William E. Wenner

              1923

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WILLIAM E. WENNER Lectures


Wenner the Man

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JUST fifty years ago back on a Pennsylvania farm, William E. Wenner was born.  He is of Pennsylvania Dutch descent and Scotch-Irish on his mother's side.  What a combination that is.  The sterling qualities of the thrifty Pennsylvania Dutch and the Scotch-Irish—well, most of our Presbyterians can trace some of that.  Canny, never shunning a fight, and glorying in it when it comes; thrifty and steadfast for the right.

The qualities he inherited manifested themselves in his struggle for an education.  He was the eldest of twelve children.  What that means on a Pennsylvania farm requires little stretch of imagination.

There were no grammar schools then—all grades in one.  Then came college.  Prep days at Westminster and following that the regular college course of four years.  ending with an A. B. degree.

After that comes work—and in it joy, for Wenner is doing the thing he believes in and that experience has taught him is needed.

The need of more intelligent guidance for the growing boy as well as a greater latitude in allowing him to select his career and more interest in helping him in an intelligent way, Mr. Wenner perceived from his own experience.  One of the lectures he is giving, A Square Deal for Jack, is not a thing made out of whole cloth but a mosaic of a life of work for a cause.

Wenner served as superintendent of schools in Fredericksburg, Ohio, and later as head of the English Department at the Slippery Rock State Normal in Pennsylvania and then on the faculty of Wooster University.

In 1918 friends insisted that he enter politics.  He refused to make campaign speeches on his own behalf.  His friends made them for him.  He was elected.  The same thing happened again in 1920, for Wenner's record was a much better vote-getter than any speech could be.

Then when another election day came in 1922, his friends sent him higher.  This time to the Ohio Senate, where he is today.

To Senator Wenner, the platform seems the best way of getting his convictions to the American people outside of his own State.

Senator Wenner is a speaker who carries conviction with his every word.  He is fearless in his denunciation of men and institutions who give lip service only.  He does not hesitate to call a spade a spade, for he trusts to the intelligence and fairness of his audiences, and does not fear to have his statements analyzed and tested in the bright light of truth.

A Wenner lecture is a stimulating one that will create comment in any town.




The Lectures

A Square Deal for Jack
A Square Deal For Jack is an eloquent title of a great lecture.  William E. Wenner has two boys of his own.  One, a former page in the Ohio Legislature, is now a medical student at the Ohio State University.  The other is in High School.  Mr. Wenner is not so far from his own boyhood.

The problem of the boy is approached from every standpoint.  Given favorable environment, there are other elements which will influence that boy for good or ill.  These things begin in the family, but the whole community, the church, the school, the town itself are contributing factors.

The masterly treatment and the incisive logic of this lecture have made it one of the most valuable in America today.



The Hand at the Nation's Throat
The Testing of the Nation

The Hand at the Nation's Throat.  This lecture is a study of the basic principles in National life.  It shows the need of definite comprehension of the meaning of liberty and law, and the methods by which these may be made mutually effective.  It suggests common sense methods of counteracting tendencies toward degeneracy in the State and in the Nation.  It shows the necessity of the inculcation of principles rather than the application of legislative measures.  It demonstrates the potency and place of social education; the only means of insuring and preserving the National integrity.



A Man's Job for a Man
A Man's Job for a Man.  This is an inspirational lecture of special interest to young people.  The theme, The biggest thing a man does is himself.  Here's a contrast of the views of life that result in self-imprisonment and the views that lead to the breaking of bonds and the extension of horizons.

The need of an adequate life philosophy and abundant patriotism, a liberal religion, and a comparative disregard of precedent is made apparent.  The completeness of man realized in an exemplification in the ideals of the Man of Nazareth.



Woman and Democracy
Woman and Democracy.  Here's a subject that is pertinent, vital.  It is fitting and natural that Mr. Wenner should discuss all the phases of woman's relation to the nation as she assumes the right of franchise.

New angles and possibilities are apparent to the legislative mind of a man like Mr. Wenner.  This is a most valuable and interesting lecture.  Abreast of the minute.





What They Say
William E. Wenner has been a headliner in Chautauqua and Lyceum for years.  His lectures have left something for the community to discuss.  Newspapers have given extensive space to stories of his addresses.

At Middletown, Ohio, February 15, 1923, Senator Wenner addressed the Chamber of Commerce on Tendencies of the People.

The Middletown Journal in reviewing the speech pays a tribute to Mr. Wenner saying, The speaker possessed a wealth of oratory, putting his arguments forth in rapid-fire style.  He was given tremendous applause at the close of his speech.

In reviewing the same address the Middletown News Signal remarks, He held the attention of the big audience from the moment he was introduced and when he closed received a veritable ovation.

Charles M. Mayne of the Redpath-Vawter Lyceum Bureau, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, writes, He is a dandy.  His subject, A Square Deal For Jack, on the rights of the boy is a clean-cut lecture, gets lots of laughs, great applause and praise after he is gone.

Address
W. E. WENNER ASHTABULA, OHIO