Collections

The A. J. Davis Family Collection includes journals; scrapbooks; professional and biographical information; photographs, sketches, and ephemera; and a town history. The journals (1874-1927) contain memoirs, particularly of Davis' army experiences, as well as some writing exercises, poetry, stories, and religious observations. Scrapbooks compiled by A. J. Davis include newspaper clippings, personal reflections, and a stamp collection. The professional and biographical information includes service records from Davis' time in the army, genealogy information compiled by other family members, and last wills and testaments. The collection also includes a 19-page history of Woods Hole, Massachusetts, authored by Davis, as well as a draft of the Book of A. J. Davis and other manuscripts. The collection also contain pictures of Davis and his wife.

Burial flag, cord, pictures, and correspondence, 1963-1964, concerning disposition of these items. There is a resume of Rowan's life after 1922 and information on his military service, which included a mission in Cuba prior to the Spanish-American War, which was glorified in Elbert Hubbard's A Message to Garcia. There is a resume of Rowan's life, most notably his U.S. Army career, 1881-1909. An 1881 graduate of West Point, he served on the frontier against Indians and on the International Railway Survey in Central and South America before being appointed military attache to Chile, where he co-authored The Island of Cuba in 1897. This book established him as an expert on Cuba, which led to his assignment as a courier to the rebel general Garcia prior to America's war with Spain in 1898. The successful fulfillment of this mission made him famous and, along with gallantry in the subsequent Philippine campaign, was the basis for his being given the Distinguished Service Cross and other rewards.

Correspondence, book reviews, certificates and pictures of Waddell, a pioneering black veterinarian and author. His books (People Are The Funniest Animals, The Black Man in Veterinary Medicine, Universal Veterinarianism, and Historical Facts of the Black Veterinarian) document the little known contributions of African-Americans from antebellum times to the present in the field of veterinary science. They also indicate his beliefs that the veterinarian profession can also help heal misunderstandings among mankind. After graduation in 1935 from the University of Pennsylvania, one of the first schools to admit blacks into its veterinarian program, he taught and worked at Tuskegee Institute where he co-founded the first program in veterinary science at a black American college. During World War II, he joined the Ninth Cavalry, a famed black unit of which he includes some of its history among his papers. After the war, he established a private practice in West Virginia eventually locating in Monongalia County where he also served on the board of the Monongalia County Mental Health Association. His home near Morgantown served as a social center for some of the first black students who attended West Virginia University. He was also instrumental in fostering integration of other institutions within the county. After 1963 he moved to North Dakota where he worked on the Chippewa reservations of Turtle Mountain and Fort Totten. Waddell offers his observations on the aspirations of Native Americans and how they are discriminated against and neglected.

Correspondence, photos, postcards and memorabilia of a school teacher of White Days Creek and of his wife, Mary Corrothers Zinn. Most of the collection consists of correspondence and photos of Zinn's career in the U. S. Army during World War I. Zinn worked as a math school teacher and as a census taker in the Fetterman District of Taylor County. He spent the war in training at Camp Knox, West Point, KY in Battery E., 70th. Field Artillery Brigade, and he discusses in the letters the daily activities of his unit. There are also photos in uniform and copies of the military records of Earl Zinn and of his grandfather, Sailor Michael Zinn. Sailor Zinn was a member of the 14th. WV Inf. during the Civil War. He was captured and died in the infamous Confederate prison camp in Georgia of Andersonville. There is also a 19th century photo album and loose pictures of the Steele, Arnett & Sanders families of Monongalia County who are related to Mrs. Earl R. Zinn.

Aison was a career Army officer who served in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. This collection primarily relates to his service in these wars. Includes correspondence, photographs, citations, orders, diaries and recollections, unit histories, artifacts, and maps.

Papers of Thomas Marshall Hunter documenting Thomas Marshall Hunter as well as the genealogy and history of the Hunter family, including descendants of John Hunter (1762-1845), a Scot-Irish immigrant and Morgan County resident who is the earliest American member of the family. There are scrapbooks regarding Thomas Hunters experiences at Shepherd College and in World War II. There is also material regarding the history of Berkeley Springs and Morgan County, and about David Hunter Strother. Hunter worked as a Berkeley Springs legal clerk during the Great Depression, and then briefly served in the U.S. Army, including an assignment to the Panama Canal Zone. He then left the Army to pursue a college education in history. During World War II he served on the staff of the Transportation Corps of the 4th Armored Division. He resumed his college studies after the war, later becoming an Associate Professor of History at Pennsylvania State University.

The Thomas Griest World War I collection contains correspondence, photographs, military field orders, and ephemera created and collected by American soldier Thomas Griest primarily during and immediately after his time serving with the 406th Telegraph Battalion during World War I, 1917-1919.