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Book purchase orders and correspondence of the Acquisitions Librarian of West Virginia University Libraries, 1950-1956.

Records of gifts given to the University Library.

Collection consists primarily of recordings of gospel music performed by the choirs and congregations of rural churches in Monongalia County, West Virginia, at various musical events held between 1957 and 1961. Most prevalent are recordings of the Monongalia Tri-District Sings, or "Third Sunday Sings" as they were popularly called, which were routinely convened on the third Sunday of each month extending from September to June. The collection also contains revival music, as well as informal music-making in the homes of friends and acquaintances of the collector.

Attending folk festivals in the early 1970s, when there was a revival of interest in folk culture, Thomas S. Brown became acquainted with "serious students of folk art as well as the folk artists themselves". His interest piqued and, encouraged by the Dean of Libraries at West Virginia University, Brown set out to make field recordings of traditional music in West Virginia to add to the folk music archives of the West Virginia and Regional History Center. In all, the Brown Collection includes more than two hundred reels of audio recordings.

Collection consists of duplicate copies of disc and tape recordings which Dr. Reece made during the course of his doctoral studies from 1949 to 1953. Nearly all forms of folksong found in southern West Virginia are represented. Reece's dissertation provides an excellent source of information pertaining to both informants and songs. Additional information on the songs can be found in the collection's control folder.

Ollen Lawrence Burnette, Jr. papers, 1815-2014, 6 cubic feet, containing Dr. Burnette's research and manuscripts for "Coastal Kingdom: A History of Baldwin County, Alabama" and other writings (1953-2011); correspondence with history professors and academics at state and private universities about teaching jobs, education, and history (1946-2003); military service records and assignments (1945-1987), and personal papers (1815-2011) including correspondence, school papers and yearbooks, pocket diaries, financial and legal papers, business ventures, organizations, awards, medals, photographs, church affiliations, and politics. Also included are papers of the Highsmith family containing slave receipts, confederate money, and a "cipher" book.

The United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) archives consists of the records of the first industry-wide pension and medical care plans for coal miners and their families in the United States. The archives comprise approximately 156 linear feet of records from the years 1946-1974, and include minutes, resolutions, correspondence, memos, reports, transcribed speeches, lawsuit documents, construction plans, contracts, statistical reports, newspaper clippings, photographs, microfilmed reading files, sound recordings, and movie film.