Today in Wheeling History: April 6—American Red Cross presents WWVA with Certificate of Appreciation for service rendered during the Wheeling flood, bearing the signature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936).
When the Ohio River crested at 55.5 feet on the afternoon of March 19, 1936—19.5 feet above flood stage—Wheeling faced the most catastrophic flood in its recorded history. More than eight square miles of the city disappeared beneath the raging water. Newspapers were silenced: the News-Register's offices flooded, forcing staff to abandon equipment and hand-set a crude "flood edition handbill" using a small proof press. With telephone lines down and less than half of American homes equipped with working phones, WWVA Radio became the city's lifeline.
Under production manager Paul J. Miller, program director Walter Patterson, and announcers including Carl W. Gustky, Paul Myers, Murrell Poor, and Wayne A. Sanders—joined by engineers who ran their own telephone lines into the danger zone—WWVA maintained an uninterrupted 92½ hours of continuous broadcasting. From a remote microphone on the Steel Bridge, Rev. Frederick W. Cropp, Co-Chairman of the Wheeling Chapter of the American Red Cross Disaster Committee, read letters and telegrams from anxious listeners searching for missing loved ones. More than $50,000 in aid was raised through on-air appeals. Food, volunteers, and supplies poured into the stricken city. Seventeen people perished in the Wheeling district; more than 20,000 were driven from their homes.
On April 6, 1936, in recognition of its invaluable public service, the American Red Cross presented WWVA with a Certificate of Appreciation bearing the signature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/39dztj4u); World Radio History (https://tinyurl.com/muwyts9j), Archiving Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/vxyj6kxd)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV
When the Ohio River crested at 55.5 feet on the afternoon of March 19, 1936—19.5 feet above flood stage—Wheeling faced the most catastrophic flood in its recorded history. More than eight square miles of the city disappeared beneath the raging water. Newspapers were silenced: the News-Register's offices flooded, forcing staff to abandon equipment and hand-set a crude "flood edition handbill" using a small proof press. With telephone lines down and less than half of American homes equipped with working phones, WWVA Radio became the city's lifeline.
Under production manager Paul J. Miller, program director Walter Patterson, and announcers including Carl W. Gustky, Paul Myers, Murrell Poor, and Wayne A. Sanders—joined by engineers who ran their own telephone lines into the danger zone—WWVA maintained an uninterrupted 92½ hours of continuous broadcasting. From a remote microphone on the Steel Bridge, Rev. Frederick W. Cropp, Co-Chairman of the Wheeling Chapter of the American Red Cross Disaster Committee, read letters and telegrams from anxious listeners searching for missing loved ones. More than $50,000 in aid was raised through on-air appeals. Food, volunteers, and supplies poured into the stricken city. Seventeen people perished in the Wheeling district; more than 20,000 were driven from their homes.
On April 6, 1936, in recognition of its invaluable public service, the American Red Cross presented WWVA with a Certificate of Appreciation bearing the signature of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
To learn more: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV (https://tinyurl.com/39dztj4u); World Radio History (https://tinyurl.com/muwyts9j), Archiving Wheeling (https://tinyurl.com/vxyj6kxd)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV
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