Collections

This collection includes prints pertaining to West Virginia and the surrounding area. Many have been taken out of publications. Subjects include the U.S. Civil War; various WV cities, landscapes, and geographical features; and various local industries.

The collection contains bound volumes and sheet music of the 19th century and early to mid 20th century. Appomattox Manor, near Hopewell, Virginia, has belonged to the Eppes family since 1635, when Captain Francis Eppes was granted a patent to the land. The Manor served as the headquarters of General Ulysses S. Grant during the Civil War. The home was restored and is open to the public. The collection contains both popular and classical music. Boxes 1 - 18 are bound volumes and sheet music. Box 19 is miscellaneous material including: children's books; poetry books; original index cards for Manor Music Hall library.

Scrapbook of Aristotle Smith (1863-1911), doctor, lawyer, teacher, and historian. The scrapbook consists of newspaper clippings (1897-1909) and other ephemera glued onto pages of a book, Report on Population and Resources of Alaska (1893) from the 11th census, published in 1890. The scrapbook also includes handwritten text on the book's pages and regards the history of various West Virginia counties: Calhoun, Clay, Braxton, Roane; the genealogy of the Chenowiths, his wife's family; his own Smith family; other families include Stalnaker, Smith, and Westbrook; some diary-like entries detailing the weather, visitors, and reminiscences; and profiles of individuals, some recounting Civil War stories and accounts of settler skirmishes with Native Peoples.