Digital Commons Network^™

Place Matters: The Role Of Public Libraries As Change Agents In Central Appalachia, Jasmyne R. Lewis

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The role of public libraries is changing in response to a multitude of influences and trends. The exponential growth of technology as the primary method of information access, funding challenges, changing demographics, and other mitigating factors have forced public libraries to become more than book repositories. Community library leaders and governing board members are faced with challenges such as decreased funding, community division regarding library services, and soaring costs for library materials and services, as they develop and adopt policies and practices to navigate this ever-changing environment.

The purpose of this qualitative study was to collect data from the public …

Burnout Among Rural Public-School Counselors, Jerry Dooley

Counseling Faculty Research

This study analyzed the risk of burnout for school counselors in rural Appalachia by surveying school counselors in West Virginia. The specific research questions delved into the areas that may predict a higher risk of burnout. These areas were clinical supervision, self-care engagement, levels of education, experience, caseloads, intensity of cases, and peer relationships. Utilizing a quantitative, predictive research design, the researcher asked participants in West Virginia to complete the Professional Quality of Life, version 5 and the Self-Care Assessment for Psychologists instruments as well as a demographic questionnaire to see if those areas could impact the potential risk of …

A Study On Formerly Incarcerated Women From Appalachia Pursuing Higher Education, Marcie Simms

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The pursuit of higher education is a goal that is embedded in secondary education and often correlated with the American dream. This study concentrated on the barriers that women with a felony conviction face when pursuing higher education after incarceration. Based on the identified barriers, current best practices for admission to higher education institutions and individual resources available for the ex-offender population were assessed. Using a questionnaire and interviews, a qualitative research approach helped identify the barriers that women with a felony conviction face when pursuing education and best practice solutions for institutions of higher education when working with the …

Matthew Brown Fellowship Brochure, Matthew Brown

Brown, Matthew, 1776-1853

In the early 2000s, the First Presbyterian Church of Washington, Pennsylvania established the Matthew Brown Fellowship. In the words of this informational brochure, the Fellowship is a "college-aged ministry program" that seeks to "increase this church's involvement with its oldest friend, the College, and to extend its ministry...to meet the growing needs throughout the greater Washington Community."

01. Finding Aid To The Physical Collection, Robert H. Ellison, Elizabeth James

Cummings, Melville Homer, 1890-1978

This document follows the same format as Marshall's other Guides to Manuscript Collections. It includes a biographical note, the "scope and content" of the archive, and other information, along with a complete listing of the contents of each of the 31 boxes on the shelves.

"Our Women Are Made Of The Right Stuff": Gender, Politics, And Conflict In Civil War West Virginia, Amanda Romain Shaver

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

“’Our Women Are Made of the Right Stuff:’ Gender, Politics, and Conflict in Civil War West Virginia” examines the lives and contributions of white West Virginia women and argues that they were not merely victims of the war, but dynamic participants whose opinions were influential and whose actions determined the ability of both the Union and Confederate armies to wage war in Appalachia. Striking a balance between the antebellum standards of “True Womanhood” and the emerging ideals of the women’s rights movement, West Virginia women became politically engaged in both the statehood movement and the Civil War. They transformed their …

The Geography Of Stuck: Exceptions To Brain Drain In West Virginia, Lindsay Heinemann

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Brain drain, also known as “human capital flight,” can be defined as “the mass emigration of technically skilled people from one country to another country” (Weeks, 2008, p. 250) or one state to another state. This theory surmises that highly skilled people or those with high education levels are more likely to migrate from places with little to no economic opportunities to places with better economic and job opportunities. West Virginia has largely been a state with few high paying or prestigious job opportunities. So why do highly educated people stay in West Virginia? Using census data and personal interviews, …

Principals’ Sense Of Efficacy And Cultural Factors In Rural West Virginia Schools, Louis Watts, Cynthia Kolsun, Vicky Cline, Leatha Williams

Leadership Studies Faculty Research

Some studies of rural education in the United States suggest there are unique features of rural communities that affect schooling and student outcomes. Appalachia has been a special interest of many studies. Chenoweth and Galliher (2004) measured the influence of three cultural factors associated with Appalachia on the college aspirations of rural West Virginia high school students: (1) localism, a sense of connection to the land, (2) historicism, the sense of understanding one’s place in the family and region where born, and (3) familism, the tendency to maintain close family ties geographically and interpersonally. A key influence in creating effective …

"A Cage Of Ovulating Females" : Mary Breckinridge And The Politics Of Contraception In Rural Appalachia, Dana Allen Johnson

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Mary Breckinridge and the Frontier Nursing Service have been the focus of intense scholarly effort over the last twenty years. Scholarship on Mary Breckinridge has centered on her healthcare reform work in Appalachia and its effects on the local residents and culture. This thesis examines the oral contraceptive trial that the FNS performed in Leslie County in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although Breckinridge and the FNS maintained a restrictive contraceptive stance, they paradoxically permitted the contraceptive trial to be conducted on their patients in Leslie County. The decision to participate in the contraceptive trial resulted from a complex …

The Current State Of Professional Development In Appalachia, Lisa D. Beck

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Tied to the current federal legislation, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), and all the national influences on American Education which have come before is the need for teachers to receive high-quality professional development. Approximately 5,500 National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) work in the 13 states that lie along the Appalachian Mountain Region of the United States. To complete this study, a stratified random sample was performed with 650 NBCTs contacted by mail. They were asked to complete and return The Beck's Professional Development Inventory (BPDI). In order to analyze the data and to determine if statistical significance was …

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.

Uniting Conference Addresses, David Frederick Wertz

Uniting Conference Addresses

This volume contains 8 addresses by 4 speakers: the bishop of the West Virginia Area, the dean of the Duke Divinity School, the “minister of reconciliation” for the West Virginia Area, and the superintendent of the Buckhannon District.

Seven Words, John Agee Holt

Holt, John Agee, 1920-2012

According to the Preface, “This book is based on a series of pre-Easter messages first delivered to…the Luther Rice Memorial Baptist Church of Washington, D. C.” They were thus preached outside Appalachia; they are included in the Library to help illustrate the full range of Holt's preaching.

God’S Marvelous Grace To Me, John Franklin Woods

Woods, John Franklin, 1865-

According to the Preface, the idea for this volume came about in 1935, when Woods shared his “life history” at a meeting in Dover, Delaware. In his Introduction, W. L. Surbrook declared it a success, writing that “Rev. Woods’ clear enunciations, positive interpretations and pointed declarations of rugged Gospel Truth make this volume a valuable asset to anyone’s library.”

The book contains 7 sermons and 5 chapters of autobiography/memoir. Information about the sermons is provided in the User Guides.

Voices From Templed Hills: Selected Sermons, G. E. Bartlett

Voices from Templed Hills: Selected Sermons

The 14 pastors in this collection were chosen by votes collected over a period of 6 weeks by The Baptist Banner, a weekly newspaper based in Parkersburg, West Virginia (Bartlett edited the paper for a time, and the Banner Company was the publisher of the book).

Two of the pastors were from Parkersburg; other cities represented include Beckley, Charleston, Fairmont, Grafton, Huntington, Logan, Salem, and West Union.

Education And Service: Sermons And Addresses Delivered While In Office At Marietta College, 1900-1912, Alfred Tyler Perry

Perry, Alfred Tyler, 1858-1912

The "sermons" in this book are the 12 baccalaureate sermons Perry delivered while president of Marietta. The "addresses" include his inaugural speech and talks he gave before such organizations as the Conference of Colleges of the Interior and the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools.

Lee The Christian Hero: A Sermon Delivered In The Lee Memorial Church, Lexington, Virginia, Sunday, January 20, 1907, On The Invitation Of The Rector And Vestry, Randolph Harrison Mckim

McKim, Randolph Harrison, 1842-1920

McKim preached this sermon to commemorate the centennial of Robert E. Lee, in a church that was named in his honor (in 2017, the name was changed from R.E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church to Grace Episcopal Church. His topic is evident from the title; as he says on page 5, Lee “has a place of right in that noble army of the soldiers of Jesus Christ, who have done heroic service for God and for man in their lives.”