Search

Correspondence, military service records, receipts and photographs of David Billmeyer, George Billmeyer and family. David Billmeyer (1907-63) was a writer, clerk and laborer who in 1933 joined the U. S. Army Air Corps and served in it until after World War II when he re-enlisted in the U. S. Air Force from which he retired in 1955. In his youth he had worked in New York City as a clerk and free lance author where he met and later corresponded with America's then foremost literary critic, H. L. Mencken. During the Depression he enlisted in the U. S. Army and was assigned to the National Geographic Stratosphere Flight and at various meteorological stations in the United States. During World War II he served the U. S. Army meteorological service in the Canal Zone and Europe. After the war he re-enlisted in the U. S. Air Force and served in meteorological units in the Orient. Most of the military and veterans records document his career and state of health. There are many photographs of where he was stationed and of him with various companions indicative of service life. There is also correspondence of David Billmeyer's brother George and other family members mainly about conditions in Shepherdstown. There is also correspondence from George's daughter, Ann, who attended the University of Nebraska and after graduation moved to San Francisco where she mentions witnessing the Republican convention of 1964, her feelings about the Kennedy assassination and her involvement in the estate of her uncle, David, who died in retirement in the Philippines.

Diaries of an Episcopalian clergyman beginning with his appointment 1 November 1923 in Wheeling as a bishop and ending with entries by his wife after his death. Strider retired as diocese bishop in 1955, returned to the family estate, Rose Hill Farm, Jefferson County, which he managed until his death. The diaries contain routine entries about matters such as family news and comments on books read and impressions of historic events, such as the assassination of President Kennedy. Much information was compiled by Mrs. Edith K. Strider on his last illness and funeral service and she also includes the obituary of Robert E. Lee Strider (1887-1969).

Correspondence, cards, notes, ephemera, photographs, and souvenirs documenting Genevieve R. Herrell's service as a civilian nurse for the US Army assigned to the White House. The collection documents her service beginning with the Harry S. Truman administration until her retirement when Gerald Ford left office in 1977.

Original manuscripts of first and final drafts of "The Primary That Made a President: West Virginia 1960", a political study by Harry W. Ernst regarding the presidential primay campaign by John F. Kennedy (JFK) in West Virginia. Includes letters with the author from Charles U. Daly (former aide to JFK), and Ron M. Linton (former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense) regarding his manuscript; also includes correspondence with West Virginia University history professor F.P. Summers regarding same. There is a photocopy of a 22 November 1964 news clipping entitled "Kennedy Style Felt State Legacy" regarding Kennedy's campaign style in West Virginia.

Correspondence, literary manuscripts, photographs, and miscellaneous material of a newspaper columnist, political analyst, biographer, novelist, short story writer, and gentleman farmer. The papers are primarily concerned with Alexander's literary and publishing activities. Other subjects include Alexander's interest in livestock raising, a proposed birth control law, and motion picture censorship in Maryland. Correspondents include Styles Bridges, Richard A. Chase, Joseph S. Clark, Thomas J. Dodd, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Barry Goldwater, Mark O. Hatfield, Thomas C. Hennings, Marquis James, Gerald W. Johnson, Louis Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy, Frank R. Kent, Edward Martin, H.L. Mencken, Ogden Nash, Allan Nevins, Richard L. Neuberger, Richard Nixon, William Proxmire, Leverett Saltonstall, and Thomas A. Whelan.

This collection contains 10 boxes of slides, negatives, and prints of photographs taken by National Park Service photographer Jack Rottier, as well as other National Park photographers. Numbering around 2,500 total, the photographs in this collection document politics, culture, and urban beautification in and around Washington, D.C. during the 1960s and 1970s. Subjects include United States presidents from Eisenhower to Ford, Lady Bird Johnson, the Washington Senators baseball team, the National Mall, and various Potomac-region landmarks and parks.

Typescript of a poem by Miss DiBacco, "He Had What It Took to be President Kennedy"; sheet music of a song," We're Proud of the State of West Virginia" written during the centennial year by Miss DiBacco.

Operator in the Logan coalfield for many years, collector of Internal Revenue for West Virginia, and president of the state Board of Control, 1937-1941. Thurmond returned to the coal industry in 1941 and helped organize the Southern Coal Producers' Association, serving as its secretary until his retirement in 1958. The collection consists of correspondence, speeches, scrapbooks, and other papers, including Thurmond's diaries for 1938-1967. Subjects include labor relations, taxes, mine safety, non-union fields, company stores, the United Mine Workers of America, race relations, and national politics. There is specific comment on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.