History Commons^™

Oral History Interview: Forrest Atkinson, Forrest C. Atkinson

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

During his interview, Forrest Atkinson reminisces about growing up on a farm in Cabell County, West Virginia. His father was a tobacco farmer and timber cutter. He focuses on food preservation processes and home entertainment, including music and books. He also focuses on changes in technology during his lifetime. In the audio clip provided, Mr. Atkinson discusses raising and selling tobacco.

Oral History Interview: Frank Brooks, Frank Brooks

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Frank Brooks was born in Fayette County, WV, but grew up in Carter County, KY, in the early 1900s. He attended a one room school house through the third grade. Mr. Brooks began working in coal mines with his father in Borderland, WV, when he was 13 years old. In the audio clip provided, he discusses his first time in a coal mine. He focuses on how he tried to appear bigger than he was in order to be able to work. In his interview, Mr. Brooks compares and contrasts the labor conditions in the mines before and after unionization. …

Oral History Interview: Charles R. Knightstep, Charles R. Knightstep

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Charles Knightstep was born in Jackson County, WV, but resided in Mason County WV, for the majority of his life. Mr. Knightstep reminiscences about his life growing up on a farm. He describes the process of drying fruits and vegetables and burying apples and potatoes for use during the winter. He explains how his grandmother and mother made lye soap, cottage cheese, and apple butter. He also describes courting his wife and visiting her by horse and buggy. Mr. Knightstep worked for the Kanawha and Michigan railroad beginning in 1915, when he was 15 years old. He describes the changes …

Oral History Interview: Beulah Mckeand, Beulah Mckeand

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Beulah McKeand grew up in the Ceredo-Kenova area of West Virginia. During her interview, she focuses on her childhood experiences and family history. She discusses working at Abbotts, a store in Huntington, West Virginia. She also focuses on folk medicine, specifically uses for yellow root and ginseng. In the audio clip provided, Mrs. McKeand discusses growing ginseng and the market value for the plant.

Oral History Interview: Dr. Don V. Hatton And Jane Hatton, Don V. Hatton, Jane Hatton

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Dr. Don V. Hatton was a physician and public health specialist in both West Virginia and Kentucky beginning in the 1930s. During his interview, Dr. Hatton discusses Appalachia and focuses on the definition of the region and what it means to be Appalachian. He also discusses his transition from being a public health specialist focused on preventative medicine to a practicing internal medicine physician. In the audio clip provided, he compares and contrasts his public health work in West Virginia and Kentucky through a focus on physical environment, education, and socioeconomic status. Throughout this interview, Dr. Hatton’s wife, Jane Hatton, …

Oral History Interview: Ethel Barnes, Eva Ethel Barnes

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Eva Ethel Barnes, who is referred to as Ethel Barnes during her interview, was born on February 25, 1900, in Ivydale, Clay County, West Virginia. She attended a one room school house as a child. In the audio clip provided, Mrs. Barnes discusses her education as a child in a one room school house. She focuses on the classroom schedule and her teachers at this school. During her interview she also discusses preserving and preparing food and soap with her mother.

Oral History Interview: Bertha May Asbury, Bertha May Asbury

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Bertha May Asbury was born in 1888 and began attending school in a one-room school house in 1894 at the age of six. She attended school through the ninth grade. She left school at the age of 17 when she began “courtin’” with young men. In her interview, Mrs. Asbury discusses living on Route 4 in Kanawha County, West Virginia. She focuses on food preservation and preparation, planting and harvesting crops, building a new home, going to square dances, and quilting. In the audio clip provided, Mrs. Asbury discusses what it was like to attend a square dance. She focuses …

Jefferson County - Bicentennial Edition, Jefferson Reporter

County Histories of Kentucky

Bicentennial Edition of Jefferson Reporter about the history of Jefferson County and Louisville, Kentucky published on January 30 1973.

Oral History Interview: Anna Casto Hopkins, Anna Casto Hopkins

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Born in Jackson County, West Virginia, Mrs. Anna Hopkins spent most of her life on a farm near Beech Fork, West Virginia. After breaking her hip in 1971, she moved to Ripley, West Virginia, where she was still residing at the time of the interview. Mrs. Hopkins reminisces about her childhood experiences, farm chores, neighborhood gatherings, and holiday celebrations. She also discusses the Depression and the two world wars.

Oral History 2: Lawrence Purdy Somerville, Lawrence Purdy Somerville

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection

Mr. Somerville lived on a farm near Ravenswood, West Virginia, until age fourteen. He then enlisted in the army and served in the Spanish-American War as a member of the occupational troops in the Phillipines. Subjects he discusses include: life on the farm, medical and educational facilities and opportunities. Mr. Somerville also discusses the reasons for his enlistement into the army at such an early age. At the time of the interview, Mr. Somerville was residing in Vienna, West Virginia.

1973 Morehead First Christian Church Board Of Directors Minutes, First Christian Church (Morehead, Ky.)

Morehead First Christian Church Records Archive

Morehead First Christian Church Board of Directors meeting minutes for 1973.

1973 Church Service Programs, First Christian Church (Morehead, Ky.)

Morehead First Christian Church Records Archive

Weekly church service programs of the First Christian Church of Morehead, Kentucky from 1973.

0006: Virgil Anson Lewis Papers, 1843-1973, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Virgil A. Lewis papers consist primarily of a holograph draft of a history of Marshall College from its founding in 1837 until the 1890s, with an emphasis on the early years, before the Civil War. Included are research notes, trascriptions of documents, correspondence, and a copy of the contract between Mrs. Virgil Lewis and Lawrence Corbly, former president of the college, who carried on the work of the history after Mr. Lewis's death. There are also pamphlets written by Mr. Lewis and two compilations by his daughers Lucie and Virginia: "A History of the Lewis and Stone Families" and …

0011: Mary Constance Enslow Papers, 1892-1962, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

A major portion of the Mary Constance Enslow papers consists of her genealogical notes and notebooks. There are copious notes on her family genealogy, both maternal and paternal, as well as notes compiled for other families. Included in this part of the collection are examples of her work as a designer of coats of arms and bookplates, and as a commercial artist. Books and printed material are contained in the collection; much of the printed material is made up of news clippings about a variety of subjects. There is an extensive clipping file concerning the royal family of England. Among …

0021: Edith Miller Stephens Papers, 1867-1900, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Primarily correspondence between Edith Miller and her future husband, Benjamin Stephens. Also contains miscellaneous papers of Mrs. Stephens' father, Charles C. Miller, lifelong resident of Mason County, West Virginia.

0010: Catherine Bliss Enslow Papers, 1890-1973, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Ms. Enslow was a Huntington, West Virginia journalist. Photographs and slides comprise a major portion of this collection. Many of the photographs were for use by the newspaper; there are also a great number of informal snapshots, family photographs, and photographs of Miss Enslow herself. Photographs of notable persons and old photographic portraits dating from the 19th century complete this part of the collection. The slides are primarily those which Miss Enslow took in Europe while she was tour director for the Huntington Publishing Company. Copies of many of her columns and articles are included, along with other items relating …

0028: John L. Hawkins Letters, 1928-1929, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Huntington, West Virginia, resident. Included are manuscript of a history of West Virginia compiled from secondary sources and oral tradition, personal reminiscences of 'Devil Anse' Hatfield, poetry, and personal papers. Correspondence between John L. Hawkins and Franklin D. Roosevelt, concerning the National Democratic Convention of 1932.

0042: Mrs. J. W. Wade Letters, 1913-1918, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Point Pleasant, West Virginia, resident. One letter describes concert at the Ashland, Kentucky, Christian Church and activities at the needlework guild.

0045: Joe James Bavely Statement, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Holograph reminiscences of a Marion County, West Virginia resident regarding the Monongah mine disaster in 1907; copy of pamphlet "The West Fork Tragedy and Poems of a Mountaineer" by Bavely.

0054: Aleshire Family Papers, 1862-1889, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Aleshire Family Papers consist mainly of correspondence dating from 1863 to 1888. Many of the letters are written by various members of the family to Joseph Aleshire as he traveled the Midwest, buying wheat for the family flour mill. Most of these letters concern fluctuations of the wheat market and other business matters.

There are a number of letters from Mary Aleshire to her parents and brothers, dating from 1863 to 1878. These describe her life at college in Cincinnati, and later, upon her return to Gallipolis, her involvement with social and family matters.

The letters from Charles Aleshire …

0059: Athens Methodist Church History, 1940, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Typed copy of an anonymous history of the Athens Methodist Church, Mercer County, W.Va.

0060: J. L. Hensley Manuscript, 1886, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Typed copy of `Rise and Progress of the Church of the United Brethren of Christ in West Virginia,' written in 1886 on the fiftieth anniversary of the church in the state, from the original manuscript in the possession of T. Clayton Parsons. Copied from the original, which was left in a cornerstone of the Jackson County (W.Va.) United Brethren Church in 1886 and recovered in 1936 when the Church was razed.

0064: Marshall University Oral History Collection, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Tape recordings and transcripts of oral interviews with residents in the West Virginia-Ohio-Kentucky Tri-State region regarding such topics as farming, schools, health care, folk customs, and many others related to life in this Appalachian region.

To view materials from this collection that are digitized and available online, search the Marshall University Oral History Collection here.

0086: Ellsworth Vachel Bowers, 1887-1938, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Former dean of Marshall College of Arts and Sciences (1939-1945); collection contains postcard albums with views of Ohio towns, a photograph album of Portsmouth, Ohio, scenes, notes, books, and a brief history of the Bowers family.

0030: Charles W. Ferguson Letters, 1849-1950, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

Description of Logan County, (West) Virginia, in 1849; other correspondence concerns property and taxes in Wayne County, (West) Virginia.

0001: Robert Gilchrist Family Papers, 1783-1957, Marshall University Special Collections

Guides to Manuscript Collections

The Robert Gilchrist family papers consist primarily of correspondence from three major, related families--the Andersons, the Wilsons, and the Gilchrists. Included among the correspondence are news clippings, diaries, journals and scrapbooks. Several books part of the collection pertain to Lebanon, Ohio and the Little Miami Railroad. The material contained in the Anderson family papers is correspondence of Isaac Anderson and his children. There are several folders of Joseph Anderson's letters to his wife, Jane Gilchrist Anderson, and Joseph' s personal business documents. The Wilson family papers are concentrated on Joseph Wilson's and Mary Wilson Gilchrist's legal actions concerning the administration …

Muhlenberg County - Place Names, Marjorie Finley

County Histories of Kentucky

A historical survey of place names in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky.

A Reflection Of Msu, Ed Applegate

Morehead State College Histories

A typescript of an article published in the Morehead State Trail Blazer by Ed Applegate on the history of Morehead State University written in 1973.