Today in Wheeling History: June 1--Wheeling celebrated "Eleanor Steber Day" with a parade, an official welcome at City Hall where she received a key to the city, and Steber's sold-out 20th anniversary concert at the Capitol Theatre attended by the governor and other dignitaries (1960).
Eleanor Steber, born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1914, was a renowned American opera singer who achieved great success at the Metropolitan Opera in New York after winning the Met's Auditions of the Air competition in 1940. She grew up in the Warwood neighborhood of Wheeling and graduated from Warwood High School before attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
Steber's hometown of Wheeling played a significant role in fostering her love for music from a young age. By the time she was 12, the Wheeling Symphony had begun performing regularly, exposing her to classical music. She took piano lessons throughout her childhood in Wheeling and studied voice with her mother, an accomplished amateur singer. Wheeling's strong arts community, including venues like the Capitol Theatre and Oglebay Park, provided ample opportunities for Steber to experience and perform music.
After her Met debut, Steber frequently returned to Wheeling to share her talents with the community. Throughout the 1940s, she came back annually to perform at the Oglebay Summer Concert Series. The city celebrated her success with an "Eleanor Steber Day" on June 1, 1960, which included a parade up Market Street led by the Wheeling High School Band, an official welcome at the new City-County Building where Mayor John J. Gast presented her with a key to the city, and a sold-out 20th anniversary concert at the Capitol Theatre attended by the governor, college presidents, and other dignitaries.
Steber's family, including her mother Ida Nolte Steber, sister Lucile Steber Leslie, and brother William Charles Steber, Jr., remained in Wheeling and were introduced at the anniversary concert. She passed away in 1990 and was laid to rest in Wheeling's Greenwood Cemetery. Today, Steber is remembered as one of America's greatest opera stars and a beloved daughter of Wheeling who made her hometown proud.
To learn more: (https://tinyurl.com/mxcsudx2) (https://tinyurl.com/5d5k935e) (https://tinyurl.com/bd8967fa) (https://tinyurl.com/ymdjyvds) (https://tinyurl.com/bdfa93bu) (https://tinyurl.com/2nhwznvn) (https://tinyurl.com/nhfyr2z2) (https://tinyurl.com/36ssns9p) (https://tinyurl.com/564b7rdy) (https://theclio.com/entry/43271)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; The Clio
Eleanor Steber, born in Wheeling, West Virginia in 1914, was a renowned American opera singer who achieved great success at the Metropolitan Opera in New York after winning the Met's Auditions of the Air competition in 1940. She grew up in the Warwood neighborhood of Wheeling and graduated from Warwood High School before attending the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston.
Steber's hometown of Wheeling played a significant role in fostering her love for music from a young age. By the time she was 12, the Wheeling Symphony had begun performing regularly, exposing her to classical music. She took piano lessons throughout her childhood in Wheeling and studied voice with her mother, an accomplished amateur singer. Wheeling's strong arts community, including venues like the Capitol Theatre and Oglebay Park, provided ample opportunities for Steber to experience and perform music.
After her Met debut, Steber frequently returned to Wheeling to share her talents with the community. Throughout the 1940s, she came back annually to perform at the Oglebay Summer Concert Series. The city celebrated her success with an "Eleanor Steber Day" on June 1, 1960, which included a parade up Market Street led by the Wheeling High School Band, an official welcome at the new City-County Building where Mayor John J. Gast presented her with a key to the city, and a sold-out 20th anniversary concert at the Capitol Theatre attended by the governor, college presidents, and other dignitaries.
Steber's family, including her mother Ida Nolte Steber, sister Lucile Steber Leslie, and brother William Charles Steber, Jr., remained in Wheeling and were introduced at the anniversary concert. She passed away in 1990 and was laid to rest in Wheeling's Greenwood Cemetery. Today, Steber is remembered as one of America's greatest opera stars and a beloved daughter of Wheeling who made her hometown proud.
To learn more: (https://tinyurl.com/mxcsudx2) (https://tinyurl.com/5d5k935e) (https://tinyurl.com/bd8967fa) (https://tinyurl.com/ymdjyvds) (https://tinyurl.com/bdfa93bu) (https://tinyurl.com/2nhwznvn) (https://tinyurl.com/nhfyr2z2) (https://tinyurl.com/36ssns9p) (https://tinyurl.com/564b7rdy) (https://theclio.com/entry/43271)
Photo credits: Ohio County Public Library Archives, Wheeling WV; The Clio
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