WHEELING — Two of Wheeling’s most recognizable names in their fields soon will join the ranks in the Wheeling Hall of Fame.

Late philanthropist J.B. Chambers and late historic preservationist Bev Fluty will be among the 10 inducted with the 2021 Wheeling Hall of Fame Class. That class will be honored during a Sept. 10 ceremony at WesBanco Arena.

The catered event, to begin at 6 p.m., is open to the public. Tickets can be purchased at wesbancoarena.com, or by calling 304-233-7000 Monday through Friday between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

J.B. CHAMBERS

James Buchanan Chambers — born in rural Ohio County and educated in Pennsylvania — became a successful banker and businessman in his life. Yet his legacy is found all through the city of Wheeling.

Born in 1854, Chambers created the J.B. Chambers Memorial Foundation 70 years later to help carry on his mission of improving his community long after he died in 1933. His influence is seen on many important buildings in the city.

Among the structures that bear his name are the J.B. Chambers Family YMCA, built on part of his family farm in what is now known as Elm Grove, the J.B. Chambers Baseball and Softball Complex at I-470, the J.B. Chambers Performing Arts Center on the campus of Wheeling Park High School, the J.B. Chambers Memorial Recreation Park on Sixteenth Street in East Wheeling and the J.B. Chambers Soccer Fields at Wheeling Park.

Other programs funded by the foundation include the recently renovated ice rink at Wheeling Park, the Miracle League Field at the I-470 complex, the weekend backpack nutrition program at Madison Elementary School, summer camp at the NASA Challenger Learning Center, children’s needs program at the Youth Services System, Kings Daughters Child Care Center, numerous children’s programs administered through the Community Foundation for the Ohio Valley, and youth scholarships for creative programs at Oglebay Institute.

Chambers and his family moved to West Alexander, Pennsylvania, in 1881 and while living there and managing the family farm, he was employed as a sales representative for Dearling Implement Company of Cleveland. He spent the majority of his professional career in banking.

In 1893, Chambers founded the Elm Grove Mining Company and managed it until he sold it in 1915. He then headed up the organization of the First National Bank of West Alexander, which later would become Citizen’s National Bank, and played a prominent role in the formation of the First National Bank and Trust Company of Elm Grove. Later Chambers formed the People’s National Bank of West Alexander.

At the time of his death at age 78, he was president of the First National Bank and Trust of Elm Grove and vice president of the People’s National Bank of West Alexander. To this day, the J.B. Chambers Foundation makes charitable grants and contributions to achieve Chambers’ wishes for the youth of the greater Wheeling area.

BEVERLY FLUTY

Beverly Allen Balch Fluty, a New Englander by birth, moved from Denver to Wheeling with her family in 1968. Shortly after that, she became involved in all aspects of the city’s history.

In 1970, she helped found the Friends of Wheeling and participated in various projects at Oglebay Institute’s Mansion Museum. Hers was an important voice in the newly formed Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation’s efforts to promote and protect the city’s historic landmarks.

Her greatest contributions were devoted to restoration of West Virginia Independence Hall and the Suspension Bridge, Wheeling’s National Historic Landmarks. On both projects, she partnered with Emory Kemp, the state’s premier industrial historian. Together they published “The Wheeling Suspension Bridge: A Pictorial History.” For 17 years, she served as president of the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation.

She wrote the historic preservation applications for the Suspension Bridge, West Virginia Independence Hall, and the Centre Market and served as an advisor for the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Park Service.

She conducted field trips for schoolchildren, teaching appreciation for their heritage by having them just “looking up.” She lectured to civic groups and area historic societies, presented preservation panels, promoted preservation in print and on television, held memberships in the Wheeling Historical Society and Oglebay Institute’s Mansion Museum Committee, assisted with the development of Oglebay’s Glass Museum, sat on the board of the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation, contributed pictorial research for the Junior League’s “The Best of Wheeling” and “Wheeling: An Illustrated History,” provided research for “The Shepherds and Their Mansion,” and compiled her famous “The Final But Incomplete List of Things Made in Wheeling.”

Until her death in 2009, she was, in the words of Wheeling Hall of Fame Member Hydie Friend, “an unstoppable historic preservationist.”

Fluty was a college-trained medical technician who spent her early years in Farmington, Connecticut, earned a degree from Westbrook College, and worked in hospitals of her native state and in Boston. Prior to coming to Wheeling, she joined the Colorado State Historic Society and contributed to the design and development of Denver’s Larimer Square, a project begun in 1965 to transform Denver’s oldest section into what now is the city’s trendiest neighborhood.