Collections

Papers of artist and author Alvena V. Seckar, collected by her friend Alice McMechen. Collection includes newspaper and magazine articles; material regarding work-in-progress "Jewels of Memory"; invitations to Seckar's birthday parties, correspondence, photographs, artworks, and copies of two of Seckar's books.

Professional and personal papers of Arthur J. "Pete" Ballard, a teacher, museum curator, and costume artist. He taught at the North Carolina School of the Arts, curated the costume collection at the Reynolda House Museum of American Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and exhibited his work as a painter and costume artist. The collection includes project files documenting his work involving costume and painting exhibits, lectures, and theatrical productions; slides and photographs of exhibits; and awards and honors records; among other material. There are also several addenda to the collection. See Scope and Content Note for more information about collection contents. See Historical Note for more information about Ballard.

Papers of West Virginia artist Bernie Peace who taught at West Liberty State College in the Wheeling area for 35 years, from 1960-1995. Includes notebooks of slides of artworks, exhibit programs, and clippings, among other material. Addenda include 56 photo collages, and 23 artworks of mixed media.

Photographs, postcards, engravings, sketches, art tools, correspondence, pamphlets, recipes and newspaper clippings belonging to Blanche Lazzell, a West Virginia born leading American artist of the inter-war years. The collection reflects her development as an artist from her student days at West Virginia University to the end of the Korean War. Addenda include correspondence, genealogy, published material, photos, prints, drawings, news clippings, and mementos of Blanche Lazzell. Addenda topics include Lazzell family history, Blanche's art and artistic influences, and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). See Historical Note for information on Blanche Lazzell.

Correspondence, manuscripts, documents, memorabilia, photographs, journals, drawings, and sketchbooks of David Hunter Strother (1816-1888), a nineteenth century illustrator and writer for Harpers Magazine whose pseudonym, "Porte Crayon", was a household word. Other highlights of his career, all of which are reflected in this collection, are authorship of Virginia Illustrated (1857) and Charleston and its Resources (1878), his work as illustrator for Blackwater Chronicle (1853), service during the Civil War as a Union officer, stint as a newspaper editor, and Consul-Generalship to Mexico (1879-1885). According to Strother's biographer, Cecil D. Eby Jr., his writings linked the two traditions of literature in the south, "the genteel romanticism of the sentimental novelists and the earthy realism of the frontier humorists." In 1872-1875 Strother wrote The Mountains, which Eby considers the first important presentation of West Virginia in literature. The collection includes roughly 590 drawings and sketches, 44 volumes of journals, and several boxes of correspondence. An addendum of 2015/06/13 includes one drawing. An addendum of 2007/02/08 includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, announcements, and photographs regarding Strother and related families of the Eastern panhandle of West Virginia. An addendum of 2021/06/04 contains an abridged transcription by Cecil D. Eby Jr., of Strother's diary, 1879-1880, when Strother was General Consul to Mexico. For contents of the addenda and link to the digital collection: Drawings of David Hunter Strother, please see the Scope and Content Note.

Papers of George Bird Evans, a widely published author and illustrator of books and articles regarding hunting and bird dog breeding. Most of his work was produced at his home "Old Hemlock" in Preston County, West Virginia. Records document his careers as an author of books and articles regarding bird dog hunting; as a breeder of quality bird dogs; an illustrator for several national magazines and the United States Navy during World War II; and as co-author with his wife, Kay Evans, of mystery novels. Materials include: George Bird Evans' Gun Diary with entries and illustrations regarding hunting, fishing, and dog breeding experiences for 65 years; correspondence with friends, patrons, publishers, and other hunters; manuscripts and galleys; cassette tapes (2 items) of recordings of readings by George and Kay Evans; DVDs (3 items) containing 188 digital scans of illustrations by George Bird Evans; and a scrapbook documenting the Evans' career as mystery writers under the pen name "Brandon Bird". There are also 32 oversize drawings by G.B. Evans; oversized photographs and art pieces (7 items) of George Bird Evans, Kay Evans, and their dogs; a DVD of an 18 minute motion picture regarding George Bird Evans; and several sportsman journals, most with published articles by George Bird Evans.

Papers, news clippings, programs, photos, certificates, and artwork of West Virginia artist, Grace Martin Taylor, who taught in Charleston at Mason College, and later at Morris Harvey. Her art, in several media including oils and watercolor, is modernist in style, showing a preference for abstraction. Also included is some material regarding her daughter, Lucie Anne Mellert, and her promotion of Taylor's art.