Premier Bank Donates Items to Mahoning Valley Historical Society
Youngstown, OH (May 25, 2023) – Premier Bank is pleased to announce that the Bank has donated a collection of 1960s copper-and-wood printing blocks and a 1963 Department of Defense Sanitation Kit to the Mahoning Valley Historical Society (MVHS).“Mahoning Valley Historical Society is very happy to receive these historical items into our permanent collection. They speak to the 133 year presence of Premier Bank and its predecessors — The Home Savings & Loan Company and Home Savings Bank in downtown Youngstown. Additionally, the Civil Defense sanitation kit is complete, and reflects the reality of life in our community and country in the Cold War era of the 20th century. It will join other Civil Defense artifacts already in the MVHS collection and broaden our understanding of the preparations of fallout shelters in that period in case of the unthinkable calamity of nuclear war,” said H. William Lawson, Executive Director, Mahoning Valley Historical Society.
The copper-and-wood printing blocks are estimated to be from the 1960s. They were used to print illustrations in newspaper publications until the 1970s because they were both compatible with the industry standard at the time, letterpress printing, and allowed for the reproduction of grayscale values in images. The donated blocks include early Home Savings & Loan Company executives and managers, plus a view of the tower at 275 West Federal Street and a partial street map of downtown Youngstown.
The 1963 Department of Defensive Sanitation Kit was furnished by the Office of Civil Defense Department of Defense during the Vietnam War. The purpose of the kit was to provide standard supplies for waste disposal in fallout shelters. The kit comes complete with an instruction sheet, two unopened boxes of supplies, commode seat and ten rolls of 1958 ScotTissue. As part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Committee on Purchase of Blind-Made Products, these kits were all assembled and purchased from Workshops for the Blind with assistance from the National Industries for the Blind.
“We all play an important part in the preservation of local history,” explained Josh Toot, Mahoning Valley Market President, Premier Bank. “Memorabilia from the past, like these items, help to preserve the rich history of the Mahoning Valley."
For more information regarding the Mahoning Valley Historical Society, please call 330-743-2589 or visit mahoninghistory.org*.
About Premier Bank
Premier Bank, headquartered in Youngstown Ohio, operates 75 branches and 10 loan offices in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and West Virginia (West Virginia office operates as Home Savings Bank) and serves clients through a team of wealth professionals dedicated to each community banking branch. The holding company for Premier Bank and First Insurance Group is Premier Financial Corp. (Nasdaq: PFC), headquartered in Defiance, Ohio. First Insurance Group is a full-service insurance agency with nine offices in Ohio. For more information, visit the company’s website at YourPremierBank.com.
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