Wheeling Preservationist Jeanne Finstein Receives ‘Friend of Heritage’ Award
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WHEELING - Jeanne Finstein received the Friend of Heritage Award on Thursday for her decades of work to preserve the history of Wheeling by helping to promote and save some of its most historic structures.
Finstein, a longtime Wheeling resident and president of the Friends of Wheeling, was presented the award by Wheeling Heritage during a special breakfast held at the Artisan Center building in the downtown.
Instead of a plaque or regular trophy, Finstein was given a sculptural rose made by metal artist Jeff Forster of Wheeling. It was presented to her by Walker Holloway, chairman of the Wheeling Heritage Board, and Jay Frey, chairman of the Wheeling Heritage Foundation Board.
"I don't know what else to say but thank you, thank you," she said. "I do consider it an honor having worked with Wheeling Heritage over many years."
She noted she served two terms on Wheeling Heritage's board and was its interim director for a short time. Now she serves on the Wheeling Heritage Foundation Board.
"I'm hard to get rid of, I suppose," she quipped. "They're doing terrific work here in Wheeling and deserve a great deal of recognition."
The event was emceed by Wheeling Heritage Executive Director Scott Schenerlein.
Finstein said the Friends of Wheeling, founded about 1970, in its earlier years rehabbed seven buildings. Its latest project is happening in North Wheeling.
"We're in the process of rehabilitating the antebellum Hughes duplex. This is our biggest project yet," she said. "To date we have spent nearly $300,000, and I would say maybe we're halfway there. So people look at us and they think we're completely nuts; you'll never get that out of those buildings. Yeah? We don't care. That's not the purpose. We're not in it to make money. We're in it to preserve our history."
Finstein said the Friends also established a preservation loan guarantee program that has helped, to date, 22 other developers with their individual projects. The group also conducts cemetery tours and tours of historic homes, including before and after tours, to help encourage people to invest and preserve such structures.
The group continues to broadcast some of these tours live on its Facebook page, often receiving about 2,000 views per building. A tour of Elmhurst garnered 5,000 views, she said.
Finstein thanked the Friends board, its 500 members and two AmeriCorps members for their work and support as well.
"We've had many donors, both large and small, who have supported our efforts financially, and countless volunteers, many of whom are here today," she added. "The bottom line, historic preservation is important. Our built environment tells the story of who we are, where we came from, what choices we made to bring us here and what will our future hold.
"We here in Wheeling have been blessed with a wealth of historic structures," Finstein continued. "From the early Monument Place, 1798, in Elm Grove, to the Antebellum and the Victorian eras - the golden age of Wheeling's development. Many of these buildings dating more than 100 years old.
"The big question is, what will we leave behind? A hundred years from now no one in this room will be alive. ... What will our legacy be to our children and grandchildren? And so I will humbly accept this award but not for myself, but on behalf of all of those who are involved in preserving our built environment."
Finstein's daughters, Susie Nelson and Jenn Lewis, each said a few words about their mother before bringing her up to the podium.
Nelson said as a child she remembers her mother holding Friends of Wheeling meetings at home with other members including Beverly Fluty, Hydie Friend, Margaret Brennan, Mary Ann Hess and Betty "Snookie" Woods Nutting and more.
She also remembers running the halls of West Virginia Independence Hall when it was being worked on, and at the Centre Market houses when they were being rehabilitated.
"The city of Wheeling today has a tremendous culture of appreciating its historic architecture. ... Our mom has helped create that vision, that recognition that our local history and our heritage is valuable," Nelson said. "That appreciation can be seen in public outrage when the possibility of losing a historic building arises. Because as she says, when it's gone, it's gone."
Lewis said she and her sister are blessed to have such a wonderful mother.
"She is excellent at so many things, but the most important, excellent thing she has done is being mother to Susie and me," Lewis said.
Forster also talked about some of the meaning behind the stainless steel sculpture he made for Finstein. He said the hummingbird on the rose represented Finstein. He noted the wavy leaves represent the trials and tribulations of a project. The metal used in the rose head itself was taken from a portion of an old Elby's Big Boy statue.
"This means so much, the thought that has gone into it and his artisanship, which is so amazing. Thank you, Jeff," Finstein said.
Past recipients of the award have included Fluty, Nutting, Linda Comins, Lisa Zukoff, Ross Felton, The Maxwell Partners and U.S. District Court Judge Frederick P. Stamp, Jr.