Heritage
Benjamin Duvall-Irwin
West Virginia Instrument Anthology at The ...

Madeline Ricks is an AmeriCorps member with AFNHA, serving as the Collections Preservation Coordinator for The Augusta Heritage center in Elkins, WV. She has begun writing a new blog series for the Augusta website. Beginning with the African origins of the banjo, Madeline will take readers on a journey through the histories and cultural impacts of the instruments played in West Virginia’s musical traditions.

West Virginia Instrument Anthology at The Augusta Heritage Center
Heritage
Benjamin Duvall-Irwin
The Stories They Tell: Upshur County Images, ...

There are many interesting and unique materials housed in the Upshur County Historical Society Document Repository that have never been displayed in an exhibit. Some materials have been overlooked because, while interesting, they relate to a topic that is too narrow to warrant an entire exhibit. This year’s exhibit gives space for these materials to shine.

The Stories They Tell: Upshur County Images, Objects, Voices, and Places
Benjamin Duvall-Irwin
Preserving Black History for the Next ...

On June 19, Pleasant Green Church in Hillsboro underwent two restoration projects in collaboration with the Forest Service, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, AFNHA AmeriCorps, and Cultural Heritage in the Forest. The Forest Service creates partnerships like these within local communities to help support efforts of preservation. This partnership is overwhelmingly meaningful to us here at the Forest and AFNHA - connecting with Black students and sharing with them our state’s history is invaluable to the future of diverse involvement, public awareness, and funding for these sites. There is no West Virginia History without Black History, and it was our honor to share with them this part of their cultural past.

Heritage
Benjamin Duvall-Irwin
My Journey Through 4-H

This term in 2023-2024, my involvement with the 4-H History Round-Up project and my participation at 4-H Camp evolved together as the theme of this year’s camp was “A Journey Through 4-H”. The theme took campers through the past and into what may be the future of 4-H in 2115. That faraway date marked the 200-year anniversary of the world’s first 4-H Camp in 1915, “Camp Good Luck”, which took place in Randolph County! This theme gave me the role of putting all the Randolph County 4-H history I’ve learned in my service to direct use.

My Journey Through 4-H
Conservation
Benjamin Duvall-Irwin
Citizen Science Education Program on Non-Native ...

Every March the WV Division of Forestry organizes 4 citizen science lessons for 5th graders at Petersburg Elementary School. These lessons are about Non-Native and Invasive Species (NNIS). We teach these students what non-native and invasive species are, how they spread, how to identify specific species, and how to use GPS data to locate, track, and record information on them.

Citizen Science Education Program on Non-Native and Invasive Species

Preston County

Weaving in Arthurdale

Weaving in Arthurdale

When Arthurdale was established in 1934, one of the most pressing concerns for newly arrived homesteaders (and the government that supported the project) was jobs. Weaving was a cottage industry that became one of the most important in the town.

For a number of years, there has been a small group of Arthurdale Weavers who get together to make projects on some of the historic looms that Arthurdale Heritage owns. When I began my AmeriCorps service in fall 2021, I was invited to take an introductory weaving class, and I was immediately hooked.

Reflections of Arthurdale by New Exhibit: Treasured

Reflections of Arthurdale by New Exhibit: Treasured

The new temporary exhibit at Arthurdale Heritage, Treasured: Contemporary Reflections of Arthurdale focuses on the threads which connect Arthurdale’s past to its present and future. Through rare and magnificent objects either on loan or in the archival collection, Arthurdale connects these pieces of historic significance to current and future projects. As the exhibit explains, these objects represent the stories of individuals and families who called this town home and they “now challenge us to press onward, imagining what we will achieve together.”

In our new exhibit, you can learn not only about Arthurdale’s history but also about our organizational efforts and plans for the future. Treasured will be on display until January 13 from Monday-Friday 10-3.  

Crossroads and Witnessing Change in Rural America

Crossroads and Witnessing Change in Rural America

As a lifelong West Virginian, the story I seemed to hear growing up was that we here in the Mountain State had been left behind. Before I was old enough to understand it, I learned about the “Brain Drain” and how all the people who could leave the state were going out to get better jobs in other places. From outside sources, I learned the stereotypes about West Virginia and the idea that people here were simply stuck in the past. Progress was happening somewhere in the world - but not here.

 

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