WVU Libraries

A historical photograph exhibit titled “Through the Looking Glass: Early Glass Plate Views of West Virginia University” will open in the Erickson Alumni Center’s Nutting Gallery on February 7 to mark the 150^th anniversary of West Virginia University’s founding.

The display will include more than 30 prints made from glass plates from the holdings of the West Virginia & Regional History Center that illustrate the formative years of WVU from 1867-1920. The exhibit will be open to the public Monday-Friday, 8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and remain on display through March 31.

“These photos reveal just how much the University has changed from its early years to the present,” WVRHC Director John Cuthbert said. “Morgantown was a sleepy little village, Westover was non-existent and WVU consisted of just a single building at times. The founders would be stunned to see the sprawling globally significant institution it has become.”

One image in the exhibit is this early photograph of the West Virginia University campus taken from the hill now occupied by Stalnaker Hall, ca. 1878.

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Blog post by Lori Hostuttler, Assistant Director, WVRHC.

With the arrival of winter weather, many are heading to the slopes to enjoy one of West Virginia’s most popular outdoor activities – skiing. The ski industry is a major part of the state’s economy that contributes over $250 million dollars annually and supplies more than 5000 jobs.

The first downhill ski area in West Virginia (also the first commercial ski area south of the Mason-Dixon line) came after members of the Washington Ski Club installed a rope tow on Weiss Knob in Canaan Valley, Tucker County in 1953.  This area is now part of the Canaan Valley State Park ski complex that opened in 1971.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

The West Virginia and Regional History Center, in collaboration with the Library of Virginia, has been digitizing its newspaper collection for the Library of Congress website Chronicling America.  This 200,000 page collection of West Virginia newspapers is easily accessible through character string searching, and therefore offers extraordinary access to a treasure trove of primary historical resource material.  More specifically, this collection covers the period 1836-1922; the titles currently available are listed on the website, including mainly papers from Charles Town, Clarksburg, Fairmont, and Wheeling.  This digital collection will take a quantum leap forward in August 2017 when an additional 100,000 pages go online!

Having recently encountered on the internet news of the plans to restore the historic Robinson Grand Theater located in Clarksburg, West Virginia (which is scheduled to open in Spring 2018), I thought I would test the search engine by looking up the early history of the theater.  I was immediately rewarded with a wealth of easily accessible information regarding events connected with the topic.  In reviewing this snapshot of early entertainment history at the Robinson Grand we sometimes also encounter broader themes of national history that were concerning Americans at that time.

Among the results of my research, I found a front page report regarding a public reception occurring on February 6, the day before the theater opened on February 7:  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian

C.N. Chilins News Stand, Fairmont, W. V. 1904/06. Two African-American Newsboys and Unidentified man stand outside C. N Chilins, located on Madison Ave.. Fairmont, W. V., eventually (relocated) to the first floor of Watson Hotel.

Beset with a fluctuating subscriber base, the constant need for funds, and personnel shortages, African American newspapers in West Virginia during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries struggled to survive.  Many were short lived, publishing issues for a couple of years at best.  Some papers found themselves shutting down production for weeks or even months at a time, waiting for subscribers and advertisers to provide enough funding to begin publishing again.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Jane Metters LaBarbara, Assistant Curator, WVRHC.

While searching for a blog post topic, I came across a mention of Farmers’ Week, January 5-9, 1920.  I had never heard of Farmers’ Week before, so I combed through the WVRHC’s printed ephemera, photos, and our vast collection of university publications till I found out about this great educational program from WVU’s College of Agriculture.

Farmers Week Exhibit

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