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Products of the
Wheeling Spoken History Project
(Click on a magnifying glass icon
for more information on that topic)
 -One 482-page report entitled, "As They Say in Wheeling," consisting of 16 chapters
-One 127-page Interim Report on Wheeling's spoken history, prepared for the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation and the National Park Service
-30 part newspaper series, "Wheeling's Spoken History" published in the Sunday News-Register. The series began in August, 24, 1994 and continued through December 11, 1994 on a weekly basis. The articles began again on March 26, 1995 and ran through September 24, 1995 on a bi-weekly basis.
-22 part radio series, "Talking Across the Lines," aired weeknights in May, 1995 and re-aired weekly June through November, 1995 on commercial Country/Western station WWVA, 1170 AM, broadcasting over 50,000 watts, reaching 18 states and 6 Canadian Provinces. Commissioned to serve as an antidote to hate, these fifteen-minute programs inter-mix country music with the voices of Wheeling citizens discussing themes such as race relations, employment, urban neighborhoods before the bulldozers came, and the possibilities for redevelopment in an atmosphere of tolerance.
-5 interpretative audio tapes with the following titles:
1) "Gathered at the Ohio River"
2) "Big Bill Lias: Wheeling's Gangster Era"
3) "Looking Down at Downtown Wheeling"
4) "Centre Market: A Spoken History"
5) "Stories from the Old World and New"
-160 life story interviews recorded on radio quality equipment
-16 video (Hi-8) tapes of special Wheeling events and cultural programs
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Chapter Headings of "As They Say in Wheeling"
The Final Report of the Wheeling Spoken History Project |
I) Sixteen Days on the Ocean: Journeys to Wheeling
II) A Collage of Life Experiences: Learning to Appreciate One Another for Our Differences
III) No Melting Pot There: Life in the Old Neighborhoods
IV) What the Haves Have: Class and Ethnicity in an Industrial City
V) They Made a Lot of Gangsters: Industrialism and the Underworld
VI) It Was a Corporate Town: Economy, Commerce and the Work Place in Mines and Mills
VII) River and Rails: Moving Goods and People
VIII) Wheeling's Work-A-Day World: A History of Diversity in the Work Place
IX) Going Up to Peanut Heaven: Race Relations in a Border Town
X) The Price of Progress: An Era of Incalculable Change
XI) You Don't See Their Tears: Story of a South Wheeling Church
XII) Thriving in a New Land:
Part 1: Recipes for a Traditional Life
Part 2: Expressions of Religious Faith
Part 3: Clubs and Organizations
XIII) Got a Feeling I'll Be Stealing Back To Wheeling: Wheeling's Sizzling Night Life and Lavish Leisure
XIV) With Words and Fists: Making Room in Schools for All the Kids
XV) Wanting Our Young People Home:
Part 1: The Young Need the Old; the Old Need the Young
Part 2: Doing the Right Thing
XVI) If the Conversation Works Well: Conclusion |
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"Wheeling's Spoken History" A 30-Part Newspaper Series Published in the Wheeling News-Register
August 28, 1994 - September 24, 1995 |
| September 24, 1995 |
PASSING THE TORCH:
Forging A Common Meeting Ground Downtown |
| September 10, 1995 |
THE PRICE OF PROGRESS:
It Takes A Whole Village To Raise A Child |
| August 27, 1995 |
'WE DIDN'T KNOW WE WERE POOR':
Stories Of Creative Survival |
| August 13, 1995 |
WORKING FOR A LIVING:
Women in the Mills |
| July 30, 1995 |
A RAILROADER'S RAILROAD:
Hooked On The B & O |
| July 16, 1995 |
'EVERYBODY WAS IN THE SAME BOAT':
Benwood's Italian Community (written by Gordon L. Swartz III, intern) |
| July 2, 1995 |
THE RIVER AS NEIGHBOR:
A Wheeling Island Childhood |
| June 18, 1995 |
1936 FLOOD STORIES: Part Four:
Puppies on the Porch |
| June 4, 1995 |
1936 FLOOD STORIES: Part Three:
How One Family Made It Through |
| May 21, 1995 |
1936 FLOOD STORIES: Part Two:
Taking Grandma Out |
| May 7, 1995 |
1936 FLOOD STORIES: Part One:
Chickens on Couches |
| April 23, 1995 |
GOT A FEELING I'LL BE STEALING BACK TO WHEELING:
Wheeling's Sizzling Night Life and Lavish Leisure: Part Three: Parks and Amusements |
| April 9, 1995 |
GOT A FEELING I'LL BE STEALING BACK TO WHEELING:
Wheeling's Sizzling Night Life and Lavish Leisure: Part Two: WWVA and the Swing Era |
| March 26, 1995 |
GOT A FEELING I'LL BE STEALING BACK TO WHEELING:
Wheeling's Sizzling Night Life and Lavish Leisure: Part One: Hot Times On The Old Town |
| December 11, 1994 |
YOU DON'T SEE THEIR TEARS:
The Closing of St. Ladislaus Polish Church |
| December 4, 1994 |
WOMEN ON THE HOME FRONT |
| November 27, 1994 |
ECONOMY, COMMERCE AND THE WORKPLACE |
| November 20, 1994 |
OWE MY SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE |
| November 13, 1994 |
TRADITIONAL CULTURE AND RELIGIOUS FOLKLIFE:
Family Life And Ethnicity In Old Wheeling |
| November 6, 1994 |
TRADITIONAL CULTURE AND RELIGIOUS FOLKLIFE:
Recipes For A Traditional Life |
| October 30, 1994 |
RACE STILL MATTERS IN WHEELING:
Coming Clean With The Historical Record |
| October 23, 1994 |
SPEAKING OUT AGAINST RACISM |
| October 16, 1994 |
RACE RELATIONS:
African-Americans As An Undustrial Underclass |
| October 9, 1994 |
LITTLE CHICAGO |
| October 2, 1994 |
JUMPING INTO THE MAIN STREAM |
| September 25, 1994 |
PLURALISM, OR A PARTITIONED SOCIETY? |
| September 18, 1994 |
A MELTING POT, OR A TOSSED SALAD? |
| September 11, 1994 |
THE EXPERIENCE OF WHEELING:
Learning To Love It For What It Is |
| September 4,1994 |
GATHERING LIFE STORIES:
Broad Mixes Of People In Wheeling |
| August 28, 1994 |
ARTIST PAINTS ANOTHER PICTURE |
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| "Talking Across The Lines" a 22-part radio series |
| This 22-part radio series aired on WWVA--1170 AM each weeknight in May, 1995 and re-aired weekly June through November, 1995. The series was written for the Wheeling Citizens' Task Force Against Hate by Carrie Nobel Kline, edited and produced by Michael Kline from field recordings of the Wheeling Spoken History Project. Interweaving voices of Wheeling citizens, the programs address human rights issues and put forth positive images of Wheeling life. Against a backdrop of "Top 40" Country hits, these fifteen-minute programs tackle themes such as employment, race relations, urban neighborhoods before the bulldozers came, and the possibilities for redevelopment in an atmosphere of tolerance. |
"Talking Across the Lines" is a production of the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation. Following is the title and a description of each program.
1. "Journey to Wheeling"--Five memorable Wheeling citizens tell of the obstacles and perils of the Old World that spurred their journey to Wheeling. Who came to Wheeling in the earlier parts of this Century? What did they leave behind? And what were they seeking?
2. "Marketing In Center Wheeling"--Smell the aromas, hear the merchants holler, feel the bustling crowds in Wheeling's Centre Market, a farmer's market that operated until the clock struck midnight.
3. "Germans in Center Wheeling"--What was life like in the ethnic neighborhoods of the '20s, '30s and '40s? And what happened to Wheeling's German-Americans during World Wars I and II?
4. "Little Athens and a Corner in Lebanon"--Wake up and smell the Turkish coffee in old Center Wheeling, a neighborhood teeming with immigrants who labored in Wheeling's mines and mills.
5. "You Rolling Old River" --Have you ever been swimming and fishing in Big Wheeling Creek or the mighty Ohio River? Dip into these tales of recreation along Wheeling's waterways. Jump off a river barge. Dive into South Wheeling's marble pool.
6. "Coal Camp Living"--It hasn't been long since coal miners and their families were beholden to the company for food, clothing and shelter through company houses and the company store. One former miner recalls his father's mining days before the union came in and won certain regulations.
7. "I Owe My Soul to the Company Store"--Listen to the humorous description of one man's first day hired by the mine, from the medical exam to the heavy-handed sales tactics used at the company store.
8. "Looking At Your Last Paycheck" --How does it feel to find yourself a thirty-nine-year-old unemployed coal miner being retrained at West Virginia Northern Community College through the federal Clean Air Act? In this heartfelt account we hear from one ex-miner who is practical, determined and, in his words, "mostly not bitter."
9. "Community of the Work Place" --Two women talk about the days when life in the plant wasn't "my job" or "your job," but "our job" to do together--and it was fun!
10. "Fathers and Sons at Work" --How has the industrial work place changed for younger generations? How have attitudes toward work and family been transformed?
11. "What the Haves Have"--Four Wheeling citizens discuss the socioeconomic lines that separate neighborhoods.
12. "Survival Stories"--Wheeling people recall growing up when, "We didn't know we were poor, because everyone around us was too." This piece describes with humor and tenderness parents who set an example of facing hardship with a positive, upbeat outlook, finding ways to satisfy their children with what they could create by hand.
13. "It Takes A Whole Village To Raise A Child"--This program takes listeners back to a time and a place where neighbors knew and looked out for one another. Children were raised by an entire neighborhood.
14. "Thumbs Down On My Candy Bar!" --Neighborhood rituals of the East Wheeling community of the '60s, when summer evenings were for visiting with the next door neighbors and days were for living in the Elks Playground.
15. "The Price of Progress" --Did we give up too much when the bulldozers of the 1960s and early '70s dismantled close-knit communities where everybody knew everyone in the neighborhood, and no one was allowed to fall through the cracks?
16. "My Soul Looks Back And Wonder" --How did Wheeling's African-American families keep the faith in an era of segregation? In the midst of frustrations and disappointments there was still plenty of opportunity for fun and a swinging night life.
17. "Verbal Attacks You Can't Take Back" --When will we see ourselves as members of one human race?
18. "Hate Is Not a Family Value" --"You can be anybody that you want to be. You can love whoever you will, " says the theme song for this upbeat program on homophobia.
19. "HIV and Positive"--The AIDS epidemic is invading the lives of men, and now more than ever, women, teens and young children. The director of the West Virginia Task Force on AIDS and other health professionals discuss how people can live positively and fully while being HIV positive, and how neighbors and friends can help.
20. Food for Interaction"--Wheeling summers are filled with ethnic food and music festivals every weekend, featuring Polish, Croatian, Lebanese, African-American, Italian, Greek, Ukrainian and German extravaganzas. What better way to start walking in other people's shoes than to taste their culinary delights?
21. "Passing The Torch" --Teaching today's youth what we forgot to pass along about taking care of our community members.
22. "Common Meeting Ground Downtown"--A former school board member, two spokespeople for the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation, and a grandmother of dozens call upon us all to harness the strength of this community by working together to reclaim the downtown and all parts of the City.
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This series was sponsored by the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation.
Air time was donated by WWVA, 1170 AM Radio.
The initiative for this project came from the Wheeling Citizens Task Force Against Hate.
The producers were Michael and Carrie Nobel Kline of the Spoken History Project. |
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| Highly Produced Interpretative Audio Tapes |
1) December, 1995: "Gathered At The Ohio River," a 65-minute collage of 32 Ohio Valley voices with underscoring music spanning from classical to country, from gospel to show tunes- -Featured are the recollections of river men, children who played in the river, descriptions of Wheeling's floods, the lock and dam system, and the goings on along the Wharf before the construction of the parking garage.
Click on Soundbytes (above) to hear selections from hour-long
audio pieces produced for "Gathered At The Ohio River"
2) October, 1995: "Big Bill Lias: Wheeling's Gangster Era," a 52-minute compilation of eighteen recorded interviews featuring Bill Lias and the history of Wheeling's underworld from the 1920s to 1950s, set to musical themes consistent with the era
3) October, 1995: "Looking Down at Downtown Wheeling," a 45-minute audio accompaniment for the Point Overlook Museum, containing 23 voices, with period music and sound effects
4) July, 1995: "Centre Market: A Spoken History" - -A 45-minute audio component of a "history wall" to be constructed in the old farmer's market, this tape features Wheeling's stories of ethnic and racial diversity in a bustling urban neighborhood surrounding Centre Market.
5) October, 1994: "Stories from the Old World and New"- -This 30-minute audio tape, produced to accompany the "Faces of Wheeling" exhibit at the West Virginia Independence Hall, chronicles the journeys and arrival in Wheeling of an Italian immigrant who boarded a train from Ellis Island to Wheeling in 1913, a young Italian mother who followed her husband to the New World in the early 1930s, a German Jewish Holocaust escapee, the Czechoslovakian father of a Country/Western singer, a Croatian man who arrived in the United States on Christmas Eve, 1902, and the migration stories of two African-American citizens, one in the 19th Century, the other in 1954.
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High-8 Video Tapes Recorded By
The Wheeling Spoken History Project |
| August 12, 1994 |
"Thomas Cox: Stained Glass in Wheeling" |
| August 19, 1994 |
"Lane Frenchman Planning Consultants Present Wheeling's Heritage Plan" |
| August 24, 1994 |
"Demolition of Old Stucco House in Woodsdale" |
| September 1, 1994 |
Tour of Hanibal, OH Lock and Dam with Lucian Beckett and Clifford Board |
October 6,
1994 |
"Gene Long: Wheeling Island Corner Museum" |
| October 10, 1994 |
"Gene Long: Wheeling's Golden Days" (2 tape set) |
| October 31, 1994 |
"Pierogi Making at St. Ladislaus Church" |
| November 10, 1994 |
"African-American Panel, From Heritage to Hope" |
| February 24, 1995 |
"Racism and Employment," Panel discussion/Public Meeting, West Virginia Northern Community College and Clergy and Laity Concerned, Wheeling Chapter |
| March 6, 1995 |
"Debate Over the Demolition of Echo Manor," City of Wheeling Planning Commission Meeting |
July 2,
1995 |
West African Music and Dance Performance by Jabali Afrika, with Wheeling citizens participating, African-American Jubilee |
| July 21, 1995 |
"Coming to America," Italian Festival Talking Tent Panel |
| July 21, 1995 |
"Finding Work in Wheeling," Italian Festival Talking Tent Panel |
| July 22, 1995 |
"Italian Neighborhoods," Italian Festival Talking Tent Panel |
| July 22, 1995 |
"Italian Family Life," Italian Festival Talking Tent Panel |
| July 23, 1995 |
"Italian-American Clubs," Italian Festival Talking Tent Panel |
| October 12, 1995 |
Tour of LaBelle Nail Plant |
| October 26, 1995 |
"Breaking the Silence: A Woman's Forum"--Exploring the Issues of Domestice Violence Through Testimony and Dramatic Presentation |
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