Steubenville Herald-Star Saturday, May 8, 1999 page 1B
REMEMBERING HER ROOTS
A TRIBUTE TO HER MOTHER Mary Minor Evans' book "A Twentieth Century lady: The Story of Katharine Sinclair Minor," is a tribute to her mother, a woman who made her own mark in Steubenville history. Evans is in Steubenville Tuesday and Wednesday for a book signing at Mayor Domenick Mucci's office, where she will present a copy to the city.
Tale celebrates history
Native author will visit to sign books
By Janice Klaski
Staff writer
STEUBENVILLE --What started out as a present for her mother's 90th birthday has become a book that chronicles the life of the late Katharine Sinclair Minor, a woman who made her own place in Steubenville history.
And author Mary Minor Evans hopes this parental tribute, "A Twentieth Century lake: The Story of Katharine Sinclair Minor," will find its niche among readers who appreciate the contributions of a woman who embraced her family, her friends - and her community.
Evans will be in Steubenville for a book signing to promote the newly released work at mayor Domenick Mucci's office from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. Wednesday.
She'll also present a copy to the city "because this is kind of a city book." Evans said. "My mother was born, raised and died here."
The 254-page book, which is "The story of the daughter of Victorian parents as she lived her life in Steubenville, in every decade of the 20th century," began as a birthday present - something Evans said her mother knew about.
"I started on it in 1996, but even before then, I had accumulated quite a bit of information," Evans said the project involved ongoing interviews with her mother whenever Evans came home from Duluth,, Minn., for visits.
"I just thought she was an interesting woman. I thought it would be a nice birthday present and a way to let the next generation know about her," said Evans.
But the tribute o her mother was never actually read by her mother, who died July 23, 1998 - on her 90th birthday. Instead, visitors to the funeral home had a chance to see excerpts of what Evans had written, and later encouraged her to publish it.
Evans did, creating M.C.M.E., her own publishing company, to get the job done.
The cover of the book is a picture of Minor in her late teens. The photo at the bottom is a panoramic view of Steubenville that Evans photographed herself less than 24 hours before her mother died.
"We were coming in for her birthday, and it was an absolutely gorgeous day to take a photo," Evans said of the picture that would show the city's historic district, where her mother was born - Belleview Boulevard, where she spent most of her adult life and Trinity Medical Center East where she died, the hospital Evans said she'll always think of as OHIO Valley Hospital, an institution Minor's father had a major role in getting started.
On the back of the book is a 1990 photo of Evans with her mother. Evans is wearing one of her mother's dresses from the 1929's The occasion is the wedding of one of Evans' four children.
"She had her own place in Steubenville history," Evans said of her mother, the youngest of five children born to Dohrman J. Sinclair, a capitalist, philanthropist and man of foresight who was healed as the "father of Steubenville."
Sinclair was a man who nurtured development of the area. The Steubenville Water Works, for example, was built under his direction and the Market Street Bridge likely never would have existed without his vision. He died on Aug. 6, 1915, at the age of 55, when he was killed by a train while examining blueprints at the LaBelle Iron Works yards where he was its direxctor - one of his many industrial interests.
His death came just one day before the scheduled formal opening of the 10-story Sinclair Building he had constructed at the corner of Fourth and Market streets, what at the time was the tallest skyscraper between Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
Minor, who was 7 when her father was killed, grew up in the family homestead at 523 N. Fourth St., a palatial house with stained-glass windows, a bowling alley in the basement and a ballroom on the third floor.
Evans said her mother and Sinclair shared similarities: foresight, a passion for people and a love for Steubenville.
"I think she was a remarkable lady," Evans said of her mother, who was named Ohio Mother of the Year in 1972, and who in the early 1930's was a successful life insurance underwriter at a time when women didn't work outside the home.
"She had a job and was earning more money than the rest of her family during the Depression," Evans said.
Minor was active in many organizations, too, including everything from the Daughters of the American Revolution to the Query Club, a 100-year-old organization that "started as a group of women who got together to do more constructive things with their time," Evans said of the group whose ticket to travel came through the pages of the many books they read and discussed.
Minor was involved in starting the Jefferson County Historical Museum, was active in the relocation of the Federal Land Office and worked on the Project 7 Committee for state Route 7.
Evans said her mother was a people person, a world traveler and a knowledgeable woman. She and her husband, Howard, who died in 1978, raised four children, including Evans, Howard, Margaret and Keekee.
Organizing the book, Evans said, turned out to be good therapy. "It helped me get past my mother's death, and it helped knowing it was something she really liked the idea of," she said.
"Her real love was carrying on her father's tradition of making Steubenville a wonderful place to be," Evans said. "She really believed in Steubenville."