Name/Title
Granite Fragment in Green Box.Entry/Object ID
2010.1.2257Description
This is a small green box, not a commerative box, is used to store a piece of granite from the McKinley Monument in Canton, Ohio. The box measures 2 1/8" wide x 1 1/2" tall x 3/4" deep and is made of paper. The outside of the box has some gold letters and numbers, but they are difficult to make out. The interior top and bottom of the box are plain and contains a piece of granite. The granite is irregular, almost circular and flat, in shape measuring 1 1/4" across, is multicolored in shades of white, black, gray, and beige, and sparkles due to the content of material from which it is made. The lid contains a white label with the letters reading "MO-DE-9, in Sec. Am."
We asked Kimberly Kenney, Curator of the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, Canton, Ohio for information on this object and she supplied us with the following:
"One would think that we would have lots of information about those little boxes....however....
What we do know is that they were sold as souvenirs in the tiny gift shop inside the Monument that is now the elevator. There are a variety of types of this souvenir, some marble and some granite, some in boxes and some affixed to a small piece of cardboard, which we assume were made from unused materials that were designated to be part of the Monument but were not needed. We do not have any records of how many were sold, or when they were sold. This has always vexed us!
As far as we know, they were not sold to help fund the construction of the Monument, but were rather a keepsake souvenir after it was opened."Collection
BechtelAcquisition
Accession
2010.1Source or Donor
Mr. BechtelAcquisition Method
Gift/PurchaseCredit Line
BECHTEL