WVU Libraries

Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

 Image of Edison Phonograph advertisement from Flickr photostream of Jalal gerald Aro, album titled “affiche”

The archives at the West Virginia and Regional History Center contain many historical items, including pieces of music and advertising.  These two areas intertwine with a program for a musical evening with Miss Betsy Lane Shepherd, soprano, with music provided by Mr. Rudolph Polk, violinist.  The program was for a recital held at the First Methodist Episcopal Church in Moundsville, West Virginia, Tuesday, November 6, 1917.  Read the rest of this entry »

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

The West Virginia and Regional History Center is in the middle of a project to digitize some of our glass plate negatives.  Previous blog posts have discussed the glass plate negatives of the Fred T. Newbraugh collection (scans online here) and the James Green collection (scans online here).  From those posts, we learned about the evolution of glass plate negative technology, from the time-sensitive “wet collodion” process in the mid to late 1800s to the “dry” process that arose in 1880.  Now we’ll learn how WVRHC staff members are cleaning a century’s worth of dust and dirt off of our glass plate negatives to preserve and provide access to our region’s history.   Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

In a 1923 interview entitled “Makes Money From Just Fun,” Broadway star Eleanor Williams is described as the “chief laugh-maker” in “The Love Child,” the show running at the time (ca. 1922-1923).  “At last a comedian has been found who does not wish to do serious roles,” observes the reporter, “only in this case the player happens to be a comedienne!”  The interview continues:  “No,” said Miss Williams emphatically, “I do not care to do serious parts at all, am not ambitious in that direction.”  “I think it’s wonderful to be able to make people cry.  But I get an actual thrill from laughter and it’s the thrill that I love best.”  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

John Robert Clifford (1848-1933) was a pioneer in every way.  Driven to achieve, Clifford made significant contributions towards civil rights as an activist and as editor and publisher of the Pioneer Press, a newspaper published in Martinsburg, West Virginia.  The first African-American newspaper in the state, the Pioneer Press gained readers across the country as it sought to address the “moral, religious and financial needs,” not just for African-American subscribers, but all of humanity, on a weekly basis. Read the rest of this entry »

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

One of the highlights of the WVRHC is the journal of John W. M. Appleton, part of A&M 92.  Appleton was an officer in the 54th Massachusetts Infantry during the Civil War, and later became Adjutant General of West Virginia.¹  Appleton’s journal is a unique and valuable research tool, telling the story of one of the first all-black regiments in the Union Army through Appleton’s eyes and containing sketches, photographs, and newspaper clippings that give us greater insight into that time. Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

The West Virginia and Regional History Center is continuing to digitize the negatives of the Gravely and Moore collection in order to enhance their accessibility to researchers.  A previous installment of this blog highlighted Gravely and Moore photos of a busy World War II era bus depot in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  In this installment we show images recently “discovered” of businesses in Charleston, West Virginia.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

Library on the third floor of Martin Hall.

The study of Library History has become a popular field in recent years.  With the rise of interest in historical libraries, library practices, librarianship and librarians, we’ll take this opportunity to look at our own library history and the librarians who worked to make information accessible to students in the early years of West Virginia University.  This blog is part one in a series on the evolution of the WVU library and its librarians.

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

Though many of us don’t think about it, the buildings that make up the landmarks of our daily lives change over time.  West Virginia University is no exception.  Interiors are refurbished, wings are added, facades are restored, and new buildings are being constructed even now.  Some of our campus landmarks have been memorialized in holiday ornaments, donated to the WVRHC as part of a collection in processing which will soon be A&M 3950, tentatively called the Vaughn L. Kiger Collection of Historical Photographs and Records Regarding Morgantown.  These ornaments are part of a series produced by Heritage Collection in the 1990s.  I’ve paired each ornament below with an older photograph from our West Virginia History OnView database to highlight some of the changes, or lack thereof.   Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

Recently, when reviewing the images resulting from scans of negatives from our Gravely and Moore photography collection, photos were uncovered that systematically document the facilities and operations of a busy bus depot during World War II.  According to a current online exhibit by the Smithsonian, “Americans On The Move,” the 1930s and 40s were a time when bus travel was a “glamorous and modern” mode of transportation that hit its peak during the years of World War II.  The photographs we discovered date from this golden era, documenting a Greyhound bus depot in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in September 1942.  This blog will present a selection of images from this grouping of negatives.

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Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

The nameplate of the Daily Citizen, and the wallpaper on which the WVRHC’s copy was printed.

As we celebrate Independence Day this July 4th, we look back to another 4th of July one hundred and fifty one years ago to events that occurred a mere fourteen days after West Virginia achieved statehood on June 20, 1863.  It was on July 4th, 1863, that Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton surrendered to General Grant at Vicksburg, an event considered by many to be an important turning point in the Civil War. Read the rest of this entry »

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

Though the West Virginia and Regional History Center’s collections focus on the history of our state and the central Appalachian region, their scope extends across the globe.  West Virginians have travelled far and wide to see and do incredible things, and the WVRHC keeps their stories for posterity.  These travelers include WVU students who served in World War II and documented their experiences abroad (see A&M 120); businessman Stephen B. Elkins, who lived in Santa Fe, NM in the 1870s and recorded information about illegal land speculation in his letter book (see A&M 3979); and poet Maggie Anderson, who collected information on the Danish Resistance Movement when she traveled to Denmark in the 1990s (see A&M 3956).  Today’s post is about Reverend Edward Evans Parrish, a native of Monongalia County, WV who took his family west on the Oregon Trail in 1843-1844 and kept a travel diary for most of the trip. Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

The digital revolution has transformed the economics of photography, allowing almost anyone with a cell phone access to an inexpensive and convenient method to create photographs.  It’s consequently difficult to imagine a time when photography was an expensive and cumbersome process, usually requiring the attention of full time professionals.

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Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

The Monongalia Academy

Chartered in 1814, the Academy’s administration was guided by a group of Morgantown men who served as its trustees.  Three men among this group who served as trustees were instrumental to the life of the Academy, and credited with the civic and business development of Morgantown.  Although many others served as trustees for the Monongalia Academy over time, this look back over the succeeding two hundred years since the Academy’s charter examines the lives of some of the Academy’s leading principals. Read the rest of this entry »

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

We would like to mark the 70^th anniversary of D-Day (the invasion of Normandy by Allied troops in World War II) by telling the story of Private Ralph J. John, who served with the U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, Headquarters Company 112th Infantry, 28th Division. Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

Recently, the West Virginia and Regional History Center has turned its attention toward digitizing its collections of glass plate negatives.  Among the first to be scanned were the plates in the Newbraugh collection, a grouping of 91 images documenting Berkeley Springs that were collected by local historian Fred T. Newbraugh.  Current and future researchers can feel fortunate that Mr. Newbraugh chose to publish a number of these photographs with identification in his 1976 book, Warm Springs Echoes, since it’s probable that the content of many of these photos would otherwise have been left unidentified.

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Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

Portrait Image Credit:  http://jrbenjamin.com/tag/thomas-jefferson-the-art-of-power/

The Rare Book Room in the West Virginia and Regional History Center owns many treasures from across the globe, from Austen to Diderot, and Linnaeus to Shakespeare.  The collection also includes many American gems; among these are books by Mark Twain and Isaac Asimov, as well as books associated with well-known individuals, such as the two volume legal dictionary once owned by the author of the Declaration of Independence, former President of the United States, and the founder of the University of Virginia, Thomas Jefferson. Read the rest of this entry »

Guest blog post by Dr. Brian Luskey, Associate Professor, WVU Department of History

In “Slavery’s Capitalism,” a history course I taught this semester, my students and I tried a bit of an experiment. Taking advantage of the small class size (10 undergraduate students hailing from a variety of majors across the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences), students learned how to do history by researching, writing, and revising sections of a collaborative research paper based upon archival sources in the West Virginia & Regional History Center.

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Guest blog post by Brandi Oswald, Graduate Student Assistant, WVRHC.

May 9, 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of President Woodrow Wilson’s proclamation designating Mother’s Day as an official holiday. Wilson issued his proclamation in response to a movement started by Anna Jarvis to honor and recognize mothers.  The holiday has its roots in Grafton, West Virginia. Read the rest of this entry »

Tradition and Innovation in Country Music

Unlike artists such as Hazel Dickens of West Virginia (1935-2011), who have sustained traditionally oriented musical styles of bluegrass and folk within their work, contemporary country-pop artists such as Taylor Swift and Lady Antebellum have submerged these rural styles to the vanishing point within the stylistic blend of their hybrid music.  This is of course the way music evolves, and the audience has moved with it.

There was an earlier time, however, after the “Big Bang” of modern country music in 1927, when commercially successful country artists more or less evoked the sounds of traditional rural music.  A collection of music memorabilia recently acquired by the West Virginia and Regional History Center documents two such country artists who are both connected to West Virginia, Cowboy Loye and Buddy Starcher. Read the rest of this entry »

April 23, 2014 will mark the 450th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare.  Born in 1564 and considered the greatest writer in the English language, Shakespeare is the author of such well known plays as Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The WVU Libraries, the West Virginia and Regional History Center, and the Department of English will celebrate William Shakespeare’s birthday on Wednesday, April 23, at 2:30 PM in the Robinson Reading Room located in the Downtown Campus Library.  The celebration includes a lecture by English Professor Dr. Sarah Neville titled, “‘Break[ing] into this woman’s mood’: The Lab Space of Shakespeare’s Henry IV”. The talk, according to Dr. Neville, will explore the ways that the current production of Henry IV onstage at WVU’s Creative Arts Center subverts the underlying patriarchal messages of Shakespeare’s play, and adapts it into a feminist tragedy for our modern age. Read the rest of this entry »