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Photographs, postcards, engravings, sketches, art tools, correspondence, pamphlets, recipes and newspaper clippings belonging to Blanche Lazzell, a West Virginia born leading American artist of the inter-war years. The collection reflects her development as an artist from her student days at West Virginia University to the end of the Korean War. Addenda include correspondence, genealogy, published material, photos, prints, drawings, news clippings, and mementos of Blanche Lazzell. Addenda topics include Lazzell family history, Blanche's art and artistic influences, and the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR). See Historical Note for information on Blanche Lazzell.

Papers, photographs and maps of a wealthy Morgantown family with interests in real estate and coal mining. Most of the business papers are those of J. M. G. Brown, a West Virginia University law school alumnus, who was president of Scotts Run Fuel Corporation. Brown was also a housing developer whose company, Suburban Real Estate of Morgantown, was a competitive concern not only locally but throughout north central West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania. There are papers indicating his attempts to open Morgantown to airline service. His sister, Mary Virginia Brown was a genealogist and local historian noted for A History of the Negroes of Monongalia County. Among her papers are genealogies of the Bannister, Brown, Bushey, Dorsey, Suter and Williams families. There are also original documents of Colonel William McCleary, an early settler of Morgantown. There is also a manuscript "List of Taxable Property for 1786, Monongalia County," including five pages listing residents and their "tithables," horses, and cattle.

Scrapbooks, mainly of newspaper clippings, maintained by a mining engineer, geologist, and businessman from Charleston. The scrapbooks contain clippings, announcements, and a few letters relating to Krebs' business, Charleston civic affairs, and professional engineering organizations. Topics covered include: the oil boom at Blue Creek in 1912; oil field development in Kanawha and Clay counties; oil and coal shipments on the C.&O.; coal, oil, gas, and coke production figures; report on the coal strike of 1922; surveys of West Virginia's coal, oil, and gas resources; machinery used in coal production; disputed land claims of the Colonial Timber and Coal Corporation, 1923; the New River Coal field; drainage areas and water power in West Virginia; Hinton Dam; Pennsylvania bituminous districts; rate hearings of the United Fuel Gas Company; early coal and gas operations in West Virginia; Norfolk and Western Railway affairs; silicosis cases resulting from the Hawks Nest tunnel construction, 1933; and bituminous coal prices in West Virginia and the U.S., 1906-1925.

Items belonging to civil engineer and West Virginian Cullen Guile Martin (1883-1930), including Martin's West Virginia University (WVU) diploma (1912); a card-mounted black and white photograph of Martin (ca. 1900); 14 picture postcards of Morgantown and Fairmont sent to Martin's sister Delsie Martin Coffman of Clarksburg, West Virginia (1907-1909); and 23 books that belonged to Martin (1891-1923). Books are mainly textbooks, likely used by Martin while at WVU, and include titles such as "Electric Power and Traction" (1907), "Latin Grammar (1895), "Practical Rhetoric" (1896), and "Meservey's Book-keeping, Single Entry" (which may be helpful for understanding 19th century financial ledgers) (1895), among others. A full list of books is included with the collection.

Includes records from several generations of the Deakins family of Montgomery County, Maryland and north central West Virginia. William (1742-1798) and Francis (1739-1804) Deakins, among the first generation, were active as land speculators after the American Revolution, applying their skills as surveyors to leverage acquisition of western lands. From 1778 their activities are documented through deeds, agreements, surveys, plats, surveyors' field books, court papers, and letters related to land purchased in Harrison, Monongalia, Preston, Randolph, Tucker, and Upshur counties. Other papers concern Leonard M. Deakins (1747-1824) and his descendants. Of special significance in the collection is the compass used by Francis Deakins to survey the "Deakins Line" in 1787-1788, a north-south line separating western Maryland from (West) Virginia.

Miscellaneous Morgantown items: two Geological Survey maps including the Point Marion-Morgantown area; stationery and two postcards for Jamison Cattle Dealers (ca. 1920s?); three photos of auto parts store (ca. 1940s?); sales contract for motor trucks (1918); Morgantown High School commencement programs (1891,1898); two maps for "Suncrest Park" (1927) and "Suncrest Lake Addition" (undated); oral history transcript of Walter L. Hart, editor of Dominion News, by JFK Library regarding DC politics (1964); history of Westover Church, with photos (ca. 1930s); prospectus material including project photos of Baker and Coombs, General Contractors (ca. 1939-51); patterns and photos of glassware by Seneca Glass (ca. 1950s-60s); motion picture of Weirton, WV (ca. 1953).

Correspondence, publications, printed material, research material, photographs, and clippings of former West Virginia University professor of journalism and Director of Development Donovan Bond (9 February 1921 - 12 June 1995) of Morgantown, West Virginia. Main topics include West Virginia University-related material, including Bond's involvement in Phi Sigma Kappa; genealogy on several early West Virginia families, including Bond, Dent, Core, McWhorter, Romine, Hiner, Scott, Maxson, and Cutright; materials relating to several West Virginia-specific projects, including the Hacker's Creek Descendants, the Henry McWhorter cabin at Jackson's Mill, and others; World War II memorabilia, including letters home from New Guinea and photographs; Morgantown history, particularly from ca. 1914-1970, including Morgantown High School (both 1914-1918 and 1934-1938) and plays produced at the high school in the late 1930s. Also includes papers of Helen Louise Dent Bond, Donovan's wife. Addendum of 2013/01/18 includes Phi Sigma Kappa records. Addendum of 2014/01/03 includes Phi Sigma Kappa jewelry and memorabilia, historical material, and framed photographs. This collection is minimally unprocessed. See Scope and Content note for box list.

Dr. Barbara Howe worked at West Virginia University in a variety of different positions between 1980 and her retirement in 2009, including as associate professor of history, head of the public history program, and director of the Center for Women's Studies. Prevalent subjects present in the collection include historical preservation, environmental activism, and politics in the Morgantown and broader West Virginia area.