Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society Oral History Project Records

Access and use

Location of collection:
West Virginia and Regional History Center
West Virginia & Regional History Center
West Virginia University
P.O. Box 6069
1549 University Avenue
Morgantown, WV 26506
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Lori Hostuttler
Phone: (304) 293-3536
Restrictions:

Researchers may access born digital or digitized materials by requesting to view them in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department at https://westvirginia.libanswers.com/wvrhc.

Terms of access:

Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. Please note that we have only some release forms for the oral history interviews conducted for the Storer College and "Reminiscences" projects, and no release forms for the Brown v. Board project. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society Oral History Project Records, AM 4676, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Summary

Extent:
3.25 Linear Feet 2 record cartons, 15 in. each; 1 document case, 5 in.; 1 document case, 4 in. and 45.3 Gigabytes 248 files (WAV, TIF, PDF, and others)
Creator:
Green, James Henry, Jr.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society Oral History Project Records, AM 4676, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection features several research projects carried out by the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society in West Virginia. The first is an oral history study of the general experiences of Black Jefferson County residents. The second is an oral history collection that explores the experiences of Black students at Fisherman's Hall, an African American community center in Charles Town, WV. The third is another oral history study relating to the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954. The collections is mostly taped interviews along with transcripts of those interviews.

This collection also features historical newspapers from Jefferson County, including one issue of the Storer Record and four pages from issues of The Comet.

All of these materials have been digitized and are available to researchers upon request.

The collection is organized into five series:

Series 1. Reminiscences of Black History in Jefferson County Oral History Project (boxes 1 and 2): An oral history project where participants were asked to reflect upon their time in the area as Black residents, sharing things about their education experiences, the communities they lived in, their occupation, their family life, and more. Many of the people interviewed had lived in the county for all of their lives, others for most of their lives. The interview tapes are located in separate folders from their related transcripts.

Series 2. Brown v. Board of Education Oral History Project (boxes 3 and 4): An oral history project where teachers and students from across West Virginia were asked to reflect upon their experiences working or learning in segregated schools -- black and white schools at K-12 and secondary education levels -- and the ways their experiences changed when schools were integrated after the Supreme Court's decision in the 1954 Brown v. Board case.

Series 3. Fisherman's Hall Oral History Project (boxes 1 and 2): An oral history project conducted by the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society in collaboration with students and faculty from the history department at Shepherd College. African American participants were asked about their experiences living and working in the Charles Town, WV area and any experiences they had at Fisherman's Hall. Fisherman's Hall served as an African American community center in Charles Town since the 1880s. It was established by the Grand United Order of the Galilean Fisherman, a Black fraternal and benevolent organization. Because this building was so near to Shepherd College and the former Storer College, many participants also shared their experience as students of those schools, before and after they were integrated and consolidated. Most of the interview tapes are stored with their related transcripts.

Series 4. Historical Newspapers (box 1): Early 20th century editions of the Storer Record and The Comet.

Series 5. Miscellaneous (box 2): This series contains unlabeled notes and interviews pertaining to any of the above oral history projects. There are also several untitled digital files of unknown origin without corresponding physical components.

Biographical / historical:
Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society, About Us (possibly defunct as of 2026-03-13
Acquisition information:
Gift from James Green Jr. of the Jefferson County Black History Preservation Society, 2025.
Physical location:
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard