Canton's West Lawn Cemetery is best known as the original burial site of President William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. But, it is also the final resting place of thousands of Canton citizens, including some of the most influential and famous residents in the city's history. Names like "Boss" Hoover, H.H. Timken, and John Saxton stand out among the gravestones. Canton's industrialists, inventors, politicians, and entrepreneurs who are buried here left legacies such as hospitals, companies, buildings, and one of the oldest newspapers in Ohio. Cemeteries are important links to our past, and Canton's West Lawn Cemetery explores Canton's own history through the stories of these interred citizens.
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.
