May 5 at noon: Victorian Trade Cards

Tony Paree will discuss his new book, Victorian Trade Cards of Wheeling, WV. The 188 page collection of full color images of vintage trade cards is a tribute to the companies and merchants that made Wheeling a thriving retail hub in the Victorian Era. Mr. Paree spent 45 years working at Crone’s men’s store in Wheeling and became a passionate collector of these interesting retail cards.

Wheeling Film Society (noon) and Eric Wittenberg (7 pm)

Apr. 24 - Towngate at 7, Screening: The Purple Rose of Cairo (Woody Allen, 1985) - 82 mins. Apr. 28 - Library at Noon, Conversation: The Purple Rose of Cairo

John Whitehead

Woody Allen’s hybrid of romantic comedy and fantasy set in 1935 in a small, Depression-gripped New Jersey town, centers on Cecilia, who prefers the movies to her real life with an abusive, out—of-work husband. One of the two movies she goes to see during the film is Top Hat; the other is an equally frothy Hollywood confection, set in Egypt and Manhattan, called The Purple Rose of Cairo. Cecilia becomes unusually absorbed in this movie: one of the characters literally comes down from the screen to meet and fall in love with her, and eventually takes her back into his luminous black-and-white world of nightclubs and penthouse apartments. Allen has long maintained that this comes closest of all his films to accomplishing exactly what he’d set out to make.




And at 7 PM: People's University: The Civil War 1865 & the Lincoln Legacy

Phil Sheridan Reexamined

“Five Feet Four Will Do In a Pinch” – A Reassessment of Phil Sheridan. This class will examine the successes, failures and questionable character of General Phil Sheridan, focusing on his involvement in the closing days of the Civil War.

Instructor: Eric J. Wittenberg

Eric Wittenberg

Eric J. Wittenberg has a BA from Dickinson College and an MA and JD from the University of Pittsburgh. An attorney and Civil War historian, he is the author of 16 books and numerous articles on Civil War cavalry operations. His articles have appeared in North & South, Blue & Gray and many other journals. Eric regularly travels the country to lecture on the war, and he is frequently asked to lead Civil War battlefield tours. Battlefield preservation work is very important to him and he maintains a well-regarded blog, “Rantings of a Civil War Historian.”

Dick Phillips at Noon and Brian Matthew Jordan at 7

April 21 Arthur St. Clair: The Invisible Patriot 

Brigadier General Arthur St. Clair walked with the giants of the American Revolution -- Washington, Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, Greene, Lafayette and others. And yet, for more than two centuries, St. Clair has been neglected by historians. Ohio Valley native Dick Phillips has written a new book to address this unfortunate omission.

Then at 7 PM

Brian Matthew Jordan

People's University, The Civil War 1865 and the Lincoln legacy--Veterans After the War

On Tuesday, April 21 at 7 PM, the People's University, the Civil War 1865 and the Lincoln Legacy at the Ohio County Public Library will present, Fraternity, Charity, Loyalty – Veterans After the War. A look at how Civil War veterans struggled to readjust to life after the war, having to face the realization that they stood as unwelcome reminders to an America eager to heal and forget. Instructor Brian Matthew Jordan is the author of Marching Home: Union Veterans and Their Unending Civil War (2015). He holds a PhD in history from Yale University and is lecturer of Civil War Era studies at Gettysburg College. He lives with his wife in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, a stone’s throw from the battlefield. People's University programs are free and open to the public. Complimentary beverages are provided. Call the library at 302-232-0244 or visit the library's web site at www.ohiocountlibrary.org for more information.

South Wheeling Memories at noon and Robert E. Lee Reconsidered at 7 PM

On Tuesday, April 7 at noon, share your South Wheeling Memories at Lunch With Books, as the Neighborhood Nostalgia Series continues.

Then at 7 PM at the People's University, The Civil War 1865

Class 6: Reexamining General Robert E. Lee

The "Marble Man" Reconsidered: Robert E. Lee and the Leadership of the Army of Northern Virginia 

 

This class will reassess Lee's leadership of the famed Army of Northern Virginia; from his battlefield strategies to his relationships with subordinates, and see how and why Lee seemingly went from the brink of victory to the brink of destruction so quickly. 

Instructor: Kris White