Collection:LPB

Genre: Documentary

Place Covered: Alexandria, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, 31.3122255, -92.4475255

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 2016-09-8

Duration: 00:10:23

Subjects: Hotel Bentley (Alexandria, La.) | Historic buildings | Louisiana Maneuvers | World War II

Contributors:

• Whinham, Charlie Host
• Jenkins, Michael Interviewee
• Partain, Chad Anthony Interviewee
• Laliberte, Scott Interviewee
• Jones, Linda Coles Interviewee

This segment from the September 8, 2016, episode from “Louisiana Travels” features Charlie Whinham’s visit to the historic Hotel Bentley in Alexandria, Louisiana. Whinham reports that the hotel first opened on August 10, 1908. He interviews Michael Jenkins, the owner, and Father Chad Anthony Partain, a Louisiana historian. They discuss: the history of the hotel, including its namesake, Joseph Bentley; the importance of the hotel to the development of Alexandria; the military leaders, including General Dwight D. Eisenhower and General George S. Patton, who stayed at the hotel during the Louisiana Maneuvers as they developed strategies for fighting World War II; and the most recent reopening of the hotel. Whinham also tours the Mirror Room with Scott Laliberte and the Honeymoon Suite with Linda Coles Jones.