Rainelle COVID Community Documentation Project Photographs

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 materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department.

Terms of access:

The donor of this collection has given license to the intellectual property they created to WVU Libraries. This license allows WVU Libraries to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for educational/noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. WVU Libraries makes the property available under the same terms. If you have questions, please contact the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department.

Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Rainelle COVID Community Documentation Project Photographs, A&M 4740, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia

Summary

Extent:
0.235 Gigabytes 31 files, formats include .jpg and .doc
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Description and date of item], [Box/folder number], Rainelle COVID Community Documentation Project Photographs, A&M 4740, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries, Morgantown, West Virginia

Background

Scope and content:

30 digital photographs created by participants in a project to capture life in Rainelle, WV during the COVID-19 pandemic and display how the 2016 flood recovery efforts intesected with the COVID-19 pandemic. Project was organized by Jamie Shinn, an Assistant Professor of Geography in the Department of Geology & Geography at West Virginia University. The .docx file includes captions/titles and photographer information for the 30 .jpg files.

Biographical / historical:

This project was designed to capture life in rural West Virginia during the COVID‑19 pandemic. It centered on the town of Rainelle, located in Greenbrier County in southeastern West Virginia. The photographs depict how the global COVID‑19 pandemic, together with a devastating flood in 2016, shaped everyday life in Rainelle. They illustrate the ways the pandemic intersected with ongoing flood‑recovery efforts. Images were sourced from several members of the Rainelle community. The photographs were exhibited from August through December 2022. The exhibit was titled A "Double Whammy" of Disasters: Flooding and COVID‑19 in Rural West Virginia, and was displated at the Health Sciences Center Pylons at West Virginia University. The project was compiled by Jamie Shinn, an Assistant Professor of Geography in the Department of Geology & Geography at West Virginia University. Shinn wrote a paper about the project: Jamie E. Shinn. "Storytelling in Precarious Landscapes: Insights from a Photovoice Project in Rural Appalachia." Journal of Political Ecology, vol. 31, no. 1, 2024, https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5290.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Shinn, Jamie, 2022 October 12
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