 Approximately 250 AmeriCorps members serving in West Virginia were told to stop serving by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. This included all twenty-two members serving at twenty historic sites within the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia’s Preserve WV AmeriCorps program - the statewide national service initiative where AmeriCorps members helped main streets thrive, cultivated cultural heritage tourism, and preserved beloved West Virginia history. Grant funds were used solely to pay members' service stipend. Donate today to help Preserve WV AmeriCorps members finish their service years!
For the past 12 years, the Alliance coordinated the Preserve WV AmeriCorps program to assist the state’s nonprofits and public agencies charged with stewarding and preserving their community’s cultural resources, as well as providing cultural heritage tourism opportunities and educational services. Many public agencies have been expected to care for our historic buildings and artifacts for decades with minimal budgets and no staff making it extremely challenging for them to meet their missions and provide educational programs to local community residents and cultural heritage tourists. By facilitating the placement of AmeriCorps members, these agencies could bring in skilled, motivated individuals from within the community or from as far away as California, to ensure the state’s historic resources were cared for to the best standards while also engaging community residents of all ages and tourists from around the world to learn about our state and local history. Now, the state’s historic sites, ranging from Matewan to Charles Town, Wheeling to Lewisburg and many places in-between, must figure out how to maintain historic resources and continue providing services despite the sudden loss of AmeriCorps support through Preserve WV. Sites are having to adjust quickly while also experiencing additional loss of income from grant funding from important agencies like the West Virginia Humanities Council. Thomas Jude of the Matewan Mine Wars Museum, where one member was serving through Preserve WV, explains “The unexpected loss of our AmeriCorps Member (Candace) immediately reduces our capacity to host student tours. Newly announced education programs she was set to lead now face cancellation. Her departure forces staff to absorb critical project work, stretching our already limited capacity. Community-service projects coordinated with the Town of Matewan will likely be cancelled as well.” Preserve WV had already planned to reduce its program in the coming year from 22 to 15 members in order to align with the new administration’s goals, selecting sites that were severely limited in capacity and available resources. Of the 15 entities proposed to be site sponsors in the coming program year, one site was entirely volunteer-managed, five had 1 paid staff, three sites had 2-4 paid staff, four sites had 5 paid staff, and two were state agencies with 6 or 8 paid staff members. Collectively, over 50 historic buildings are in their care, and one agency, where multiple members were expected to serve, manages thousands of acres with numerous undocumented historic structures not currently counted. Since these sites are heavily dependent on community volunteers, an often aging and shrinking population, and public funding with varying degrees of reliability, AmeriCorps members provide more consistency for sites to engage with their community members and leverage resources and preservation incentives. With no other mechanism to support these organizations other than the Alliance, they are limited in their abilities to deal with deferred maintenance of significant resources leading many entities to want to demolish resources for perceived practicality. However, demolishing historic resources in rural communities signals decline and can lead to further disinvestment through the erosion of unique character, disruption of the streetscape, loss of heritage tourism and adaptive reuse potential, as well as loss of embodied energy. While preservation, on the other hand, offers long-term benefits by stabilizing property values, creating economic opportunities, and fostering community pride. Kara Gordon, site supervisor at the Cockayne Farmstead in Marshall County, served with Preserve WV for two terms prior to becoming their full-time site manager. As Kara explained, “The Marshall County Historical Society has hosted Preserve WV AmeriCorps members since the program began in 2013. Before we could employ permanent staff members and were working solely with volunteers, AmeriCorps members helped to establish the farmhouse as a museum in so many ways, cataloging the collection, doing outreach to the community, and pioneering many of the programs we continue to this day. This year, we were excited to have two amazing AmeriCorps members, one at the Cockayne Farmstead and one at our other facility, the Marshall County History Museum, which previously was only sporadically volunteer-operated. The improvements he had been making at that site were incredible, and, above all, established consistency there for the first time since its opening. The extremely sudden loss of our AmeriCorps members will drastically stunt the capacity of our organization. We will have to immediately reduce the number of programs we offer, the number of hours we are open to the public, and the progress we had made in digital content creation in hopes of opening other avenues to continue to sustain our sites and reach a wider audience.” Faith Walker, director of the Great Bend Museum said on the issue, “We rely on AmeriCorps for critical staffing needs. Without it, we will have to find a way to get by on a reduced capacity, which means fewer public programs and exhibits, longer waits for research assistance, and potentially reduced open hours. We depend on AmeriCorps to help us meet our mission; we simply won’t be able to sustain that loss for long without noticeable effects on our operations and programs.” “Not only will the sites and communities suffer from this unexpected and sudden loss of AmeriCorps members, but the individuals serving in these positions are hurt as they no longer are receiving their modest stipend they received during service, as well as a critical workforce development opportunity for the state,” said Danielle Parker, Executive Director of the Alliance. Preserve WV was a launching point for over 240 individuals pursuing careers in the public history or community development fields, as well as retirees wanting to continue providing meaningful service where they live. Many of these members now have successful careers as the directors of historic sites, working for state agencies like the State Historic Preservation Office, and working in archives like at the State Museum. One example of one young person who stayed in the state because of the AmeriCorps programs is the Alliance’s own preservation manager, Jamie Billman. After serving two terms in the AmeriCorps with the Preserve WV program, Jamie started as the Preservation Manager in 2021 and has been working since then to help AmeriCorps members have meaningful experiences like she had. Billman loves working one-on-one with members to make sure they receive educational opportunities during their service.. “I don’t know what I’d have done without the Preserve WV AmeriCorps Program,” Billman said, “I graduated with my Master’s during Covid and not many places were hiring, and the Alliance gave me a foot in the door into the field I wanted to work in. I am forever grateful for that.” The road ahead for the Alliance and the sites they have assisted for over a decade is a difficult one, but they do remain hopeful and committed. Parker explained, “Many communities already recognize the impact these cuts are going to have locally, and they are responding to try to figure out ways to keep the positions intact in some way. Members are trying to find other jobs, but some are hoping to volunteer for the time being while searching for work to continue the programs they had planned. Although public funding that nonprofits rely on is being cut in all directions, including AmeriCorps and the Community Development Block Program, we are mobilizing and strategizing. Our local residents and businesses recognize how important our work is, even if the new administration does not agree. We are working together to figure out how to rise above this.” The Alliance is saddened by the cut of not only our AmeriCorps members but all 32,000 that were cut nationwide. The long-term ramifications of this decision by DOGE will be felt in every state, particularly in vulnerable communities and sites that relied on these services. Currently, over two dozen states are engaged in legal battles against the DOGE decision. Although West Virginia declined to participate, the organizations whose grants were terminated hope they can at least finish out their program year, scheduled to end in December. Then they could plan for the future in a more measured way. The Preservation Alliance of West Virginia is the grassroots, statewide nonprofit dedicated to historic preservation. It has also successfully administered other programs funded by the federal government including its Saving Historic Places Grants and the Fund for Historic Schools. Learn more at www.pawv.org. ### A full list of current Preserve WV AmeriCorps site sponsors affected by this program termination are: 1. Arthurdale Heritage (Preston County) 2. Clarksburg History Museum (Harrison County) 3. Cockayne Farmstead (Marshall County) 4. Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex (Marshall County) 5. Great Bend Museum (Jackson County) 6. Greenbrier Historical Society 7. Jefferson County Historic Landmarks Commission 8. Main Street Ripley (Jackson County) 9. Marshall County Historical Society 10. Monongahela National Forest Heritage Department 11. Monroe County Historical Society 12. Morgantown History Museum (Monongalia County) 13. National Coal Heritage Area 14. Northern Appalachian Coal Mining Heritage Association (Marion County) 15. Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (statewide) 16. Ritchietown Renaissance (Ohio County) 17. Rivers to Ridges Heritage Trail 18. West Virginia Humanities Council (statewide, based in Kanawha County) 19. West Virginia Mine Wars Museum 20. World Scouting Museum (Kanawha County)
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An important part of caring for a museum is exhibit maintenance. While it may not seem like it, little touches go a long way in enhancing the museum experience. An exhibit is meant to draw the eye of visitors and make them want to engage with the space. While having an interesting artifact can go a long way, its potential is ultimately wasted if the exhibit feels unfinished or boring. In February, the museum closed for renovations to bring new life into the space. We started to rearrange exhibits and storage areas. One of the goals of these renovations was to make the museum more inviting for visitors. A project that I undertook to aid in this goal and make exhibits more visually appealing was lining display cabinets with fabric liners. Previously artifacts looked like they got lost on the shelves or there was nothing visually exciting to help draw in visitors. My idea was to add color to these cases so that the objects stand out. With a tight budget, I had to be creative with what was on hand. Luckily, our local theater had replaced their theater curtains, leaving plenty of extra fabric. The heavy curtains had to be wheeled around on a dolly and cut into sections to make the process. I found all of the other supplies needed for the project in the museum. On days that the museum was closed, I made my workspace in a corner in the back. Drawing on my sewing experience, I created patterns for multiple types of glass shelves. I made patterns out of the spare copy paper, measuring them to the shelves and bases of the display cases. Taking sections of the curtain, I traced the patterns using a white crayon as my tailor chalk. After cutting out the piece, I hemmed the raw edges with masking tape. I chose tape to assemble the pieces instead of sewing them together to make the process faster and easier. Since the liners would be constantly moving around, tape was sufficient. Finally, I put the finished piece into the display cabinet. It was a long and at times tedious process, but eventually, I made about 37 lines in varying shapes and sizes. The results were well worth the effort. The artifacts stand out against the liners and I was proud of what was accomplished. I work mainly with collection accessions, so most of the time I’m on the computer. While I enjoy this, it can be hard to feel a sense of accomplishment when all I have to show for my work is still on a screen. Working with my hands and creating something that would be used was rewarding. I’m excited for visitors to have a more enriching experience at our museums thanks to all the little details added to our displays. Riley PharesRiley Phares served with the Morgantown History Museum during the 2023-2024 AmeriCorps service term. The South Wheeling area has been host to many important histories, especially within the labor rights movement and industrial field with the significant nail making, tobacco, pottery, and glass industries. Its landscape tells the story of a multi-ethnic working class immigrant neighborhood that operated these many factories and formed new communities and a cultural melting pot that contributes to the identity of Wheelingites today. Unfortunately, due to the industrial and working class nature of these histories, the stories and structures have not been historically deemed of importance to monitor, preserve, and save, and as such many great buildings have been lost in South Wheeling. This combined with a lack of foresight to document these buildings and histories makes it difficult to find what these buildings looked like, where they were, and when they were lost. As a part of my term with Ritchietown Renaissance Inc., I was asked to help track down these lost structures and histories to compile into a map. The map will be available as a resource both to the organization and community to provide education on the changes the neighborhood has experienced and what it has lost. This research has included referencing Sanborn maps, examining newspaper articles and ads, and referencing other written accounts of the neighborhood’s recent lived history. Much of the demolition and loss of historic buildings in South Wheeling has occurred in recent decades; with the major highway construction that demolished entire streets of buildings and redevelopment of large areas into residential lots. However, earlier demolition/lost buildings are acknowledged as well, like the redevelopment of several blocks into Pulaski Field or the loss of the Alhambra Palace rolling rink, which was destroyed in a fire in the early 1900’s. Loss and changes in the landscape cannot be imagined as a single instance but rather a progression of redevelopment in usage of the landscape as the community’s needs changed or disaster struck. This mapping has been recorded both in an active digital file to be completed in the future, and a MapHub page that offers pinpoints on properties and larger lots of industrial complexes, remembering the past uses of buildings that still exist today, and the places of those that have not survived. This resource is hoped to provide education on the histories of the area and what’s at stake, and influence future property owners and government officials to be more thoughtful of what properties are deemed unnecessary or removable, and to preserve the unique histories and identity of the neighborhood for future generations.  Griffin NordstromGriffin served with Ritchietown Renaissance Inc. during the 2023-2024 Preserve WV AmeriCorps service term.
 On July 28, AmeriCorps members Dwayne Bartley, Joni Morris, and Sharon David joined 22 community volunteers for a much-needed preservation event at Peninsula Cemetery in Wheeling, WV. Spearheaded by the Ohio County Cemeteries Foundation (OCCF) and funded by a 9/11 Day of Service and Memorial Grant from Volunteer West Virginia, the event focused on cleaning, restoration, and honoring the veterans buried in this historic cemetery. Preparation for the event began earlier in the month with long-time Peninsula volunteers Penny McConnell and Carla Tustin identifying veteran tombstones for cleaning and repair. PAWV and the West Virginia Humanities Council sponsored a workshop on cemetery documentation and restoration on July 26, where volunteers were trained in effective documentation and approved tombstone restoration techniques. This training led to the formation of the OCCF Tripod Team, a group of dedicated volunteers who will assist with heavy digging and lifting projects in the future. On the main workday, volunteers sprayed the headstones and monuments of 175 veterans and 50 civilians with an environmentally friendly cleaner to remove moss and dirt. Other volunteers applied fresh coats of paint to railings and concrete posts, cleared trash and debris, and trimmed branches from the cemetery’s original trees that threatened to damage tombstones. Peninsula Cemetery is the last resting place for at least 324 veterans. Some have dedicated military stones or markers, while others have military information inscribed on their regular stones. Sadly, some veterans have no markers at all. Several stones were unreadable, so the identities of these veterans are a mystery; however, volunteers continue to search obituaries and military records to identify to identify them. Among the veterans honored are Sgt. Charles Fleming, killed by friendly fire during the Philippine-American War; Stephen Clark, a prisoner of war shot while attempting to escape captivity; Percy Mathison Hannan, who died from influenza in 1918 while serving at Camp Meade, Maryland; and Edward Franklin "Eddie" Bowman, a WWI veteran killed in France. It is interesting to note that Bowman has a military stone in Peninsula, but his actual burial site is in another Wheeling cemetery. This reflects what was then a common practice of erecting headstones before the service members’ remains arrived in the US. A significant achievement during the project was raising the Marcus Wilson Amick monument, which weighs approximately 2,000 lbs. Amick served for the Union during the Civil War and is buried in the same lot as his father Jacob, who served in the War of 1812, and other immediate family members. Volunteers decided to clean and reset the entire family lot, not just the veterans’ stones. Among the many veterans buried in Peninsula, volunteers identified four African Americans whose stories reflect both their service and the challenges of their time. George R. Jennings and James H. Howard served in regiments of the US Colored Volunteers during the Civil War and Louis James Walton, a WWI veteran, died from health problems related to exposure to chemical weapons. Captain Hamilton Davis, who served in the 50th Regiment United States Colored Infantry, was laid to rest in Peninsula, but no stone marks his grave. Peninsula Cemetery, established in 1851, was once the third largest cemetery in West Virginia. Unfortunately, the construction of Interstate 70 in 1964 greatly affected the cemetery, leading to the exhumation and reinterment of over 2,500 bodies and splitting the site in two. Volunteers hope to continue working on the orphaned portion of the cemetery, which houses the original colored/enslaved peoples and paupers’ cemeteries, at a future event. Volunteers, with their dedication and hard work, ensure the preservation of the legacy of these veterans and the history they represent for future generations. We encourage you to support this cause by volunteering with or donating to a cemetery organization near you. Sharon DavidSharon has served two AmeriCorps service terms with the Friends of Wheeling and the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia.  During my time serving at Arthurdale Heritage, Inc., I have had the opportunity to learn many different methods of historic preservation, the most notable being window restoration. In October of 2023, Arthurdale Heritage hosted a two-day Window Restoration Workshop taught by Derrick Smith. Several PAWV AmeriCorps as well as other community members showed up to learn and try their hands at restoring windows that were taken from Arthurdale’s historic high school (built in 1935). Topics that were covered included glazing, wood repairs, glass pane cutting, and installation. Inspired by this workshop, I began planning my Civic Service Project with the goal of reglazing the windows in Arthurdale’s historic Blacksmith Forge. Built in 1934 as part of the nation’s first New Deal Homestead, Arthurdale’s Blacksmith Forge served as a place where homesteaders could learn blacksmithing skills in order to build tools and other things they needed to run the homestead community. In 1986, Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. bought the historic Forge and restored it to its original state. Today, it is still a working forge and is used as part of Arthurdale Heritage’s historical tour and as a space for blacksmithing demonstrations and/or workshops. In an effort to engage the community in this restoration project and to reduce Arthurdale Heritage’s expenses, I reached out to local businesses to see if they would donate supplies. Sunbelt Rentals and the PPG Paint Store in Fairmont, WV, generously donated a wallpaper steamer and a gallon of exterior paint towards the project. Other supplies, such as paint scrapers, putty knives, and window glazing, were donated by Preservation Alliance of WV or items Arthurdale Heritage already had on hand. On May 17, 2024, a group of AmeriCorps members and a few community members gathered at Arthurdale for a full day of restoring the Forge windows. Our contractor, Jeff Zinn, kindly deinstalled the windows from the Forge beforehand. Since it was raining, I prepared the Tractor Bay to be a workspace by laying plastic on the floor and setting up the windows on tables. Some volunteers took over scraping the old paint from the window frames while others used the wallpaper steamer to remove the old glazing. By lunchtime, we had the windows stripped and deglazed with only a few broken panes. The rest of the day was spent reglazing the windows. By 4:00pm, all eight windows were glazed and set to cure in the Forge for a couple weeks before being reinstalled. Visitors taking our regular historic tours enjoyed seeing evidence of active historic preservation at Arthurdale.   The week before our annual New Deal Festival on July 13th, my two coworkers and I painted the windows and Jeff reinstalled them in the Forge. When they were first repaired in the 1980s, the windows were not put in correctly and would not swing open to allow for ventilation in the Forge like they were designed to do. This time, however, Jeff was able to reinstall two sets of windows properly so that they open. This project would not have happened without AmeriCorps’ volunteer assistance because Arthurdale Heritage could not afford to pay to have the windows restored. This project ensured the preservation of this historic site and helped to continue Arthurdale Heritage’s educational efforts (such as historical tours, blacksmithing demonstrations, etc.) that happen in that space, fulfilling a community need. This project impacted both locals who benefit from Arthurdale Heritage’s heritage programming and other visitors who tour through this historic building.  Mary LinscheidMary served with Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. during the 2023-2024 Preserve WV AmeriCorps service term.  Recently, my AmeriCorps sponsor site, Wheeling Heritage, received a phone call about a historic property. This is not uncommon for us, as historic preservation is a core pillar of what we do, plus Wheeling is chock full of gorgeous historic buildings. While many of those are homes, this building we got a call about was a little different, and that excited me. The promise of a “fireproof” hotel has loomed over Fourteenth Street in Wheeling for over 100 years. When The Rogers Hotel was first opened in 1915, it was set to be “revolutionary”, according to an article in The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer. The hotel remained open for many years, thankfully retaining many of its original features. How do I know about these original features? When we took the call at Wheeling Heritage, we were informed the property would soon be going up for action, and we were invited inside to document all the beauty of this space. We were given a great opportunity to drum up excitement to hopefully get this property into the hands of someone who will take great care of it!   Perhaps the part that would be most lovely to see restored are the pieces of delicate plasterwork, many of which still feature some of their original paint colors for reference. This is extra wonderful as The Wheeling Daily Intelligencer in 1915 reported that the color details were sure to “arouse the admiration of all those who have seen it.” There are also several original bathtubs, which were a key selling point when the hotel first opened, “rooms with a bath for a dollar”. There are also original railings, copper window screens made by A. L. Yardley & Son of Columbus, Ohio, and original tile work made The Wheeling Tile Company. In our time exploring the building, we learned about how much has already been poured into restoring this building to its original glory. Updated plumbing and electric hookups have been put in all the second floor rooms. Some of the rooms on this floor are even fully finished. There is also a door that will cordon off the second floor from the remaining upper floors, so that work can be done in stages. This will allow someone to come in and operate out of the lobby and second floor rooms (all of which open to a mezzanine overlooking the gorgeous lobby) while working on the remainder of the hotel at will. The work we did to showcase this historic beauty really paid off. Across all of our social media, more than 13,000 people engaged with our photos of the property and the video we took inside. The article I wrote exploring the history of the building and all its beautiful features was read by 900 people (you can read it here)! I can only hope some of those people got excited about the work of preserving history, and maybe some of them will even consider bidding on the property when it goes up for auction. While my time with Wheeling Heritage as an AmeriCorps is coming to a close, it will be tremendous if some of the work I did allows a property as stunning as The Rogers Hotel to have a new life, celebrating all at once the history of Wheeling and the exciting future. Makayla CarneyMakayla served as the Preserve WV AmeriCorps with Wheeling Heritage during the 2023-2024 service year. Over the past few months I have been working on the very large project to resurvey the Arthurdale Historic District to update the National Register of Historic Places documentation for the Arthurdale community. This was a project begun by my AmeriCorps predecessor, Emily, and I was able to continue the work for the past few months. Between January and May 2023, I surveyed and documented over 100 buildings and their associated outbuildings within Arthurdale. Arthurdale was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. The National Register listing includes the core community buildings that are currently owned by Arthurdale Heritage as well as the entire original community boundary of 1200 acres. Currently, Arthurdale Heritage owns twenty-three acres and the Administration Building, Forge, Esso Station, tractor and garage bays, Center Hall, and three of the original school buildings. Additionally, AHI owns two of the historic houses with outbuildings: a Wagner-style house with original root cellar and a Hodgson-style house with original barn. Outside AHI, we estimate that 160 of the original 165 houses remain. The original Arthurdale plots have almost all been subdivided and additional structures have been constructed within the district boundary between 1988 and now. These modern structures also needed to be surveyed to update the 1988 listing of buildings to reflect the current community.  Surveying for the National Register is a process to document every structure within the district to document the architectural character of the historic area. My first step was to use the Preston County tax maps to make a plan of what buildings were in each area to survey and gather pertinent information from the tax records. The next step was to go out into the field to locate and photograph every structure within the listing boundary, both historic and modern, and note architectural details. Each of the properties surveyed gets an individual Historic Property Inventory form which includes architectural details, a full building description, owner and history details, and several pictures of the building. As Arthurdale nears ninety years old it is amazing that so many of the original buildings still stand as actively used houses and community buildings, and that the entire community still retains much of the rural atmosphere even with the addition of modern buildings.  Arthurdale, originally called the Reedsville Experiment, was the first New Deal homestead project established under Franklin D. Roosevelt’s subsistence homestead fund. Arthurdale was designated a homestead community in 1933 when the U.S. government purchased land from Richard Arthur to construct the community. Between 1933 and 1937, 165 houses were constructed on approximately 1,200 acres. The U.S. government managed Arthurdale between 1933 and 1947, although the Arthurdale community persisted long after. Eleanor Roosevelt was intimately involved in the establishment and long-term life of Arthurdale. Even prior to her husband’s election to the presidency, Mrs. Roosevelt was involved in relief programs focusing on children and families. With the introduction of legislation to promote subsistence homesteads and relocate people to rural areas, Mrs. Roosevelt and Clarence Pickett (appointed chief of the Stranded Mining and Industrial Populations Section of the Department of the Interior) became interested in the idea. In the summer of 1933, Eleanor Roosevelt surveyed the coal camps of Scotts Run, a mining area just outside of Morgantown, WV. A few months later, the government purchased the Arthur property and recruited families from Scotts Run and north central West Virginia to be the first homesteaders. Arthurdale was intended to be a self-sustaining community. Each family was given a plot of land (2 to 5 acres) and typically a barn and root cellar (or basement in some houses) in order to produce food for themselves and the community. Homesteaders were selected who had knowledge of farming to ensure this was successful. The Mountaineer Craftsmen’s Cooperative Association produced furniture for the Arthurdale homes and for sale, and the government attempted to bring in industries to create economic opportunity at Arthurdale. The community also had its own school system to educate the community's youth. Arthurdale was an example of progressive education. Between 1934 and 1936, Elsie Ripley Clapp–a student of John Dewey–directed the school’s progressive program that stressed individual and hands-on learning. In addition to the schools, the community had a forge, gas station, cooperative store, craft shop, barber shop, and doctor’s clinic. In many ways, Arthurdale was Eleanor’s “pet project.” In addition to surveying Scott’s Run with her friend Lorena Hickock in the summer of 1933 to assess the living conditions of Appalachian mining families, she was involved in the development of the community. For example, she advocated for each house to have electricity and modern appliances that were not common in rural West Virginia. Between 1935 and 1944, Eleanor Roosevelt attended each high school graduation for Arthurdale students. Franklin D. Roosevelt attended the 1938 graduation and is still today the only sitting president to deliver a high school commencement speech. After 1944, Eleanor visited one more time in 1960 for the dedication of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Kathleen ThompsonKathleen (Katie) Thompson served with Arthurdale Heritage, Inc. and the West Virginia Association of Museums during the 2022-2023 Service Year.
My Civic Service Project was a clean up of the landscape around the Henry Clay Furnace located on the Coopers Rock State Forest. This project consisted of four principal tasks: clearing brush and saplings from the area to the right of the furnace; clearing brush and string trimming the area to the left of the furnace; clearing the brush for a trail between the Henry Clay Furnace Trail and Clay Run; and lastly pruning all vegetation from the furnace that could be reached from the ground. The Henry Clay Furnace Clean Up project was scheduled to take place from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. By around 9:00 am, twenty four volunteers from First Energy Corporation convened at the Henry Clay Furnace Parking Lot. This was a diverse group coming from various power stations and included more than one manager.  First Energy Volunteers Adam Polinski, of the Coopers Rock Foundation, an organizer of many Coopers Rock State Forest volunteer projects, and who aided me in recruiting the volunteers, went over organizational matters with the volunteers. I then gave a short history of the Henry Clay Furnace. Following this brief orientation, every volunteer grabbed a tool or two from the assortment of rakes, mattocks, shovels, saws, and a pair of gloves provided by the Forest and made their way down the Henry Clay Furnace Trail to the furnace. Once at the furnace, teams were formed and the work commenced. Over the next four hours, volunteers cleared the saplings and other woody plants from the area to the right of the furnace and raked up much of the leaves and other debris. These efforts paid off and new stone foundations were revealed. In the meantime, a crew of volunteers pruned all reachable vegetation from the furnace. Another volunteer (actually my next door neighbor) brought his gas powered string trimmer and made quick work of trimming the grass in the area left of the furnace. Another group removed saplings and grapevines in this same area to reveal the foundations of an unidentified structure. At 11:30 am, everyone took a break and I used this time to explain how the furnace operated and the difficulties of getting the finished products to market. Work resumed and large downed branches were cut up and dragged to the brush pile. Other volunteers continued with raking, while a smaller crew cut a trail to Clay Run. At 12:30 pm, as the planned work was winding down, we added one last work activity. While this last activity of the day wasn’t part of the proposed work plan, it was on my wish list for the furnace site, so it was undertaken anyway, given we had such a large workforce. We organized a rock brigade to gather rocks and stones from Clay Run and passed them from volunteer to volunteer up the hill to me. I then placed the rocks and stones in a loose fashion along the gully created on the left side of the furnace by mountain bikers riding down the bank behind the furnace. It is hoped that this rock paving will create obstacles that will deter future mountain bikers from riding down this slope, which is deleterious to the hillside behind the furnace. At this point, it was 1:00 pm and thanks were made to the group as they readied to depart. They gathered up tools and made their way back up the trail to the parking lot. Many of the volunteers had to return to work. Without a doubt my AmeriCorps Civic Service Project was a complete success. I believe that its success was directly related to the desire of the twenty four First Energy volunteers to give freely of their time and their willingness to work hard. Ultimately I believe that the results of my Civic Service Project will continue to bear fruits for many years to come. The Henry Clay Furnace sits at the junction of five trails and while not necessarily a destination, it is frequently visited by hikers and bikers. With the site cleaned up it will make it more of a destination and hopefully in the near future new interpretive signage will be installed explaining how the furnace worked and the function of the foundations revealed in the clean up. Lee R. MaddexLee served as a Preserve WV AmeriCorps member with the Morgantown History Museum during the 2022-2023 program year.
Meet the White Sisters: The First Women to Graduate From WVU with Bachelors of Science Degrees3/27/2023
The White Family Collection was “discovered” in the holdings of the Morgantown History Museum in Morgantown, while I (Lee Maddex, Preserve WV AmeriCorps member) was cataloging the museum’s extensive accessions as part of my AmeriCorps service. Discovering a collection of forgotten historic materials, such as the White Family Collection, is one of the most rewarding aspects of my service at the museum. Much of the story presented below was fleshed out with the use of the Ancestry.com website and Earl Core’s Monongalia Story: A Bicentennial History In June 1895, twins Anna and Stella White graduated from West Virginia University (WVU) with Bachelors of Science degrees. The White Sisters were the first two women in WVU history to graduate with Bachelor of Science degrees. While their graduation was historic, there is more to this story than meets the eye at first glance.  White sisters, c. 1885 The White sisters' education odyssey began in 1886 when their parents Robert and Mary White sold their 320 acre farm in Ross County, Ohio and moved their family to Morgantown, West Virginia. The White’s moved to Morgantown so their six children could take advantage of the educational opportunities afforded by WVU. Relocation for educational purposes was not unusual in the late nineteenth century, as many midwestern colleges and universities did not have dormitories needed to house students, especially women students. By June 1897, all six of the White children: DeWitt White (1864-1953), Charles White (1866-1899), Prescott C. White (1864-1948), twins Anna B. White (1871-1903) and Stella S. White (1871-1959), and Bennett S. White (1875-1962) had all graduated from WVU. The six White children were the largest single family cluster of children graduated by WVU in its first half century. The White family lived in Sunnyside at 118 Beverly Avenue (later 2184 University Avenue; no longer extant). The WVU Bachelor of Science degree program was attractive to women, since it did not require the Latin and Greek language courses required for a Bachelor of Arts degree. Individuals enrolled in a Bachelor of Science degree program had the option of studying the French and German languages instead of the Classic Languages. Bachelor of Science degree program included coursework in History; English literature; Mathematics; Elementary science-Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Geology, Economics, and Sociology; French or German language; and Drawing for a total of 28 credit hours plus 14 elective credit hours. One elective was Library Science.  West Virginia University Junior Class of 1894. Anna White, on left and Stella White, on right The United States Census for 1900 enumerates that Anna was a librarian and, in fact, the West Virginia University Course Catalogue for 1897-1898 lists Anna B. White as an assistant Librarian with a BS degree. Sadly Anna passed in 1903, from unknown causes. The same 1900 census data enumerates that Stella was a teacher. However later census returns for Stella indicate her occupation was listed as “none.” She was perhaps keeping house for her aging father and then later for her bachelor brother Prescott, a local lawyer. Stella never married and continued to reside in the family home after her fathers death. Stella lived a much longer life than her sister Anna, passing in 1959 at eighty-eight. The twins are interred at Oak Grove Cemetery in Morgantown, along with other members of the White Family. The White Family tombstone is inscribed with “Life Work: Education and Golden Rule as Foundation of World Peace and Happiness.” The White Family Collection consists of a wide variety of items. These items include Anna and Stella White’s WVU grade cards, a teacher certificate for Stella, graduation notices for Bennett White, Prescott White’s grade cards from the WVU School of Law and an assortment of White children diplomas. Additionally there are some 168 letters to various family members including Stella White. Other items include a checkbook, souvenir booklets from vacations, coal accounting sheets for coal lands owned by the family in Logan County, and miscellaneous property deeds. Perhaps most interesting of all there is a huge group of photographs in this collection. The photographs include pictures of Anna and Stella White, Prescott White, Bennett White and other members of the White family and extended family. This assemblage is currently being cataloged and archived and will be available to the public in the near future Lee MaddexLee serves as a Preserve WV AmeriCorps member with the Morgantown History Museum during the 2022-2023 program year.
During my term with the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia’s AmeriCorps program, I have been granted the opportunity to serve the local community of Morgantown, West Virginia. Early on during my service, I noticed that local historical resources were not being utilized by the public. To generate interest in local history I contacted the Morgantown History Museum to coordinate with their institution in administering educational programming for children. I decided to make children the primary audience because of the importance of creating an appreciation and interest in history at a young age. I thought if more opportunities were available for local children regarding humanities such as history, it would lead to an overall community change in engaging with local historical institutions. The objective of this civic service project was to provide assistance to a local museum in connecting and engaging with their community and to also serve the local youth through providing free educational opportunities. In March and April, I held a total of eight programs. The programs were administered on select Saturdays at the Morgantown History Museum with two programs available for each day. All programs were available for ages 8-12 and consisted of a lesson, activity, and snack.  Autumn's flyer for Kids & Family Days at the Morgantown History Museum Each program was designed for the children to learn about an important part of West Virginia’s history with a particular focus on Morgantown. The programs were as follows: Native Peoples of West Virginia, The Textile Industry in West Virginia, Mining in West Virginia, and the Wildlife of West Virginia. Every program incorporated artifacts held at the museum that children were able to interact with.  Artifacts that kids were able to interact with during one of the exhibit days During that two-month time frame, several children attended the Morgantown History Museum for the very first time. Throughout the programs, the children had a lot of fun and were able to learn and engage with their local history. All of the children were excited to have been able to attend and informed me that they would attend other events like it. The programs encouraged the local youth to visit the Morgantown History Museum where they were able to expand their knowledge of their state and local history in an enjoyable manner. Many of the families who partook in the programs enjoyed the experience immensely and made plans to visit again. The programs had made such an impact on the local community and for the museum that this summer they were held again as part of my regular site duties. For the summer two programs were held in accordance with a local daycare center. For Kindergarten through 2nd grade, the children attended the Native Peoples of West Virginia Program and 3rd grade through 5th grade attended the Wildlife of West Virginia Program. During both programs, the children were excited to learn something new and engage with all of the artifacts that they had access to. After the programs, the children took a tour of the museum to see all of the exhibits. They were all very curious about all of the artifacts and asked numerous questions as they excitedly went about exploring. Many of the children informed me that they hoped to visit the museum again with their families. I am thankful to the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia and the Friends of the Morgantown History Museum who provided funding, to have had the opportunity to positively impact both the Morgantown History Museum and the local community. The programming provided the museum with materials that can be reused to connect and engage with their local community, especially the youth. As well as generate excitement and appreciation of the state and local history among the children in the community.  Autumn at the Morgantown History Museum for Kids & Family Days Autumn MartinoAutumn Martino served as a Preserve WV AmeriCorps member with the West Virginia Association of Museums during the 2021-2022 program year.
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