Search

Dr. Barbara Howe worked at West Virginia University in a variety of different positions between 1980 and her retirement in 2009, including as associate professor of history, head of the public history program, and director of the Center for Women's Studies. Prevalent subjects present in the collection include historical preservation, environmental activism, and politics in the Morgantown and broader West Virginia area.

Records of the League of Women Voters, Morgantown-Monongalia County, West Virginia. Includes membership lists, minutes, proposals, plans for conventions and environmental projects, and guides to government officials. See the scope and content note for detail.

Papers of Hu Maxwell (1860-1927), historian, editor, and author of several county histories of West Virginia, along with papers and records of other family members. There are manuscripts of fiction, verse, and local history written by Maxwell, as well as a number of his manuscripts and publications dealing with forestry which were prepared while he was a member of the Forest Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. Maxwell kept a diary during the years 1901-1919 while residing in Morgantown, Chicago, Illinois, and Washington, D.C., which is extensive for the period of World War I and which contains notes on the diary of Rufus Maxwell (1855-1907). See scope and content note for more detail.

Papers of Milton Cohen, a Morgantown resident, businessman, World War II veteran, and community activist. The collection contains records in 11 series, including: 1.) Biographical Information, 2.) USS West Virginia, 3.) Tree of Life Synagogue, 4.) Sidler's Department Store, 5.) Morgantown, 6.) Monongalia County, 7.) Charities and Non-profit Organizations, 8.) CLOLA [Concerned Love Ones and Lotowners Associations], 9.) Environmental Issues, 10.) Audio-Visual Material, and 11.) Oversize. Series 2, USS West Virginia, includes historical narratives, clippings, and photographs regarding the USS West Virginia, its bell, mast, and the bell ringing ceremony on the West Virginia University campus. Series 5, Morgantown, regards projects and protests by Cohen and citizens groups involving BFI Waste Management, Century Cable, the Morgantown City Council, and building, zoning, and planning pertaining to Morgantown. Series 8, CLOLA [Concerned Love Ones and Lotowners], includes records regarding CLOLA suing the Beverly Hills Memorial Gardens owner Richard Pence and Sandridge Coal Company for strip mining cemetery land. Series 9, Environmental Issues, includes records related to Cohen's involvement in several environmental issues and protests. See the scope and content note for a complete listing and description of series.

Collection of over 110 panoramic photographs documenting soldiers and military camps, conventions and meetings, West Virginia University (WVU), businesses, railroads, family reunions, and more. Types of image include group portraits, landscapes, and building photographs. Conventions and meetings include the WV Delegates to Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Convention, the 13th Annual Meeting of the WV Dairymen's Association, the Democratic National Convention, the WV State Federation of Labor, the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), the United Steelworkers of America, United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and more. Businesses include the Morgan Shirt Company, the Greenbrier Ore Company, the Libbey-Owens Sheet Glass Company, and more. These photographs include both original and facsimile materials that are either separated from other collections, or are not associated with any collection. Some items may be Cirkut photos; a few items are negatives. See Scope and Content note for contents list.

Papers regarding Thomas W. Bennett (1947-1969), a West Virginia University student who won a Congressional Medal of Honor for his services as a U.S. Army medic during the Vietnam War. He performed duties as a conscientious objector willing to serve. The microfilmed collection includes personal letters, programs, magazine articles, and other papers relating to his life and death. Most of the letters were written by Bennett, his parents, other relatives, and friends while Bennett was in the U.S. Army, including his training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, and his later service in Vietnam. There are also letters dating from the years before he joined the U.S. Army. Programs document the presentation of the Congressional Medal of Honor on 7 April 1970, and the dedication of Bennett Barracks, Fort Belvoir, Virginia on 1 November 1979. Magazine articles and other papers were compiled after Bennett's death and describe his life in Morgantown, life in the Army, the circumstances surrounding his death, and his religious and philosophical views in terms of serving as an example for young people. Also includes addendum of research papers of Bonni McKeown for her book "Peaceful Patriot" (published in 1980), a biography of Thomas W. Bennett. This addendum includes complete transcripts of tape recordings Bennett made when in Vietnam.

Pictures and genealogical information on the Zinn and allied families, namely the Shafers, from France and Germany who eventually settled in West Virginia, particularly the line of George Zinn, a Revolutionary War veteran of Preston County. There are also two postcards of Williamstown, Wood County, West Virginia, and 108 photos of Morgantown, West Virginia, especially of the Farmers and Merchants Bank while C. Glenn Zinn was an executive, ca. 1742-1974. Addenda to the collection include: 1) Sixty-one glass lantern slides of a WWI flight squadron's activities, ca. 1917-1918; 2) postcards and travel memorabilia, ca. 1940s; 3) artifacts and illustrations featuring General Lee and "Stonewall" Jackson of the Confederacy during the Civil War, 1994-2002; 4) collectible liberty bell bank issued by the Second National Bank of Morgantown, undated (3 3/4 in. wide, 4 in. tall); 5) State of West Virginia Certificate for Edward W. Dering appointing him a member of the West Virginia Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors, 1969; and 6) aerial view (11 in. x 16 in.) of Cheat Lake in the vicinity of the "old" bridge before the Interstate 68 bridge was built. Material covers the years 1742-2005.