Dover Public Library to host John Glenn program April 23

As part of the America 250 celebration, Hope Neal of the John & Annie Glenn Museum will present A History of America’s First Orbiter: John Glenn at 6:30 p.m. April 23 at the Dover Public Library.

Neal’s presentation will trace Glenn’s life from his birth in Cambridge through his childhood in New Concord and into adulthood, when his horizons widened to include the final frontier. Glenn was a prominent figure in American and Ohio history whose service in the U.S. Marine Corps and education at Muskingum College, which included flight training at Harry Clever Field in New Philadelphia, helped him become one of the nation’s first astronauts.

He later served as Ohio’s longest-serving senator before retiring and returning to space as the oldest astronaut at the time. Later in life, he focused on future generations, helping establish the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University, along with assisting in the creation of the John & Annie Glenn Museum and the National Veterans Memorial and Museum.

Neal is assistant director of operations at the Museum Association of East Muskingum, which manages the John & Annie Glenn Museum for Ohio History Connection. She earned a bachelor’s degree in history from Muskingum University in 2022 and is a month away from completing a master’s degree in library and information science through the Luddy School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering at Indiana University Indianapolis. She has spent the past six years working in public history and volunteering for Cambridge Dickens Victorian Village and the Muskingum County Community Foundation.

To register, visit www.doverlibrary.org/events or call 330-343-6123.

Dover Public Library is located at 525 N. Walnut St., Dover.