June 13, 2011
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History will host special events in celebration of West Virginia Day at each of its four museums around the state. The West Virginia State Museum in Charleston, West Virginia Independence Hall in downtown Wheeling, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville and Museum in the Park in Logan will each feature many different activities.
The West Virginia State Museum will host West Virginia Happy 148th Birthday: Countdown to the Sesquicentennial, from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., Monday, June 20, at the Culture Center. Visitors will receive a special token of our State Seal, which is the first in a new token collection. In preparation for the upcoming Sesquicentennial, visitors are invited to record a brief message about what West Virginia means to them. Historical characters will share stories about the state’s history throughout the Great Hall and Museum. A film festival will be featured in the Education Media Room, as well as birthday cake and refreshments in the Great Hall. The Culture Center grounds will feature the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame Truck for tours. A Civil War-era flag on loan from Delegate Ron Walters (R-Kanawha) also will be exhibited. Children will be able to participate in Westb Virginia Journeys. They will receive a journal that can be stamped, like a passport, when they attend special programs at the museum and Culture Center. In June 2013, participants with the most stamps will receive a special prize. There will be free parking all day.
West Virginia Independence Hall will host activities throughout the weekend for the state’s 148th birthday. On Saturday, June 18, special tours will take place from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. Dramatic reenactments will take place throughout the day. There will also be light refreshments beginning at 1 p.m. On Sunday, June 19, West Virginia Independence Hall will offer special tours with historic characters from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. A dramatic reenactment of Governor Pierpont’s inaugural address will be at 2 p.m., with a reception to follow at 2:30 p.m. On Monday, June 20, Independence Hall will celebrate West Virginia Day!<.em> Light refreshments will be served at 11 a.m., followed by a period music contert by the Wildcat Regiment Band. At noon, a West Virginia Day Ceremony will take place on the lawn. Re-enactors portraying West Virginia’s founding fathers will present speeches followed by a reception and ceremonial cake cutting and other refreshments. The day will conclude at 1:30 p.m. with a period music concert by the Wildcat Regiment Band in the historic courtroom.
Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex will celebrate the state’s birthday with family activities throughout the weekend. The complex will be open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 18, from noon to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 19, and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Monday, June 20. Children can enjoy making “Gorgeous Gorget” pendants at the Discovery Table in the Delf Norona Museum. The museum will show the documentary West Virginia: A Film History, courtesy of the West Virginia Humanities Council each day. Outside, visitors can walk to the top of the Mound and check on the progress of the newly planted Interpretive Garden. Grave Creek Mound will also be a featured stop along the June 18 Marshall County West Virginia Day Driving Tour.
The Museum in the Park at Chief Logan State Park will celebrate West Virginia Days with an outdoor encampment on Saturday, June 25, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, June 26, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
On Saturday, there will be crafts under the direction of Libby Brooks from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visitors can make corn husk dolls, string art, rain gauges and flower pots. Local and regional re-enactors will live and work on the museum grounds wearing period clothing and demonstrating different techniques used by settlers and Native Americans. Visitors will witness the life-style, living conditions, occupations and recreations of these early frontiersmen and women. This year’s special activities include an interpretation of settler Mary Draper Ingles’ abduction by Shawnee in July 1755 and her dramatic return to her family in Draper’s Meadow, Va. A historical interaction of white settlers and native peoples of Appalachia will take place. In addition, sutlers, the civilian merchants who sold provisions to the army, will offer period reproduction jewelry, furs and clothing and gift items for sale.
For more information about these activities, contact the West Virginia Division of Culture and History at (304) 558-0220, West Virginia Independence Hall at (304) 238-1300, Grave Creek Mound at (304) 843-4128, or Museum in the Park at (304) 792-7229.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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