Canton boasts a rich aviation heritage, reaching back to the earliest pioneers of flight. Local resident Frank S. Lahm founded the Aero Club of Ohio here and his son Frank P. Lahm worked with the Wright brothers on some of their earliest test flights. William Martin's monoplane, the first single-wing airplane in the world, was invented here. Other Canton firsts include Martin's wife Almina, the world's first female airplane pilot; Bernetta Miller, one of the first women to earn a pilot's license; and Louise Timken, the first woman to own and operate a private jet. The Timken Company developed a steel alloy here that allowed planes to fly at higher altitudes.
Kimberly A. Kenney graduated summa cum laude from Wells College in Aurora, NY with a major in American history and minor in creative writing, where she became a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her Master of Arts degree in History Museum Studies at the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Kim served as Curator of Collections at the Historical Society of Rockland County in New City, NY before taking the position of Curator at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum in October 2001. She is the author of three books, Canton: A Journey Through Time, Canton's West Lawn Cemetery and Canton's Pioneers in Flight. She has also published an exhibition review in The Public Historian, the journal of the National Council for Public History. Her work has appeared in The Repository, The Boston Globe and the literary magazine Mused. She serves as editor of the Museums website at BellaOnline.com, where she has authored several ebooks. The Association of Gravestone Studies recently awarded her the Oakley Certificate of Merit for her interpretive projects at West Lawn Cemetery. Kim serves as the Region 5 representative for the National Digital Newspaper Project in Ohio and is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Mount Union.
