Search

Correspondence, reports, statistics, maps, photographs and pamphlets related to the efforts in West Virginia of the early southern program of the General Education Board (GEB). The GEB, founded by John D. Rockefeller, is one of the most significant philanthropic efforts in the history of U.S. education particularly noted for its aid to African-American schools, teachers and students. In West Virginia it aided the African-American colleges of West Virginia State, a public institution and Storer, a privately supported school. For both colleges it was asked to fund building construction, equipment purchases and teachers salaries especially for vocational education and home economics. Mention is also made of conditions at Storer College and at other Negro colleges around the country. Other West Virginia schools aided were Bethany, Salem, Morris Harvey, West Virginia University, Davis & Elkins, and West Virginia Wesleyan. Aid was requested at these other West Virginia schools for endowments, salaries, building construction and purchases of equipment and books. There are also for these colleges selected balance sheets, resolutions, statistics, prospectuses and case studies. There is much material on vocational education, adult and extension courses, and surveys and statistics of libraries, schools and teachers on the secondary level in West Virginia supplied mainly by the West Virginia Department of Education. Other topics mentioned are expansion of secondary education in mining areas, establishment and maintenance of the West Virginia Division of Information and Statistics, the formation of the West Virginia Foundation of Independent Colleges, the employment stabilization of life planning institutes and war activities of schools in both World War I and World War II. Names mentioned are D. B. Purinton, Frank B. Trotter, W. E. Hodges, J. N. Deahl, Wallace B. Fleming, George Rice Hovey, Cloyd Goodnight, Stephen B. Elkins, Henry D. Hatfield, Nat T. Frame, L. L. Friend and M. P. Shawkey.

Correspondence and financial records of a Gilmer County businessman, gas drilling contractor, schoolteacher, and elementary school principal who was involved also with coal, timber, real estate, and water well businesses. The correspondence concerns Miller's business affairs; dealings with government agencies, such as the Federal Power Commission and the Small Business Administration; applications for teaching positions and graduate schools; tax problems; campaign for a seat on the school board; and dealings with West Virginia politicians. The financial material includes an account of the profits from gas wells. Other subjects include drilling costs and contracts; coal sales; Gilmer County schools and politics; business problems; land sales; road maintenance and construction; and the Consolidated Gas Company. Correspondents include Chauncey Browning, Jr., James Kee, Robert H. Mollohan, Arch Moore, and Hulett Smith.

Correspondence, staff minutes, trail notes, and other materials relating to the management of Harpers Ferry National Park. There is also a map of Harpers Ferry with historical information by the US National Park Service (published in 2010).

Papers of Helen Louise (Froelich) Holt (1913-2015) relating to her personal, educational, and political activities. Types of material include publications, clippings, correspondence, photographs, and ephemera, among others. The collection is divided into six series: Personal and Political Papers (1912-2015 and undated), Press and Media Activity (1937-2008 and undated), State Government Papers (1955-1960), Federal Government Papers (1960-1984 and undated), Rush Dew Holt, Jr. Papers (1953-2014 and undated), and Addendum of 2021 October 20 (circa 1996).

"Monongalia County Schools and Local History, 1864-1960," compiled by Lynn Hastings, includes lists of various county and school officials, rosters of teachers and students, and organizational data of the school system.

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.