Museum speaker series starting
The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum will kick off its next speaker series by welcoming back historian and author Mark S. Jordan to discuss the topic of his new book, “The Witch of Mansfield: The Tetched Life of Phebe Wise.” The program is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 16 in Loudonville.
The daughter of one of Mansfield’s founding fathers, Wise had a fraught relationship with her father. Inheriting her parents’ property, she became the target for robbers and an obsessed stalker, situations which culminated in acts of violence from which she emerged a survivor.
Her impact on a young cousin named Louis Bromfield launched his trajectory toward becoming a world-famous writer who often revisited her in his works.
Jordan will examine the life and legend of Wise with historical photos and reports of eyewitness accounts of her life. Copies of Jordan’s new book about Wise will be available for purchase and signing.
An award-winning writer and author of several books including “The Ceely Rose Murders at Malabar Farm,” Jordan has received grants from the Ohio Arts Council, the Richland County Foundation and more. He writes the History Knox local history column for Knox Pages, music criticism for Seen & Heard International, and does music appreciation talks and notes for the Cleveland Orchestra, the Mansfield Symphony, the Knox County Symphony and Mid Ohio Civic Opera.
This program will be held in the lecture hall of the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum, 203 E. Main St., Loudonville. The event is free and open to the public. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the event beginning at 7 p.m.
For more information on the museum and activities, call 419-994-4050 or visit www.crfmuseum.com.