he lived with his mother on Youngstown’s Southside and in 1965 ran for councilman in Youngstown’s fifth ward where he served two terms. In 1969, he became the Republican candidate for mayor, running against incumbent, three-term mayor Anthony Flask. It was a hard fought campaign. At the time, most attributed his victory margin of 3368 votes to the recent riot and shooting at Stop 5 on Poland Avenue at the entrance to Republic Steel when two teamster factions clashed, with one man dying.

Hunter married Pauline Pieton while in office. When their first child was born at St. Elizabeth Hospital, she was greeted with a billboard at Rayen and Belmont Avenues as she drove to the hospital:

Dear Polly: If it's a girl,
think Jo-Lynn; a
good Irish-Polish name...
Jack

As it turned out, they had a boy, named Jonathan David.

While in office, he presided over the much ballyhooed Federal Plaza project, turning parts of Federal Street and Central Square into an outdoor pedestrian mall. After early enthusiasm, my sense is that it was unpopular with most Youngstown residents and Central Square was re-opened to traffic in 2004.

It seems that part of the secret of Hunter’s success was that he acted with integrity and refused to play politics. Councilman Jerome McNally, a Democrat, spoke at Hunter’s funeral of how Hunter encouraged him to enter politics and mentored him, even though they were in different parties. Former Democrat councilman Herman “Pete” Starks paid him this tribute at his funeral:

“I served under four mayors during my 22 years on council, and he was the best of them,” said Starks, who was a pallbearer for Hunter. “He was a man of his word. There was no such thing as Democrats or Republicans with Jack Hunter. He was about taking care of business.” (Source: Youngstown Vindicator)

When ground was broken for the Boardman Expressway in October of 1971, weeks before an election in which Frank R. Franko, a former Democrat mayor was running against Hunter, the two appeared together. Franko had been part of the planning of the freeway and Hunter was able to look past the rivalry in including him, along with former Democrat mayor Frank Kryzan.

Perhaps it was his good fortune to conclude his fourth term as mayor in 1977, a year before the devastating mill closures. He went on to serve ten years on the state board of education from 1982 to 1991, and then again from 1998 until the time of his death. At Hunter’s funeral, Susan Tave Zellman, Ohio superintendent of public instruction said of Hunter, “On any issue, he always asked, ‘Is it good for the children?’ ” (Youngstown Vindicator).

Throughout his life, he was a member of Pleasant Grove United Presbyterian Church as well as a number of business and civic organizations. He was known as a religious man and committed to community service, both in office and out. He died of cancer on June 9, 2001, having been diagnosed only the week before. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park.

Jack Hunter represented a rare tradition of seeing public office as public service. He described his victory in 1969 as “not a Republican victory but a people’s victory.” In A Heritage to Share: The Bicentennial History of Youngstown and Mahoning County, Ohio, he wrote in 1976:

“I dream of a day when we put behind us the pernicious doctrine of what’s in it for me, or something for nothing, and give wholly and unstintingly of ourselves to make our neighborhood, our church, our schools, our community, a better place for all persons.”

Drawing on his business background, he worked hard to practice economy in government, making the most of people’s tax dollars. Then, he went on to serve Ohio’s children. My son, who graduated from high school in 2003 was one of those who benefited from his educational leadership. Thank you, Jack Hunter, for showing us the best of what is possible for those in public office, and for your service to your country, your home town, and the people of Ohio.

To read other posts in the Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown series, just click “On Youngstown.” Enjoy!