WVU Libraries

Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

Move In Day
The Old Fashioned Way with Horse and Buggy on Falling Run Road, 1895

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

I was not born in West Virginia, and as a non-native, sometimes I make mistakes.  One recent mistake was believing the internet when it told me that shoofly pie is West Virginia’s state dessert.  I thought that would be a good idea for a blog post, maybe comparing a few shoofly pie recipes and commenting on its history in relation to West Virginia.  Then, I learned that there is a wet-bottom and dry-bottom version of this pie—which was more popular in West Virginia, I wondered? So I started asking my coworkers, and learned one very important thing: almost none of the people in my department had shoofly pie before.  I resolved to make one, but I still needed to learn more about West Virginia desserts, and about shoofly pie.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Lori Hostuttler, Assistant Director & Digital Projects and Outreach Archivist, WVRHC.

These days most folks who visit Morgantown after being away for a while can’t help but comment on the tremendous growth of the University and the town.  Fifty years ago, in the mid-1960s, Morgantown was also experiencing a growth spurt.  Expansion of the Medical and Evansdale campuses prompted the need for additional roads and enabled new commercial areas to develop.

The new University Hospital and Medical Center were both operational by 1960.  Construction of the Engineering and Agricultural Sciences buildings was completed just a few years later.  The first two Towers dormitories opened in 1965.  The area needed a new route to connect it all together.   The following photographs show the development of Patteson Drive from 1959 to 1966.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

In reviewing a recently acquired collection of photographs at the History Center, images from a long gone amusement park from southwestern Pennsylvania were discovered.  Known as “Oakford,” it was established in 1901 by a trolley company with the intent to attract riders during times when traffic would otherwise be slow — the evenings and weekends.  Since this was a typical business strategy of trolley companies across the nation during the early 20th century, these amusement parks came to be known as “trolley parks.”  Business slowed at Oakford during the depression years of the 1930s, and with the rise of the automobile, the park closed before World War II.  Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

One hundred and eighteen years ago, the name Andrew Summers Rowan (1857-1943), a native of Union, West Virginia, was on everybody’s lips.  A decorated war veteran, Rowan was widely recognized for accomplishing the impossible during the Spanish-American War, the same war that brought Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders to public prominence, paving the way for Roosevelt’s future presidency.

Seemingly larger than life, Rowan’s great military achievement received mythological status in his day.  The oft repeated tale begins with President McKinley’s request for a soldier capable of tracking down General Calixto Garcia, the leader of insurgents in Cuba’s civil war with Spain.  McKinley’s goal was to find a way to communicate to Garcia that the United States planned to enter the war on the side of Cuba.  An important message to be sure and one that Garcia would find most welcome.  But in order to accomplish this treacherous mission, McKinley needed a man who could face all threats and successfully carry out this important task.  Rowan was that man.   Read the rest of this entry »

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

Bob Huggins, Rod Thorn, President Gee, Jerry West, and Senator Joe Manchin
(Willie Akers, not pictured, also spoke)

Our West Virginia Day event on June 20 was a big success!  We had a great group of speakers, we shared the state’s birthday cake, we opened our physical collection of Jerry West materials to researchers, debuted our Jerry West digital collection, and opened our exhibit of Jerry West memorabilia.  However, we know that not everyone who wanted to come could join us that day, and many fans from afar may not be able to visit the exhibit at all.  Staff at the WVRHC will make a slide presentation of our physical exhibit, as we’ve done the past few years, but that won’t be ready until the fall semester.  I put together a little preview for Jerry West and WVRHC fans far away.  Enjoy!   Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Lori Hostuttler, Assistant Director & Digital Projects and Outreach Archivist, WVRHC.

In 1884, Thomas Dwight Biscoe and his brother Walter Stanley Biscoe headed out on a trip across West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, traveling by horse and buggy and camping out as needed. With Thomas’ wife and daughter in tow, they captured the sights and scenery of the trip by taking over 200 photographs along the way.  The unique images document the region and battlefield sites just a little less than twenty years after the end of the Civil War.  Marietta College in Ohio owns the original glass plate negatives.  Copies from the plates can be viewed in in West Virginia History OnView, the West Virginia & Regional History Center’s online photographs database.   Read the rest of this entry »

Are you interested in helping WVU Libraries conduct usability testing on an upcoming game? If you are one of the 20 undergraduate students selected to participate, you will receive a $25 gift card to Amazon.com.

All you have to do is complete a brief survey to sign up as a potential game tester, if you are chosen you will be required to attend a 11:00 A.M. to 1:00 P.M. session which includes test plus a discussion forum. Food and refreshments will be provided.

You must be an undergraduate student and have a smartphone with Internet access to be eligible. If you have any questions, please contact Penny Pugh at 304-293-3640 or Penny.Pugh@mail.wvu.edu.

Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

Before Wikipedia, encyclopedias were the go-to resource for convenient access to information, as David Werth points out in a 2013 National Public Radio piece regarding the 300th anniversary of Denis Diderot’s birth.  Why Diderot?  Because he was responsible for creating one of the world’s great encyclopedias.  Titled Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts, this magnum opus took over 20 years (ca. 1751-1772) to complete, involved over 140 contributors, and resulted in 21 volumes of text comprising over 70,000 articles.  Of the several thousand sets of volumes that were sold, one has found a home in the Rare Books collection at West Virginia University Libraries.

First Volume (“Tome Premier”) of the Diderot Encyclopedia, 1751
(from collection of WVU Libraries)

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Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

When it comes to sports, West Virginia has been home to many great athletes.  Certainly no other state can lay claim to not one but two of the greatest basketball figures of all time, and both of them have earned the title,  “Mr. Basketball.”  Jerry West and Clair Bee have both held that honor.  Read the rest of this entry »

This year’s West Virginia Day celebration will include a homecoming for revered basketball legend, “Mr. Clutch” Jerry West, who will dedicate the Jerry West Collection to the West Virginia & Regional History Center, part of WVU Libraries, beginning at 9 a.m. Monday, June 20 in the Wise Library Atrium.

Members of the public are invited to attend the day’s events, in addition to West’s book signing the evening prior (June 19) at the WVU Visitors Center from 5 to 6 p.m.

In addition to the dedication, the celebration will include refreshments, a West Virginia Day forum and the opening of the Jerry West Exhibit, which will include an array of artifacts from Jerry’s personal collection, including his NBA championship ring, trophies and uniforms. Special guests scheduled to attend the dedication include Willie Akers, President Gordon Gee, Dean of Libraries Jon Cawthorne, Senator Joe Manchin and Rod Thorn.

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Blog post by Michael Ridderbusch, Associate Curator, WVRHC.

Records were recently discovered at the West Virginia and Regional History Center that document one of the prominent pioneers of western Virginia in the 18th century, William Haymond (1740-1821).  Since the threads of so many significant historical events pass through the episodes of his life, his story merits attention.
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The creators of two exhibits on display at West Virginia University’s Downtown Campus Library want their works to open up conversations about life in Appalachia.

Looking at Appalachia, the latest exhibit in the West Virginia University Libraries’ Art in the Libraries series, is a juried collection of images by amateur and professional photographers that chronicles life in the 13-state region more than 50 years after President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty. The pictures line the wall on the Library’s first floor.

“The greatest effect photographs can have is to encourage conversation,” said Roger May, director of the Looking at Appalachia project. “We see thousands and thousands of images a day. Many of those pictures may cause a brief emotional response, but how many of those pictures actually call us to action?”

Looking at Appalachia provides a glimpse into the 13-state region, photo by Alyssa Wright

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Blog post by Lori Hostuttler, Assistant Director & Digital Projects and Outreach Archivist, WVRHC.

One week ago, on Memorial Day, we honored those who died in service to our country and today, June 6, we mark the 72^nd anniversary of the invasion of Normandy, D-Day, the turning point for the Allies in World War II.  The Ralph John World War II Letters (A&M 3600) held by the West Virginia & Regional History Center provide insight into the military life of a soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice to secure our peace and freedom.

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Blog post by Stewart Plein, Rare Book Librarian.

Can you find the peacock?

We might think that camouflage has been around forever.  The ubiquitous mottling of colors, usually in shades of greens, browns, blacks and yellows, was designed to mimic elements of the natural world, such as sunlight and shadow on leaves, whether on the tree or the forest floor.  So in some ways, camouflaging coloration has always been around.  But the promotion of concealing coloration or camouflage as a tool for human use was proposed much more recently.   Read the rest of this entry »

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

It’s no secret that archivists love to find stashes of great things, the hidden and often unexpected gems of a collection, like a letter from a famous person mixed in with other correspondence, a broadside advertising a concert by a musician who was famous 100 years ago, an account of a famous battle written into a soldier’s journal, or hair from the tail of T.J. “Stonewall” Jackson’s horse (yes, we actually have that).  You can imagine my excitement when I opened a wooden lap desk to find a trove of letters, report cards, and money.  As I gently separated the colorful paper currency, you can imagine my disappointment when I saw the paper currency marked 25 cents and thought that the money I found was fake.   Read the rest of this entry »

Blog post by Lori Hostuttler, Assistant Director & Digital Projects and Outreach Archivist, WVRHC.

Recently I was looking at the West Virginia & Regional History Center’s Printed Ephemera collection when I came across a leaflet for West Virginia’s Golden Jubilee Celebration in Wheeling in 1913.  That year West Virginians were commemorating 50 years of being a state – not unlike the sesquicentennial activities that marked our 150^th birthday three years ago.

The front cover of the advertising leaflet.

In 1913, festivities were planned in cities across the state to mark the grand occasion. The two-page Wheeling advertisement caught my eye because of the imagery and especially the slogan, “Roll Around a Week in a Square Town.”  It boasts that the Golden Jubilee in Wheeling will be the “Greatest Celebration Ever Held in the Ohio Valley.”  As I looked it over, I noticed that the last item in the schedule of events on the second page advertised “Burlesque and Fantastic Parades” and in all caps, “DON’T MISS THE RUBBER NECK SUFFRAGETTES.”

The reverse side which includes the schedule of events.

I was intrigued.  What was a “rubber neck suffragette?”  I thought maybe it was a musical group or some kind of slang term that I had not heard of before.  I did a quick Google search.  The top result linked to a news item.

Article in the Boston Evening Transcript, May 21, 1913

I had stumbled upon a controversy.  Suffragists were outraged about a proposed burlesque “rubber neck suffragette” parade and threatened a boycott of the Semi-Centennial festivities.  A news service had picked up the report and it made it into a Boston paper.  To find out more about the story, I went to the local Wheeling newspapers on microfilm at the Center.  I found one article that directly addressed the situation.

Wheeling Daily News May 19, 1913

Noted West Virginia suffragette Dr. Harriet B. Jones declared the parade “an insult to every woman in the state.”  A large women’s suffrage parade had taken place in Washington, D.C. only a month before.  This event appeared to lampoon it. Women’s rights advocates in Wheeling were angry about the reflection of their “cause and their sex.”  Suffragists demanded that the parade be immediately removed from the program.

Dr. Harriet B. Jones, first woman licensed to practice medicine in West Virginia in 1885 and the first woman to be elected to the House of Delegates in 1924.  Jones was a noted leader of the women’s rights movement, serving as an officer in the West Virginia Equal Suffrage Association.

The unknown author of the Daily News article doubted the intention of the parade was to demean womankind and stated that the “native chivalry of true West Virginians is too deep-rooted to permit of such a travesty on the fair sex and I am sure that it will not permit such a parade to be allowed to take place.”  A working girls parade would take place instead.

And thus, it appears that the “rubber neck” parade was scrapped. No further mentions were found in Wheeling newspapers.  The WVRHC holds the official program of the Semi-Centennial as well as other souvenir books from the celebration, but none lists such an activity.  Perhaps this was a small victory for West Virginia suffragists, but they still faced judgement in the local newspapers.

A cartoon on the front page of the Wheeling Sunday Register, May 25, 1913 shows a “sweet girl graduate” being pulled by a suffragette away from love, marriage, and happiness towards a career and the unknown.

The day following the publication of “The Ways to Go” cartoon, the Wheeling Register printed a letter to the editor from “A Suffragist Tho’ Married” who objected to the cartoon saying it was “direct slap at all suffragists and decidedly in error.” She asks “are all married women happy?” and “do all you men insist that marriage and suffrage cannot walk hand in hand?”  The letter write also notes that the Register had been progressive, but not on this issue.  She implores them to change.

In the cartoon accompanying the letter to the editor in the Wheeling Register, May 26, 1913, the suffragette embraces Cupid.

Changing the anti-suffrage mentality was a state and nationwide challenge. 1913 had begun as an encouraging year for West Virginia suffragists when the House of Delegates passed a state women’s suffrage amendment.  Unfortunately, the amendment did not have the support in the State Senate and so it went no further. The same amendment returned and passed both houses in 1915 but failed as a statewide constitutional referendum with two-thirds of the fifty-five counties rejecting the amendment.  Finally, in 1920 the West Virginia legislature ratified the national constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote.  The “Rubber Neck Suffragettes” controversy turned out to be only a small battle in the long and hard fought crusade for women’s suffrage.

Please note the WVRHC Printed Ephemera collection includes pamphlets, brochures, isolated periodical issues, news clippings, event announcements and programs, and advertisements.  The materials were primarily published from the late 19th century to the present.  The Center is selectively digitizing items from the collection and building an online index.

The Center also has an extensive collection of West Virginia Newspapers. Much is available on microfilm at the Center, but portions of the collection have been digitized and made available through the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America project.

By Danielle Emerling, Assistant Curator

Thousands of archival records from the Senator John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV papers are now open for research at the West Virginia & Regional History Center. Materials can be accessed in the Center’s reading room on the 6^th floor of the WVU Downtown Campus Library.   Read the rest of this entry »

Sharing their thoughts paid off for West Virginia University students Allison Evans and Cody Morales who each won a Microsoft Surface 3 tablet for participating in a survey for the WVU Libraries.

The questions focused on what activities and needs most often bring users to the Libraries’ website, as well as how the Libraries can make the search box on its homepage easier to use. The Libraries’ web team will use the feedback to make changes to the website over summer break. Libraries staff randomly selected Evans and Morales from a pool of participants.

The survey was open to all WVU students, staff, and faculty and was promoted on the Libraries’ website, Facebook, Twitter and MIX.

Evans

Morales

Traveling for the summer? Need a beach read or audiobook? WVU Libraries have expanded services with eBooks and digital audiobooks available to enjoy from the Libraries’ website. Students, faculty and staff can borrow popular digital media anytime, anywhere by visiting wvu.lib.overdrive.com.

Users can browse the Libraries’ website, borrow titles with a valid WVU login and start reading or listening on a computer and mobile device. Many titles can be enjoyed immediately on any device with an internet browser or download materials with the free OverDrive app. All titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period so there are no late fees.

“We are excited to expand our leisure reading collections with the addition of eBooks and audiobooks. And summer seems a particularly good time to spend a lazy afternoon listening to the latest audiobook or reading a new novel on your mobile device,” said Penny Pugh, head of Research Services for the WVU Libraries.

This new service, powered by OverDrive, is free for all students, faculty and staff. To get started, visit wvu.lib.overdrive.com.