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Material written and collected by a former curator of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection that includes bibliographies, transcripts, photostats, papers and historical sketches on various aspects of West Virginia history. Items deal with prominent West Virginia University historians, the Civil War, early settlement, industrial growth, and West Virginia University. A number of letters and circulars discuss the West Virginia Historical Society in 1869.

Negatives and other material from the Gravely and Moore Studio of Charleston, West Virginia. The majority of items within the collection are cellulose acetate negatives; the collection also includes glass plate negatives, prints, two photograph albums, and other material, as well as a card catalog documenting business transactions with customers. The collection is organized into customer project files as established by the Studio; the contents of these files are stored in envelopes usually containing one or two negatives, but they can contain up to a dozen or more. There are approximately 3,500 customer project files containing an estimated 11,000 items, most of which are negatives. The majority of photographs within the collection are portraits of individual adults. Other subjects include portraits of children; group photographs; businesses and advertising; members of the military; civil servants; civic organizations; missionaries; and aerial photographs, among others.

Copy of a transcription of the diary of Joseph McGill (1807-1874), an engineer and surveyor who emigrated from England to the United States. During the period covered by the diary (1854-1856), McGill was working for the "Coal River and Kanawha Mining and Manufacturing Company Coal Mines" at its property along the Big Coal River, Brier Creek Section, Boone County, (West) Virginia. The diary records McGill's daily work activities, including tasks, locations, and travel, as well as work performed by and wages paid to his workmen. The diary was transcribed by Joseph Patrick McGill (a descendant of Joseph McGill), who also added an introduction to the diary containing biographical, genealogical, and other information. The original transcription of this diary is located at Marshall University.

The minutes, correspondence, and financial records of the Pocahontas Operators Association and of its successors, the Smokeless Operators Association and the Southern Virginias Operators Association. Topics mentioned are foreign competition, environmental legislation, labor strife and union negotiations, and lobbying efforts in Congress and with state legislatures. Special mention is made of the conditions in the coal industry during World War II, the impact of the Taft-Hartley Act on bargaining for the 1948 contract, and the effects in the coalfields of union dissension in the UMWA over the role of the Tony Boyle administration during the early 1970s.