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The Stained Glass Windows from the Anna Dean Farm Mansion |
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BARBERTON PUBLIC LIBRARY |
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The Stained Glass Windows from the Anna Dean Farm Mansion |
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If you have ever been in the Local History Room at the
Barberton Public Library, you undoubtedly saw the large five-window set of
stained glass that highlights the room. Like other books, materials, and
artifacts housed in the Local History Room, these stained glass windows are
truly a unique piece of Barberton History. The history of the stained glass windows date back to 1910 when O. C. Barber was building and furnishing his Anna Dean Farm mansion that sat on the east side of present day Barberton. |
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Barber purchased numerous pieces of furniture for his mansion from the Tobey Furniture Company of Chicago. Barber was impressed with the Tobey Furniture Company's merchandise; therefore, it seemed a logical choice for Tobey to provide the stained glass for his mansion. It is not known if the Tobey Company created the windows specifically for Barber or whether he saw the completed windows and decided to incorporate them into the design of his home. Whatever the case, the windows were installed in the mansion on the landing of the massive double staircase and could also be viewed from the backside of the mansion's exterior. |
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To complement the classical architecture and decoration in the mansion, the windows depict a scene from the Greek myth of Atalanta. There are many versions of this story; however, the basic story revolves around an attractive, athletic, young woman (Atalanta), who announces she will marry the man who could beat her in a foot race. Many men attempted to gain her hand in marriage; however, she always easily outran them. Eventually, a young man named Milanion (or Hippomenes) enlisted the assistance of the goddess Aphrodite to help him with the race. Aphrodite provided Milanion with three golden balls (or apples), which he threw on the ground during the race to distract Atalanta. She could not resist picking up these beautiful golden objects, thus providing Milanion the opportunity to reach the finish line first. The central panel of the stained glass windows depicts the scene of the race with Atalanta stooping down to pick up one of the golden balls, allowing Milanion to take the lead. |
| When the mansion was demolished in 1965, the stained glass windows were auctioned along with many of the other furnishings and removable attributes of the house. The CoOp Store, which was located on 31st Street, N.W., purchased the stained glass window set. They were displayed in the store above the produce section for about ten years, until the store went out of business in 1975. In 1976, Mayor Lawrence Maurer successfully encouraged the City of Barberton to purchase the windows. For many years the city stored them at the water treatment plant, until a suitable location for their display could be found. |
On December 1, 1984, a twenty-five year lease agreement was signed between the City of Barberton and the Barberton Public Library. The Library (with financial support from the Barberton Historical Society) paid to have the windows refurbished by the Kurylo Stained Glass Studio in Akron. The windows were finally mounted in the Local History Room in 1986 during the library's major renovation. |
| Two smaller panels, currently displayed in the west windows of the Barberton Public Library's periodicals reading room, were part of a three panel set in the Anna Dean Farm mansion breakfast room. They depict two unidentified figures from mythology. These windows were donated to the library by Margaret Silliman in memory of her brother James Cormany, who had them in his Portage Lakes home. |
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