Sept. 21, 2017
CHARLESTON, W.Va. –The Archives and History Library announces several lectures and events in October to celebrate archives month. All Thursday programs begin at 6 p.m., are free and open to the public and will be held in the Archives Library at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. Time and location for other events are as noted.
Along with the monthly lecture series, the library is beginning a new series on Thursday evenings that combines short YouTube videos from the National Archives followed by a discussion led by Archives and History historians in which several examples of comparable materials from the collections of the West Virginia State Archives will be shared.
On Thursday, Sept. 28, a kickoff to archives month and the new YouTube series, “Civil War Voices: Records from the National Archives and a Personal Collection” will be presented. This video presentation from May 25, 2016, by John Emond, a researcher at the National Archives, presents dramatic, humorous and poignant “voices” of soldiers from the North and South through their documents and letters.
Continuing the lecture series on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017, Jesse Skiles will present “Dupont High School Football,” where he will discuss his book DuPont Football History, 1939-1998 (Bookmasters, Inc., 2017), a yearbook-style history that chronicles the school’s football history from the establishment of the high school through the final game played before closure of the school in 1999. The book also looks at how schools in the eastern Kanawha Valley have been tied to local industry—from the salt works at Malden, to the coal industry boom in the area, to the advent of the DuPont Plant in 1925.
“Documenting Death in the Civil War,” the second in the YouTube series, will be presented on Thursday, Oct. 12. The video presentation from Nov. 21, 2011, by John Deeben, genealogy archives specialist at the National Archives, explores death records created during and after the Civil War by the War Department, examining how they documented personal circumstances of soldiers' deaths in various situations, including the battlefield, military hospitals and prisons.
The third and final YouTube presentation, “Civil War Medicine and Surgery,” will take place on Thursday, Oct. 19. The video presentation from June 3, 2015, by Rebecca Sharp, a National Archives specialist, discusses "The Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865" and contains information about Civil War medical and surgical procedures as well as case studies.
A mini exhibit, titled “Salt Industry in the Kanawha Valley,” will open on Friday, Oct. 6 in the Archives Library. This exhibit celebrates the earliest industry in the valley and is part of the Malden Salt Fest at J.Q. Dickinson Salt-Works, Oct. 6-8.
The Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts will hold training workshops at the Culture Center on Essential Policies and Procedures for Cultural Collections and Risk Assessments for Cultural Institutions. The workshops will run on Friday, Oct. 13, and Saturday, Oct. 14, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Registration and fees are required for the workshops.
Mining Your History Foundation will hold its annual conference from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 21 in the Archives Library. The conference is free to attend, but registration is required.
For additional information about these programs and events, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is proud to be able to present its programs at no charge to the public, but without a solution to the state’s budget situation, this could be the last year that programs of this type could be offered. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, is an agency within the Office of Secretary of Education and the Arts with Gayle Manchin, cabinet secretary. It 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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