As Stark County celebrates its bicentennial in 2009, Western Reserve Public Media takes a look at its past, present and future in Stark Contrast: A History of Stark County. The new 60-minute documentary, which premieres on Monday, July 13, at 10 p.m. on Western Reserve PBS, traces the county’s story from its geological roots to the people and enterprises that thrive there today. Encore performances of the program will air on Tuesday, July 14, at 2 a.m. and Saturday, July 18, at 5 p.m.

Ted Henry, retired WEWS-TV news anchor and Canton native, is narrator for Stark Contrast: A History of Stark County. Funding for the production has been provided by The Hoover Foundation, Stark Community Foundation, Stark Industrial, Schauer Insurance, The Albert W. and Edith V. Flowers Charitable Foundation and Diebold Inc.

To tell the region’s story, Stark Contrast: A History of Stark County looks at the land itself, Stark County’s early settlers and communities, industrial development and educational and cultural institutions. It also follows two groups of residents, representing the county’s older and younger generations. All of their stories are interspersed with expert interviews, narration and video footage to bring the history of Stark County to life.

The program explores the early development of Canton, the county’s largest city, and other cities and towns, including Alliance, Louisville, Minerva, Massillon, Brewster, East Canton, Waynesburg and East Sparta. It also talks of the early 19th century industrial boom, heralded by the building of canals and then railroads. Manufacturers including the Timken Co., the Hoover Company, Dueber-Hampden Watch Co. and Republic Steel Corp. all established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, set up shop and would eventually employ thousands of people.

Through the wealth generated in the industrial boom, philanthropy allowed the arts and education to thrive. The production looks at the county’s five colleges and universities and cultural organizations including the Canton Museum of Art, Massillon Museum, McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, National First Ladies’ Library, Canton Ballet, the Canton Symphony Orchestra and more. Stark Contrast: A History of Stark County also focuses on a few of the area’s wonderful diversions, past and present — the age-old McKinley-Massillon football rivalry, Meyers Lake, Taggart’s Ice Cream Parlor and the Moonlight Ballroom, among many others.

In tandem with the documentary, Western Reserve Educational Services is producing standards-based classroom materials directed at middle school students. They include a teacher guide and professional development workshops to train educators on the integration of the project’s materials into the classroom. For more information, call Jeff Good at 1-800-554-4549.

Images courtesy of McKinley Presidential Library & Museum and Canton-Stark County Convention & Visitors’ Bureau