Volume 2 is Out!

Now available: The Wheeling Family Volume 2

The Wheeling Family, Volume 2: More Immigrants, Migrants & Neighborhoods is now available at Mt. De Chantal Kroger, and will be available soon at the Wheeling Artisan Center, UPS Store on Washington Avenue, The Medicine Shop in Fulton, Words and Music and other fine retail establishments.

Back cover text:

Like most American industrial towns, Wheeling once attracted a multitude of migrants and immigrants with the promise of plentiful jobs. In fact, between 1850 and 1950, Wheeling's population grew by more than five hundred p

ercent. In the years since 1950, the town's population has dropped almost as precipitously as it once rose. Each departure and arrival provides a story -- of families, of neighborhoods, of Wheeling. In The Wheeling Family: A Celebration of Immigrants and Their Neighborhoods, we attempted to record a representative sample of those stories from those who still remembered. But thirty-five family histories and nearly six hundred photographs proved insufficient to fully capture Wheeling's fascinating diversity. This second volume is an attempt to complete the mosaic. In addition to the overflow of immigrant stories from volume one, the reader will find stories of African American families who migrated to the region in search of freedom and opportunity, as well as more contemporary immigrants stories from Asia. Finally, the research was expanded to include stories from neighboring Upper Ohio Valley river towns whose residents and cultures have always been inextricably linked to Wheeling's. These stories, recorded as the region's human tide ebbs, are the testimonies of the last witnesses to a bygone era. We hope you enjoy experiencing them.

This captivating NEW local history from author Sean Duffy and Creative Impressions publishing is the highly anticipated follow up to the popular 2008 book, The Wheeling Family: A Celebration of Immigrants & Neighborhoods. An incredible collection of oral history narratives and hundreds of stunning photographs, The Wheeling Family will make a fascinating and thoughtful gift for anyone interested in local history. The new book builds upon the immigration and neighborhood stories of the first, while expanding the scope to include stories from a variety of new groups and different river towns of the Upper Ohio Valley.

Praise for Volume 1:

"A fascinating narrative history..." West Virginia History

"Sean Duffy's book brings Wheeling's vibrant and diverse heritage to life again." -author George Fetherling

"The most heartwarming and fantastic book I have ever read!" -Bob Oglinsky, Wheeling

"Wow. I felt like I had been waiting my entire life to read some of these stories and didn’t even realize it. " -Rhonda Early, Seymour Indiana

"A beautiful touch of nostalgia...the labor of love you have produced is a treasure I will cherish always. Your book is a gift!" -Joyce (Purpura) Calamia, Philadelphia, PA

Volume 2 back cover

Collecting Stories for Volume 2

Please contact me to include your family's story and photographs: wheeling_immigrants@yahoo.com

Looking for:

• Immigration Stories
• Stories about why and when your ancestors came to Wheeling or the Ohio Valley (Migration Stories)
• Neighborhood Stories
• Vintage photographs of immigrants and old neighborhoods/businesses
• Stories that reveal Wheeling and the Ohio Valley as they once were
• Stories that provide examples of Old World Cultural Traditions
• Traditional Recipes

Now Available Online

You can now buy copies of The Wheeling Family online, HERE.

Work on Volume 2 to Begin Soon

Volume 1 of The Wheeling Family: A Celebration of Immigrants and Their Neighborhoods will be released on Thursday, December 10, 2008. The focus of the first volume was the immigrant groups who arrived in Wheeling between 1850 and 1950.

Due to an overwhelming response and the lack of representation of some groups, a second volume was planned long ago.

Volume 2 will begin with stories and photographs from African American families whose ancestors migrated to Wheeling from the South seeking opportunity and a better life after the Civil War. It will also include the overflow of stories from Volume 1, stories from immigrant groups not represented in Volume 1, and a final section on newer immigrant groups, including those from Asia, Eastern Europe, and other parts of the world.

If you would like to ensure that your family's story is included in Volume 2, please contact Sean Duffy at wheeling_immigrants@yahoo.com or at 304-232-0244. We will begin scheduling interviews after the New Year holiday.

Welcome

Welcome to Wheeling Immigration. This blog is dedicated to the creation of a new book called: The Wheeling Family: A Celebration of Immigrants and Their Neighborhoods. Through oral histories and photographs, the book will explore the history of immigrant groups in and around Wheeling, West Virginia from the mid-19th through the mid-20th centuries.

The book will be published by Creative Impressions Studios and written by Sean Duffy of the Ohio County Public Library. We plan to have it ready for Christmas 2008.

We are currently conducting research and interviews. Due to overwhelming response, a second volume is planned.

The book will include stories and memories about the prominent Wheeling neighborhoods of the period: especially South Wheeling, Center Wheeling, East Wheeling, North Wheeling, Wheeling Island, Elm Grove, Woodsdale, Fulton, and Warwood.

We are hoping to hear from as many different immirgant/ethnic groups as possible.

The purpose of the book is to remember and pay tribute to the rich tradition of immigration in Wheeling’s history. We will explore the mix of nationalities drawn to Wheeling because of industry and opportunity. We will also explore how and why these groups settled in certain neighborhoods and stayed together. This will include a look at the cherished traditions and customs people brought from the old country and continued in their new Ohio Valley home.

From the back cover:

"They risked everything, leaving behind all that was comfortable and familiar to cross an ocean in pursuit of a better life. Drawn by bountiful jobs in America’s industrial heart, many came to Wheeling for some of the same reasons that — with tragic irony — would later prompt their descendants to leave town. Strangers in a strange land, they banded together with others from their home country, creating ethnic neighborhoods that blended the Old and New worlds into something unique.

Though most of the old ones have long since passed, there are still among us those who knew them well and learned their stories. But even these later generations are slipping away, and with them, the last traces of Old World traditions and wisdom. The bridge to our immigrant past is crumbling, and this book aims, in small part, to rebuild that bridge by recording those fading memories through oral histories and vintage photographs. Think of this as a “family album” for our beloved city.

Within these pages you will meet the gritty, courageous immigrants of Wheeling and learn about the neighborhoods they made their own. These are the people whose strong hands, backs and hearts built the National Road and the B&O Railroad; who labored in the steel mills, the glass factories, the coal mines, the tobacco factories, and the cut nail plants; who loaded the barges, shoveled the coke, laid the bricks and stone, and dug the graves; who built Wheeling from the ground up with skill, faith, determination and brute strength. These are our people: the Poles of South Wheeling; the Irish, and Italians of East Wheeling; the Greeks, Lebanese, and Germans of Center Wheeling; and all the other groups comprising Wheeling’s cosmopolitan mosaic.These are their stories. And this book is a celebration of their lives. "

Those interested may contact Sean Duffy at the Ohio County Public Library to make arrangements for an interview and to have vintage family photos scanned. If you have an immigrant or neighborhood story to share, please call Sean at 304-232-0244, or contact him by email at wheeling_immigrants@yahoo.com.

If you are scheduled for an interview, please bring with you the following items:

* vintage photos of family members who were immigrants
* vintage photographs of your family's house
* vintage photos of the family's neighborhood
* passports
* Ellis Island documents or artifacts
* and, if possible, a favorite family recipe

Please be prepared to discuss stories of the family history, especially those that pertain to what country your family emigrated from, why your family chose Wheeling, what neighborhood they settled in and why, what they did for a living, any memories of traditional customs practiced in the home, and your favorite family recipe from the old world.