Aurora High School senior Livia Ward is the 2011 winner of the $1,000 Aurora Historical Society’s Veron Biggar Scholarship. Livia created a PowerPoint presentation entitled Mid-Century Aurora Businesses: As Seen Through the Eyes of A Local Family. The program chronicles the history of the Hanes’ and their connections to Aurora via their real estate, barbering, and construction companies.
The history covers eighty years and mainly utilizes primary sources in the form of oral history interviews and photographs as its sources. The program is well written, thoughtful, and contains original research which will add to the AHS’s data regarding local business in the twentieth century.
Livia Ward’s project helps the AHS meet its mission, which is to enhance and maintain the community identity of Aurora by preserving & communicating its’ rich history. After graduation in June, Livia will attend Kent State University’s College of Business Administration.
To see this exhibit, as well as the four other scholarship exhibits, make an appointment. The Aurora Historical Society plans its grand reopening for Sunday, May 22, 2011 from 2-4 pm. This event is free and open to the public.