LUNCH WITH BOOKS: Canceled Due to Illness

January 25, 2022
12:00pm - 1:00pm

 In keeping with the new ownership and rebirth of the McLure House, this talk will highlight its history, along with biographies of some of the famous people who had some connection to it. Included will be John McLure, Sr.; Ellsworth Statler; General William Rosecrans; actresses Sarah Bernhardt and Henrietta Crosman; wild-west showman William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody; notorious Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and John F. Kennedy.

In addition to being in-person in the Library auditorium, this program will be available to watch live on Facebook Live, on YouTube, and on the OCPL website's LWB Livestream page.  Log into your Facebook or YouTube account during the program to leave questions for our presenters in the comments box. They will answer them during the live broadcast. 

PRESENTER INFO: This program is based of a tour of the McLure House Hotel presented by the Friend of Wheeling historic preservation group in March of 2020. Friends of Wheeling is West Virginia's oldest historic Preservation organization. It is a non-profit volunteer organization formed in 1970 by local residents who strongly believed in the preservation of Wheeling's architectural and cultural heritage. Over the years, Friends of Wheeling has been involved in numerous projects that have brought an awareness of preservation to the community.

Learn more at https://www.facebook.com/FriendsofWheeling/

FEATURED BOOK: A Bed for the Night: The Story of the Wheeling Bellboy, E.M. Statler, and His Remarkable Hotels by Rufus Jarman (Harper, 1952). [NOTE: this book in non-circulating and is only available to read inside the Wheeling Room at the Library - Call #: Wheeling 647.94 St29Jb 1952]

Ellsworth Milton Statler was born on Oct. 26, 1863, the son of William Jackson Statler and Mary Ann McKinney.  The Statlers moved to Bridgeport, OH about 1864, which is across the Ohio River from Wheeling, W. Virginia.   After working for a short time at the LaBelle Glass Factory in Kirkwood, OH, Ellsworth got a job as a bellboy at the McLure House Hotel after his 13th birthday and became Head Bellboy by age 15.  After many years of doing various jobs, running a few businesses, and learning the ropes, he started the Statler Hotel chain.  The hotels were all across the country and noted for their excellent customer service and special amenities that no other hotel provided at the time.

A Bed for the Night gives up-close descriptions of how Statler built the most successful hotel chain in America, from his early start in Wheeling, West Virginia until 1954, when Hilton bought the chain. Sometimes amusing, sometimes startling ways in which they managed all aspects of the hotel business then.

Lunch With Books Livestream starts at noon on Facebook and YouTube.

Subscribe to the Lunch With Books Youtube channel or like us on the Lunch With Books Facebook page or to receive notifications of our upcoming LWB broadcasts. To receive emails about our upcoming programs, visit our News page, click the "Subscribe" button to sign-up for our news blasts or download our free OCPL Connect app from your smartphone's app store. 

"Lunch With Books" is the library’s flagship program for adult patrons. These lunchtime programs feature authors, poets, musicians, historians, and more every Tuesday at noon. Bring lunch (to the Library Auditorium or your computer), feed your brain!