About this collection:

➤ Robert Louis Levenson was born in Pittsburgh, PA on May 20, 1915. Levenson married Helen Elinoff on December 30, 1936 in Brooke County, West Virginia. In World War II, he served as a squadron navigator for the 716th Squadron of the U.S. Air Force. Levenson was the president of Reichart Furniture Company, co-founder of the Bank of Wheeling and the Wheeling Antenna Company, and one of the original investors in the Wheeling Ironmen Football team. Levenson was the founder and first president of Downtown Wheeling Associates and member of Wheeling-Ohio County Planning Commission, Wheeling Parking Authority, Wheeling Area Conference, and the Urban Renewal Authority. He also served on the Board of Directors of Wheeling Hospital and the President’s Advisory Council of Wheeling College. Levenson and his wife were active members of Temple Shalom. He died on May 31, 1990 in Wheeling.

The collection consists of the professional papers of Robert Levenson from 1919-1990. The papers consist primarily of feasibility studies, planning reports, development plans and other documents relating to the City of Wheeling in the 20th century. Of note are a series of reports from 1919-1920 addressing flood protection, development of a city park, and other city planning issues. Also included in the collection are documents relating to the Urban Renewal Authority and the proposed Fort Henry Mall development in Wheeling during the 1970s. Material from the 1980s consists primarily of documents addressing Wheeling’s waterfront and its re-development.

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