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Mahoning Valley Historical Society honored at local event

Mahoning Valley Historical Society honored at local event

Yahoo14-03-2025

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) — Every ticket was sold Thursday for an event in Youngstown honoring a man and his organization that has done so much for the area.
Youngstown CityScape awarded Bill Lawson and the Mahoning Valley Historical Society with this year's 'Sweet Grass Roots Award.'
Since becoming executive director in 1991, Lawson has expanded from the society's offices on Wick Avenue to opening the Tyler History Center, where the event took place, and the soon-to-be-opened addition in the former IBM building on East Federal Street.
'We're very happy to host this event but also for all the love and honor that we're getting out of it too for the Historical Society, which we're coming up on our 150th anniversary and again we have been very much engaged in downtown and the university district and this is very sweet for us,' said Lawson.
Lawson was presented with a commissioned art piece by artist Daniel Rauschenbach depicting the three buildings owned and operated by the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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