Great Bend Museum’s newest exhibit ‘pictures’ the past

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. (WV News) — Clara Weisheit may have realized she was a little ahead of her time. After all, it wasn’t usual for a woman in the 1920s and 1930s to be independent, have a job and travel.

She probably didn’t know that in documenting her life, her friends and town, she left a legacy that shines a light on history and, in particular, Ravenswood.

The Great Bend Museum will unveil “Behind Clara’s Lens: the Life and Photography of Clara Weisheit” on Saturday, May 17, at a special ceremony at its location at Ravenswood’s Riverfront Park.

Not a lot is known about Weisheit. Her parents, Andrew and Louise, immigrated from Germany, eventually settling in Ravenswood, where her father ran a tannery. Their daughter was born in 1885 in Clarendon, Ohio, and died in 1965 in Ravenswood.

Weisheit worked in a local bank, believed to be the Jackson County Bank, because of the number of pictures that she took. She lived the majority of her life in the family home on Race Street, and her photographs chronicled many of her friends and neighbors.

Those friends, neighbors and settings tell much about Weisheit and where her interests were.

Addie Smith, the museum’s AmeriCorps worker, said Weisheit’s photography shows what her muse was.

“It was her sense of home,” she said. “That’s what Ravenswood always was to her, no matter where she traveled.”

The abundance of Weisheit’s photographs was sold blindly in an estate auction upon her death in 1965. Some of those found their way home. Rob Benson, the town’s unofficial historian, and Claymore Riley donated photos they purchased to the City of Ravenswood and the Jackson County Historical Society, which in turn gifted them to The Great Bend Museum. An unknown person purchased the remaining photos and scrapbooks.

The first to work with the photos was Katrena Ramsey with the Ravenswood Board of Parks and Recreation. She and her Ravenswood High School co-op at the time, Braylin Tabor, took pictures of the negatives by placing them on a whiteboard. Then Ramsey used software to crop, edit, and apply effects, and began the research.

The intention was always to have a Clara Weisheit exhibit at the museum. Now, that is being fulfilled under the leadership of Museum Director Faith Walker and AmeriCorps worker Smith.

Walker describes the exhibit as a ‘breakdown of Clara’s life – her muses, her legacy, her adventures.’

“Clara was an adventurer,” Walker said. “She traveled to Canada, Bermuda and Cuba and several places in the United States, always taking her camera with her.”

The collection will feature around 60 photographs, using the expertise of Lens Creek Studio of Meyersdale, Pennsylvania. The team there fabricated and mounted Weisheit’s work.

The project was an expensive one to undertake. The museum was awarded a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council for $20,000. It was to receive the money in three phases: 40 percent up front, 50 percent towards the middle of the project and 10 percent at the end.

Because of government cuts, the grant was rescinded before the 60 percent could be awarded.

“That was a huge blow,” Walker said. “But we were too far along, and this historical treasure was too important to abandon. Thankfully, the City of Ravenswood provides the museum with a budget, and we had some funds left to complete the project. But it was disheartening.”

While losing the funding was a hardship, the focus never veered from Clara Weisheit’s legacy.

“She was so connected to the people, the geography and the water,” Walker said. “You’ll see many photos featuring the Ohio River and family names that are still part of Ravenswood.”

Another gift Weisheit left made identifying many people in the photos possible.

“She compiled a catalog inventorying her work,” Walker said. “It’s amazing. She gave years, locations, and names to many of the photos. That is invaluable.”

Smith and Walker said Weisheit’s work is far different from that of a well-known local photographer of the era, Henry Fleming.

“He favored more formal pictures that are typical of the early 1900s,” Smith said. “They’re serious and very posed. Clara chose to take more candid-style photos. Both have incredible value but come from different perspectives.”

Another dissimilarity is identification.

“So many of the labels from his photos were lost,” Walker said. “Clara’s inventory gives incredible information.”

What started as perhaps a hobby developed through the years.

“Her photography improved,” Smith said. “She was in a unique era, too – between two wars, in the middle of the women’s suffrage movement, Prohibition and so much more. Her pictures tell a story but also show vulnerability, personality, and most of all, her love for Ravenswood and the people who lived here.”

The May 17 unveiling will begin at 6 p.m. with a free 1920s-themed celebration with blues and soul music provided by Lady D and Mi$$ion, dancing (including ‘The Charleston’), refreshments, an antique car show, and much more.

Admission to “Behind Clara’s Lens: The Life and Photography of Clara Weisheit” is $5 for adults and free for children.

The Great Bend Museum, 220 Riverfront Park in Ravenswood, is open Tuesday through Saturday from 12 to 4 p.m. Follow on Facebook, visit www.cityofravenswood.com/museum, call 304-273-1999, or send an email to museum@cityofravenswood.com.

Due to the special event beginning at 6 p.m., the museum will not be open during regular hours on Saturday, May 17.