Newspaper Articles

J. Frank Wiseman, a former city manager of Clarksburg and Moundsville, will serve as co-chairman with Victor Gabriel of the Harrison County Kennedy for President Committee.

Selection of Mr. Wiseman for co-chairmanship was announced by State Senator Ward Wylie, Chairman of the West Virginians for Kennedy, the state organization of Kennedy supporters.

Mr. Wiseman has taken an active interest in politics for more than 30 years. He served on the Clarksburg City Council from 1933 to 1937. He was City Manager from 1951 to 1955. In 1957, at the request of the citizens of Moundsville, he accepted the appointment as City Manager and set up that city's new city manager form of government.

A life-long Democrat, Mr. Wiseman has served as the Democratic City Chairman of Clarksburg, Vice Chairman of the Harrison County Democrats and president of the Harrison County Young Democrats. In past years he has taken an active role in the campaigns of Senators Neely, Holt and Kilgore.

Accepting chairmanship of the Kennedy Club, Mr. Wiseman said:

"I have always supported those candidates whom I felt would serve the best interests of all the people.

"In my years of service as a city official, my primary interest has always been in planning and I would like the State of West Virginia as well as its cities to have a master plan for orderly and progressive development of our economy. The aid of an understanding President will be vital if West Virginia is to escape the depression cycle. Senator Kennedy has the proven ability and brilliance to understand West Virginians' and the nation's problems. He has the vigor and dedication to act decisively to bring about solutions."

A native of West Virginia, Mr. Wiseman resides at 805 South Chestnut Street, Clarksburg. He also owns property at Webster Springs.

The co-chairmen are working together on plans for Senator Kennedy's appearance at a coffee hour Monday morning at the Stonewall Jackson Hotel. The public is invited to this gathering.

Mrs. Hubert Humphrey, wife of Senator Humphrey of Minnesota, will attend the meeting of the Harrison County Democratic Women's Club at the court house Monday evening, April 18, at 7:30 o'clock, Mrs. Mirth D. Kuhl, president of the club announced.

Mrs. Humphrey, who will be in Clarksburg Monday to help with the opening of her husband's campaign headquarters for Northern West Virginia, has been invited to be a guest at the meeting. She has accepted the invitation.

Circuit Clerk Raymond C. Wolfe and County Clerk Harley A. Wolfe will be present at the Women's Club meeting to answer any questions concerning the proper use of the ballot by those voting for the first time and those desiring to avail themselves of the privilege of absentee voting.

Officers of the Democratic Club are: first vice president, Mrs. Byron B. Randolph; 2nd vice president, Mrs. James Allen; 3rd vice president, Mrs. Hill Lewis; secretary, Mrs. Reno J. Costello; treasurer, Mrs. F. Clark McCracken; directors: - Dr. Mary Lunter, Mrs. Jack Schwartz, Miss Phyllis Stealey, Mrs. Jackson Thrash, Mrs. Bessie Shumate, Ruth F. McGraw.

Membership Committee: Mrs. Morris Miller.

Press Relations: Mrs. Alma Lorentz.

Parliamentarian: Mrs. Mary Davisson.

Advisory Board: Mrs. Lynn S. Hornor, Mrs. J. S. Ashenhart; Mrs. Mary Moreford, Mrs. J. Carl Vance, Mrs. Fred Scanes, Mary Powers, Mrs. Russell Coffindaffer, Mrs. L. L. Crawford, Mrs. Edith Swiger, Mrs. Alma Thompson, and Miss Rose Coughlin.

The following feature story was released Friday night by Senator Hubert Humphrey's headquarters here:

Residents of Harrison County and Clarksburg will have the opportunity next week to meet Mrs. Hubert Humphrey, wife of the Democratic Senator from Minnesota and Presidential aspirant. Mrs. Humphrey will be in Clarksburg on Monday evening and on Tuesday will visit in both Clarksburg and Bridgeport.

Mrs. Humphrey has often been referred to as "the most charming and gracious of Senate wives."

Though she has been close to her husband's political life since the early days when he ran for Mayor in Minneapolis, the Humphrey children were then too young to permit Mrs. Humphrey to be an active campaigner.

Now, however, with the children grown, Muriel Humphrey can travel the campaign trails on behalf of her husband.

The story of how Senator and Mrs. Humphrey met and married is in the great American tradition. It began in the depths of the Dakota. Muriel Buck and a friend one day stopped in the Humphrey family drugstore to have a Coke. Behind the fountain, mixer of the Coke, Muriel Buck saw the man she was to marry.

It was a quiet, story-book romance. With the depression at its depths, there was no money often even to go to the movies. Occassionally [sic], when the Senator-to-be could leave the family drugstore for a few hours, they would go to a neighboring town for a dance. Senator Humphrey still retains his enthusiasm and ability as a dancer, and is often teased in Washington as the "best qualified dancer among the Presidential hopefuls."

But, mostly, young Hubert Humphrey and Muriel Buck just walked to a quiet spot in town and talked.

"It was then," Mrs. Humphrey recalls, "that I realized that Hubert had a great mind and a great energy to devote to the betterment of people. He would sit for hours and talk to me of his personal hero, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He would say 'President Roosevelt knows the problems of the people, and he's not afraid to take the steps to solve them.'

"And then," says Mrs. Humphrey, "he would look at me very seriously and say 'That's the man on whose life I want to pattern mine.'"

Wedding bells rang for the Humphreys on September 3, 1936. The wedding was scheduled for 8 o'clock in the morning so that everyone from the Humphrey drugstore could go. Muriel Humphrey's wedding dress was a blue velvet sheath with three-quarter length sleeves, which she topped off with a Juliet cap.

Soon after they were married, Muriel and Hubert Humphrey moved to Minneapolis. The young couple was determined that Mr. Humphrey should have his col[l]ege degree. In Minneapolis, and later in Louisiana, where Senator Humphrey did graduate work, Mrs. Humphrey helped support the family by finding some kind of an office job. She knows how it feels to have the soles of your shoes wear thin making the rounds of the employment offices and seeing the signs "No Help Wanted."

It was while the Senator was studying for his bachelor's degree that the first of the Humphrey children, Nancy, was born. Now, Nancy has three brothers, Hubert Jr., known to all as "Skipper," Robert and Douglas.

But, even as a harried young mother, Mrs. Humphrey took part in her husband's political discussions. "Right from the beginning Hubert included me in all discussions with his political friends and we were able to grow up in our public life together." Mrs. Humphrey says, "Of course, our early political plans were made in the living room and kitchen of the Humphrey apartment."

Today, Muriel Humphrey can appear for her husband as a campaigner when the press of Senate business calls him to Washington. She says, "I wouldn't try to make a political speech, but I have learned to understand a little about the people in this enormous country - that makes it easier for me to visit with them."