Collections : [West Virginia and Regional History Center]

Mine disaster reports, official hearing reports, and hearing and inquest transcripts (1938-1967). Most of the mine disaster reports were created by inspectors from the West Virginia Department of Mines, and some of them involved federal inspectors. Other reports were created by the United States Bureau of Mines and the West Virginia Department of Mines Coal Mine Safety Board of Review. Also includes volumes 3 through 8 of the Decisions of the Interior Board of Mine Operations Appeals (1974-1977). The mine disaster reports and associated materials pertain to the following mining companies, with counties where the disaster occurred in parentheses: American Rolling Mill Company (Boone County), Amigo Smokeless Coal Company (Wyoming County), Boone County Coal Corporation, Christopher Coal Company (Monongalia County), Davis Coal and Coke Company (Tucker County), Hatfield-Campbell Creek Coal Company (Kanawha County), Hitchman Coal and Coke Company (Marshall County), Island Creek Coal Company (McDowell County), Katherine Coal Company (Harrison County), Koppers Coal Company (McDowell County), MacAlpin Coal Company (Raleigh County), C.H. Meade Coal Company (Raleigh County), Meadows Coal Company (Raleigh County), New River and Pocahontas Consolidated Coal Company (McDowell County), Oglebay Norton Company (Nicholas County), Page Coal and Coke Company (McDowell County), Parsons Coal Company (Preston County), Pemberton Coal and Coke Company (Raleigh County), Pocahontas Fuel Company (a division of Consolidation Coal Company, McDowell County, near Tazewell County, Virginia), Pursglove Coal Mining Company (Monongalia County), Raleigh Coal and Coke Company (Raleigh County), and Red Jacket Coal Corporation (Wyoming County).

Papers of Gary S. Weiner, documenting his personal and family history, and his collecting interests in the Lynch family and the history of Clarksburg and Harrison County, West Virginia. The Weiner family papers include letters written to Gary Weiner (ca. 1960-2005) and correspondence and printed materials about Clarksburg Iron and Steel Company (ca. 1980-1999), among other items. The Lynch family papers include correspondence between Gretchen and Lawrence Lynch (ca. 1905-1960), various notebooks and diaries (ca. 1910-1960), and Lynch family photographs (ca. 1860s-1939), among other items. Materials related to the history of Clarksburg and Harrison County include: correspondence to Clarksburg families, such as the Anderson/Freeland family (ca. 1880-1992); Fourco Glass Company's Clearlite Window Glass advertisements (1936-1937); and Washington Irving High School materials (1920s and 1960s), among other items. Additional materials include a Victorian photograph album stand containing pictures of European royalty (ca. 1880-1886), sheet music (1900-1940), and correspondence from Noel A. Conley during his service in World War II (1942-1946). For additional Clarksburg historical and Lynch family materials, see also A&M 3038.

Papers of the Goff family of Harrison County, West Virginia. This collection is minimally processed. Includes the papers of Nathan Goff III, grandson of Nathan Goff Jr. (1843-1920), as well as his daughter Laura Ellen Goff Fireman (later Davis). Also includes correspondence of Howard Caplan, the Administrator of the Estate of Nathan Goff III, and H. Dotson Cather, the brother-in-law of Mrs. Goff Fireman Davis who may have been involved in Goff's estate. Formats in the collection include correspondence, ephemera, programs, invitations, plats, photographs, clippings, and much more. Nathan Goff's correspondence includes mostly business but also some family and personal correspondence. Correspondence includes both incoming and typescript copies of outgoing letters, as well as a few cards and telegrams. Subjects include mines, farming, livestock (especially sheep and horses, with special concentration of Clydesdale material), politics, land, wells, oil and gas leases, Citizens Publishing Company, the Waldo Hotel, the Nicholas Land Company, West Virginia Consolidated Coal Company and its Hardman Mine, Illinois State Fair, engineering, books, finances, and more. Mrs. Goff Fireman Davis's correspondence mainly concerns her father's estate. There are also two folders of material pertaining to Nathan Goff Jr., mostly correspondence and financial information (box 1, folders 17-18, 1884-1919). See Historical Note for additional information.

Historical material compiled by Jack Sandy Anderson. Contains a land grant for land in Monongalia County, Virginia signed by James Monroe (1801; oversize); a typed copy of a Civil War-era letter from a Union soldier (1862); genealogical information; and other material. Also includes notes from the donor, which give context and sometimes genealogy of the items' owners. For contents list, see Scope and Content Note.

Personal papers of James M. Guiher, Jr. (1927- ), Editor and Head of Textbook Division of Prentice-Hall books, and son of James M. Guiher, Sr. (1897-1965), a prominent lawyer, politician, and community leader from Clarksburg, West Virginia. Includes autobiographical material, correspondence, publications, photographs, and other material regarding growing up in Clarksburg, attending Washington Irving High School (Clarksburg, WV), serving in the U.S. Army during WWII, attending Princeton and Harvard Universities, his career at Prentice-Hall, as well as his writings (including essays and plays). The writings regard an evolving view of life influenced by art, existentialism, and experiences in Italy and Greece. There are publications regarding the history of, and places and events in Clarksburg and Harrison County (including booklets, pamphlets, programs, maps, clippings, and post cards; ca. 1953-1999). There is also a group portrait photograph of his father James M. Guiher, Sr. as a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity, West Virginia University, 1917. There is a book of historical autographs collected by Guiher, Jr., including those of George Washington and Martha Custis Washington, John and Abigail Adams, and Benjamin Franklin, among others. There are also addendums including five portrait photographs (2014-02-24); papers relating to the Guiher, Davis, and Hart families, and related subjects; James M. Guiher Sr.'s service in WWI; four paintings and two artworks (2014-08-29); and three paintings (2015-08-17).

Topographic maps by the U.S. Geological Survey of various cities and towns in West Virginia. These are quadrangle maps covering four-sided areas bound by parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. Contour lines show land shapes and elevation; colors distinguish map features, such as roads, rural areas, woodlands, urban areas, landmark buildings, etc.

Genealogy research papers compiled by W. Guy Tetrick and his son Willis G. Tetrick, Jr. The Tetricks were from Harrison County and the material in the collection mainly regards families of Harrison County and north central West Virginia. The collection contains mostly original genealogical compilations and family histories. It also contains personal and business correspondence; financial records; publications regarding local and state history; newspapers and news clippings; obituaries, cemetery records; records of the Sons of the American Revolution; and other material.