17 January 2008

the painting has been saved!

An incredible post in the Mahoning Valley History blog looks at the restoration of a painting damaged from moisture condensation in 2007. Some amazing photos can be seen of the project here.

Also included in this post is a biography of William Rayen:
"William Rayen was born in 1776 in Kent County, Maryland. He and his wife Margaret Caree Rayen operated a mercantile in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania from approximately 1796-1799, before settling in the Mahoning Valley before 1802.

When William Rayen died in 1854, his will set aside $31,390 for a public academy to be known as “The Rayen School.” P. Ross Berry, an African American brick and stone mason, built the four-room brick building at the corner of Wick and Wood in the Greek Revival style of architecture. It opened its doors in 1866 with forty students and a predominantly female faculty. It graduated Youngstown’s first high school students several years later."

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