Category Archives: WALS Foundation

Archiving Wheeling Local History Researcher WALS Foundation

Walter P. Reuther Remembered 50 Years After His Death

Archiving Wheeling May 9, 2020May 25, 2022 2 Comments 5724 Views

By Jeffrey W. Mason

In a quote that looks like it could have been lifted from the speech of any number of Democratic candidates running to unseat President Donald J. Trump in 2020, Reuther in 1967 argued that, “Profit sharing in the form of stock distributions to workers would help to democratize the ownership of America’s vast corporate wealth which is today appallingly undemocratic and unhealthy.”

One of the most notable labor leaders, human rights advocates (and participant in Civil Rights-era protests including the March on Selma in 1965), peace activists (and opponent of the Vietnam War), and anti-nuclear spokesmen of the 20th century was silenced when Walter Philip Reuther, the charismatic and forceful president of the United Auto Workers, along with his wife and a number of friends and colleagues, perished in a tragic plane crash near Pellston, Michigan, 260 miles northwest of Detroit around 9:30 p.m. on May 9, 1970 as the party was enroute to the union’s recreation and educational center at Black Lake, just 25 miles from where the accident happened. Read More

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

Breaking the “Grippe” – Wheeling During the 1918 Spanish Influenza Pandemic

Archiving Wheeling March 20, 2020March 25, 2020 11 Comments 17581 Views

-Written and researched by Seán P. Duffy and Erin Rothenbuehler

Schools were closed. So were restaurants, amusement parks, theatres, movie houses, and even the public library. Hotels sat empty. Meetings, parties, and society events were canceled. Sporting events postponed. People were told to stay in their homes. Even church services were canceled.

Sound familiar?

We’ve been here before, more than a century ago, when the “Spanish Influenza,” aka the “Spanish Flu,” aka the “Grippe,” struck Wheeling and the rest of the planet in the fall of 1918. Read More

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: February 25, 1919 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling February 25, 2019February 27, 2019 Leave a Comment 3894 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 63

“That telegram you about the Less must of been correct for he got hurt about the 20 of Oct. He surly is not living or he would write to you & Minnie…”

In his twenty-first letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his sixth letter home from France, dated February 25, 1919, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that they are having a good bit of rain in France. He’s read that his division will finally sail for home in May. He’s glad because he hopes the sea will be less rough in a few months. The trip will be smoother with less chance of seasickness. It took 14 days to get to France. Dutch thinks the return trip will be faster. Dutch has finally been informed about the telegram announcing the death of Lester Scott, but he still hasn’t been able to find out anything from the Army.

Elsewhere on the same day, future professional baseball hall of famer Monte Irvin, one of the best players to make the switch from the Negro Leagues to the Major Leagues after Jackie Robinson, was born.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his twenty-first letter home, dated 100 years ago today, February 25, 1919.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: January 26, 1919 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling January 26, 2019February 27, 2019 Leave a Comment 2018 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 62

“I am getting all the wine I want over here. It is cheap here. 60 cent a quart. It wont hardly make a fellow light-headed but it is good-tasting. The whiskey is no good here. I never drink a drop of it…..”

In his twentieth letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his fifth letter home from France, dated January 26, 1919, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that, despite being homesick, he is well and hearty and feeling fine. They are stuck in France taking care of 107 horses and mules. Dutch wants to get back to farming by spring. He is getting all the cheap wine he wants but the French whiskey is no good. He still hasn’t heard anything about Les [the family back home received a death notice by telegram dated January 8]. He’s heard a rumor that Les died, and another rumor from Tib Meriner that Les was back at Camp Lee. He’s not sure when he’ll get to leave for home.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his twentieth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, January 26, 1919.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: December 16, 1918 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling December 16, 2018January 22, 2019 Leave a Comment 2138 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 61

“I think the war is over for good don’t you? For I think them Germans won’t want another war very soon the way they got beat in this one….”

In his nineteenth letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his fourth letter home from France, dated December 16, 1918, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle that he’s been worried about his family back home about because of that “disease raging” [a reference to the 1918 influenza or “Spanish Flu” pandemic, fueled in part by troop movements during the war, that killed an estimated 50 million people worldwide]. He wants to know if they’ve heard anything about his brother-in-law Les Scott [who had actually died on October 29, but neither Dutch nor his family would learn of this until January]. He knows Les was taken to the hospital and heard once that he might have died, but Dutch hopes his friend is somehow still alive. He’d seen Les about a week before he was injured but couldn’t talk because the German shelling was too intense. He’s not sure when they’ll get to come home, but hopes maybe sometime in the winter. He can’t talk about his experiences on the front until he gets home, except to say he was in the fight for 50 straight days and nights.

Elsewhere on the same day, German forces continued to withdraw from places like Finland, Kiev, and Estonia, and a “spectacular procession” and “stunning” woman suffrage protest was held in Washinton, D.C. on the anniversary of the 1773 Boston Tea Party.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his nineteenth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, December 16, 1918.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: November 25, 1918 – Charles Riggle

Archiving Wheeling November 27, 2018December 14, 2018 Leave a Comment 2637 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 60

“I can’t tell you about Less. He got badly hurt and they took him to the hospital. I heard once he died, but I don’t know if that was correct or not. I hope it wasn’t correct for I would like to went back to the states with him…”

In his eighteenth letter home since leaving for Camp Lee, and his third letter home from France, dated November 25, 1918, PFC Charles “Dutch” Riggle, a WWI soldier from Wheeling, WV, tells his brother James “Abe” Riggle he’s sorry he hasn’t written. He didn’t have much time to write while he was on the front, but now that the war is over, he has all kinds of time. He can’t wait to see the “good old states” again. Dutch had some narrow escapes on the front but came out without a scratch. A good many men from the 314th got hurt, but only four were killed. He has no news about Les. He was badly hurt and taken to the hospital. Dutch heard Les might have died. He hopes that isn’t true. He would like to go back to the states together. Les drove the rolling kitchen for Battery A. Dutch would like to be home for Thanksgiving and hunt rabbit. He and Tib Meriner had been hunting hogs. He’d like to get some good apples for winter. He doesn’t think there will be another war any time soon. They drove the “Dutch” 48 miles in 50 days.

Charles Riggle sent this letter a full two weeks after the armistice ending the Great War was signed in Paris. Elsewhere on that same day, Major General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck of Germany, known affectionately as “The Lion of Africa,” finally surrendered his forces in German East Africa. He had employed a guerrilla, bush-fighting style with his African Askari troops (he spoke fluent Swahili) to harass and confuse British forces, allowing him to exit from the war as the only undefeated military commander on either side. He later led a conservative opposition to Hitler and would have died in poverty but for a small pension organized by his former British and South African enemies.

Charles “Dutch” Riggle was drafted into the US Army in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, Virginia, where so many Wheeling draftees and volunteers—including his sister-in-law Minnie Riggle’s brother, Lester Scott—were trained. Dutch Riggle was a Private First Class in Battery F of the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, in France. Riggle was a farm boy with little formal education who grew up in the hills of Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He spelled many of his words phonetically. His letters have been transcribed exactly as they were written. This is his eighteenth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, November 25, 1918.

Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: October 29, 1918 – Regarding Lester Scott

Archiving Wheeling October 29, 2018January 9, 2019 Leave a Comment 10947 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 57

“Just as we were walking down that long line it suddenly crept over me and I realized that I would never again be in the United States…”

The “Great War” had raged in Europe for three years before the United States joined the conflict on the side of the Allies in April 1917.

Like most young American men of the era, those from Wheeling harbored romantic notions of war, it having been more than 50 years since the American Civil War ended. Thousands of Wheeling men eagerly registered for the draft in 1917.

Most of Wheeling’s WWI soldiers served in the U.S. Army’s 80th Division, known as the Blue Ridge in honor of the mountains. Most of these were trained at Camp Lee Virginia near Petersburg under the command of Colonel Robert S. Welsh. A large number from the Wheeling area, like Lester Scott and Charles Riggle, served in the 314th Field Artillery. They started shipping in large numbers to the trenches of France by summer 1918. A few months after that, local casualties were listed in the Wheeling newspapers almost daily. Read More

Ohio County Public Library Archives Uncategorized WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: September 8, 1918 – Lester Scott

Archiving Wheeling September 8, 2018 Leave a Comment 2865 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 58

“Minnie I often think to myself that it certainly must be a lonesome old place around their now since all of the boys have left. But I feel that there is a day coming and not far away when we will all be together again…”

In his fortieth letter home to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, says it’s a rainy day but all are in good spirits and happy. He talks with Charles [Riggle] and Tib [Meriner] every day. Tib has been promoted to sergeant. Les would like to hear from their father and is planning to write to him. He’s surprised that Tom [Riggle] didn’t pass the [draft] exam. he thinks Wheeling must be a lonesome place since all the boys are in France. But he feels they will all be together again soon.

Elsewhere on the same day, fighting along the front increased in violence and intensity as the German army made a stand. The New York Times declared, on a full page of photographs: “Win-the-War Spirit Runs High in Labor’s Greatest New York Parade.” And Derek Barton, a British chemist who would win the Nobel Prize in 1969, was born.

Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his fortieth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, September 8, 1918.

Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: September 6, 1918 – Lester Scott

Archiving Wheeling September 6, 2018September 7, 2018 Leave a Comment 1732 Views

“Somewhere in France…”

In his thirty-ninth letter home to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, says he sees Charles [Riggle] every day. He received a card from Walter Toland, who is in England. They’ve had some frost in France. Lester has rubber boots and warm clothes for winter. He hopes Minnie has received his Liberty Bonds. He’s sending Minnie and Jim half his allotment [$20] and he hopes they will use it.

Elsewhere on the same day, the German army remained in full retreat from the Somme, American troops reached the south bank of the Aisne river, and “The Stars and Stripes” (an American Expeditionary Forces soldiers’ newspaper published in Paris) announced that an “All Star Nine in Olive Drab” would tour to play club teams and hospital staff teams to entertain the A.E.F. troops. The all-stars would feature Major League baseball players including pitchers “Dots” Miller of the Pittsburgh Pirates and future Hall of Famer Grover Cleveland Alexander, who played for the Chicago Cubs at the time.

Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his thirty-ninth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, September 6, 1918.
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Archiving Wheeling Ohio County Public Library Archives WALS Foundation

From Camp Lee to the Great War: August 6, 1918 – Lester Scott

Archiving Wheeling August 8, 2018 Leave a Comment 2083 Views

From Camp Lee to the Great War: The Letters of Lester Scott and Charles Riggle: Podcast Episode 56

“When you answer write a big long letter and tell me all the news….”

In his thirty-eight letter home (and his first from France), to his sister Minnie Riggle, US Army Wagoner (mule team driver) Lester Scott, a World War I soldier from Wheeling, West Virginia, doesn’t have much of substance to say, probably in part because of security restrictions on what he can write. He’s in good health. He saw Will Riggle. It’s raining in France. And, like Charles Riggle [see our August 1 episode], he wishes he could attend the Jacktown Fair. Mostly he just wants all the news from home.

Elsewhere on the same day, the Second Battle of the Marne ended, the British Government issued a Declaration to the people of Russia, promising that they will not interfere in Russian politics, and Ferdinand Foch was named Marshal of France.

Lester Scott was drafted in 1917 and trained at Camp Lee, where so many Wheeling soldiers were trained. And, like so many of his Ohio Valley comrades, he served in the 314th Field Artillery Supply Company, Battery “A,” 80th (Blue Ridge) Division in France. This is his thirty-eighth letter home, dated 100 years ago today, August 6, 1918.