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Shepherd University Students Experience Historic Preservation at Work in Martinsburg

8/30/2019

 
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​In April 2019, Main Street Martinsburg coordinated a tour of the Martinsburg Roundhouse and the Arts Centre building (located at 300 W. King Street) for a group of historic preservation students from Shepherd University. During the tour the class not only learned about the history of the properties but the lengthy process of preserving and restoring them as well.

Shepherd University students who enroll in historic preservation courses spend their days in the classroom learning about what historic preservation is and how it is used as a way to both preserve historic resources and educate the public about those resources. Dr. Keith Alexander, Assistant Professor of History and co-director of the Historic Preservation and Public History program says that, “getting out into the field is absolutely essential for my historic preservation students to see how the things we talk about in class apply in the real world.” Throughout the tour students remarked on how, even though they knew some of these sites existed, they were less aware of the vast amount of history and recent preservation work that has gone into them.

Main Street Martinsburg is a collaboration of dedicated volunteers, business and property owners, concerned citizens, and local governments working together to promote and enhance the economic strength of historic downtown Martinsburg. With ongoing preservation projects like those at the Martinsburg Roundhouse and Shenandoah Hotel, Martinsburg provides the ideal setting for students to observe how historic preservation remains vital to economic development in West Virginia.

Main Street Martinsburg plans to continue inviting students to tour and discuss historic preservation efforts in the area in order to foster a sense of collaboration and education within the community. 

Meghan Papeika

Meaghan served as the Preserve WV AmeriCorps member at Main Street Martinsburg and the Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission during the 2018-2019 program year.

Wiles Hill Oral History Project

8/30/2019

 
By Sarah Hanna
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​Over the course of my AmeriCorps service year, one of my primary goals was to continue the oral history project started by my predecessor. Previous oral history recordings were completed in order to provide content for our exhibit. However, the exhibit was done, and the long-term objective guiding the interviews was no longer at the forefront. I decided to ask more general questions, and let the responses guide me. After a while, a narrative began to reveal itself in the more frequent answers I received.
 
Wiles Hill Grade School was a neighborhood elementary school in the Wiles Hill community of Morgantown. The school operated from 1910-1999, and served as not only a school, but as a community gathering place. The interviewees varied in age, painting a broad picture of the school and neighborhood that spans generations. Some recurring themes, however, were the importance of the school to the neighborhood, and the evolution of both Wiles Hill and Morgantown.
One interviewee was Jill Thomas, who was a teacher at Wiles Hill in the 1970s and 80s. She reflected on how Wiles Hill was such a special place to work due to its small size and community involvement. Another interviewee, Sam Wilkinson, was a student in the 1990s. He was a high school student when Wiles Hill closed, and he recalled attending Board of Education meetings to advocate in favor of keeping the school open. Consolidation of schools was a trend in the late twentieth and early twenty-first century that caused the closure of neighborhood schools throughout the United States. Opponents argued that a more hands-on approach with smaller class sizes was preferable. Misty Williamson was a student at Wiles Hill in the 1970s and recalled the evolution of the Wiles Hill neighborhood from mostly families to college student rentals. The increase in college students and the closing of the neighborhood school both worked to dramatically change the demographics and culture of Wiles Hill.
 
While reflecting on this evolution can highlight how much the neighborhood has lost over the years, it also serves a positive purpose. Not only can it be cathartic, it also helps to preserve what the school and neighborhood once were. Oral history serves as a tool for the preservation of everyday history, and for when personal memories can tell us something different from the other archival records available.  ​

Cast iron Restoration at Heritage Farm Museum and Village

8/28/2019

 
By Katherine Bowers

Heritage Farm Museum and Village is a unique facet within the West Virginia as it serves as a testament to Appalachian Heritage and the impact a family can make on an entire community. Mike and Henriella Perry wanted their children to grow up away from the city and the family began their hobby of antiquing. This hobby has led to a unique historic site that has an array of museums, historic buildings, and a petting zoo for families to enjoy and celebrate Appalachia.
 
The amount of artifacts on display at Heritage Farm is near overwhelming; visitors and docents alike find new artifacts everytime! During my service year at Heritage Farm I have had the privilege to see some unique artifacts firsthand while working on creating a comprehensive way of cataloging all of the items on display. During the inventorying process I realized that some of the artifacts on display in the Progress Museum and Vittles needed to be restored to their original luster. With support from Heritage Farm I led a Civic Service Project to restore cast iron artifacts.
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Cast iron artifacts before restoration began.
​This project took place in early April 2019 and I was lucky to have two docents, Josh Wilson and Matthew Stanley, help for the entire day. The day was filled with laughs, but also quick problem solving and lots of frantic waving in front of a fire alarm. We were fortunate to have a fully functioning kitchen to reseason all of the cast iron artifacts. We ended up with an assembly line with one of us washing the cast iron pans, another drying with a towel and placing on a burner, and the final member slathering the artifacts in Crisco and placing them in the oven. This process would cause a lot of smoking from the oven because of the grease burning up and making the cast iron fully seasoned. The smoke would roll out when the oven was opened, thankfully I had prepared by acquiring fans and ensuring all of the windows were opened. Thankfully, it was a quiet day at Heritage Farm so the alarms continuously turning on did not impact guest experiences. 
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The greatest success of the day was the refurbishing of a gigantic cauldron that is on display in the Progress Museum. A few months prior I discovered that water had been leaking through the chimney and collecting in the cauldron. This left the cauldron covered in rust and required some ingenuity on properly cleaning a.k.a. an electric drill with a scrubbing attachment.  The next challenge was finding a way to season the cauldron as it was too large to fit inside of the oven and so we set the burners on high and kept our fingers crossed it would work! Which thankfully it did!

This Civic Service Project was a great success in preserving 20+ cast iron artifacts that had been neglected for a while, but it also allowed myself and the docents to feel apart of the history and the continuing site narrative of working to save and preserve Appalachian Heritage. 
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  • AmeriCorps
    • About Preserve WV
    • Current Preserve WV Members
    • Join Preserve WV AmeriCorps
    • Preserve WV Stories
    • Sponsor a Member
  • Programs
    • Advocacy >
      • Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits
    • Annual Awards
    • Blair Footsteps Interpretive Trail
    • Historic Masonry Workshop
    • Historic Wood Window Preservation Workshop
    • West Virginia Endangered Properties >
      • West Virginia Endangered Properties List >
        • Endangered Properties Blog
        • Saved Sites
        • Lost or Archived Sites
    • West Virginia Historic Preservation Conference
    • Webinars >
      • Webinar Archive
    • West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail >
      • Movie Theatres of West Virginia
    • WV New Deal Trail
  • Resources
    • Fund Your Preservation Project >
      • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
      • Saving Historic Places Grant
    • Consultants and Contractors
    • Preservation Techniques >
      • Historic Building Assessment
      • How to Recycle Asbestos
      • Mothballing Property
      • Window Rehabilitation
    • Frances Benjamin Johnston: A West Virginia Icon >
      • Selected Photos
      • Behind the Lens Activity
    • Historic Preservation Degrees
  • News
    • Preservation Spotlights
    • Monthly E-newsletter
  • Contact
    • About Us >
      • Our Team
      • Our Story
  • Give
    • Become a Member of PAWV
    • Give Online
    • Ways to Give to PAWV
    • #GivingTuesday
    • Volunteer