Celebrating 50 years of Alden Library with a look at OHIO’s founder, Manasseh Cutler

Alden Library will celebrate its 50^th anniversary from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, on the fourth floor of Alden Library, with presentations surrounding Manasseh Cutler, the founder of Ohio University.

Historian Dr. Ann Fidler will examine the life and legacy of Cutler in “Finding Manasseh,” and Claire Curran, assistant objects conservator from ICA-Art Conservation in Cleveland, will focus on conservation of one of his belongings in “The Conservation Treatment of a Trunk Belonging to Manasseh Cutler.”

Along with the two presentations held, there will be exhibits of OHIO’s unique collections, a reception of light hors d’oeuvres and music from the Woodstock era. The event is free and open to the public.  

About the presentation: “The Conservation Treatment of a Trunk Belonging to Manasseh Cutler” from 4-5 p.m.
Curran will talk about what conservation is, mostly focusing on the conservation treatment of the Cutler trunk itself. She will explain how she assesses and executes the treatment of the trunk, explain why she did what she did, and its long-term impact on the trunk.

There are two areas about conservation that Curran will concentrate on; stabilization, which is physically putting the material in a state that is safer and less likely to get damaged, and aesthetics, purely what it looks like to the public.

“My main goal with the Cutler trunk was to make sure that the skin was better attached to the wood frame so that when it was handled, stored, or exhibited, there was less of a chance for damage,” Curran said. “Our biggest concern as conservators is stability as we care most about preservation of the physical object over time, and the overall aesthetic appearance.”

About the presentation: “Finding Manasseh” from 5:30-6:30 p.m.
An ordained minister, Yale graduate, and father of eight children, Manasseh Cutler (1742-1823) was instrumental in the formation of the Ohio Company of Associates, whose purpose was not only the purchase of land in the old Northwest Territory, but the acquisition of a land grant from Congress to establish a university. Although surveyed in 1799, it was not until 1804 that Ohio University was established.

Fidler became intrigued with Cutler’s personality, accomplishments and his association with OHIO after encountering a copy of the “Life, Journals and Correspondence of Rev. Manasseh Cutler” while working in her Cutler Hall office several years ago.

“One of my jobs in the provost’s office was to do speech writing, and as a historian working at a University that had an intriguing history, I was always trying to incorporate historical events, ideas and people into my speeches,” Fidler explains. “So, it was very natural for me to see those books on the shelf, pull them down and start looking through them.”

Fidler is currently working on a biographical account of Cutler, which is still a work in progress, but she finds what she has learned, so far, to be quite compelling.

“To date, Manasseh’s life has been rendered selectively by proud descendants or glancingly by historians using broad strokes.  What is missing is a full and frank account of a man who was by turns brilliant, anxious, curious, vain, mischievous, downhearted and driven, sometimes to unfortunate ends, by his sense of duty and honor,” Fidler said.

Fidler hopes the audience, who may know Cutler only as the sedate person gazing out of his portrait in the University, will walk away from her talk with a better appreciation of the unique man behind the establishment of OHIO.

For more information: https://www.ohio.edu/library/about/news-events/celebrating-50-years-alden-library-ohio-s-founding-father-manasseh-cutler.