Published: July 18, 2009 11:35 pm      

Manchin, Retton featured on history Web site

CHARLESTON — As a younger man, U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd steps off the stoop of a white steeple church with his wife and reminisces about their Depression-era courtship and the preacher who married them.

Walking along the railroad tracks, Byrd tells how he hoarded candy and gum from a childhood classmate to give to Erma, the love of his life. “I often tell people,” Byrd says on film, “ ... that’s how you court your girl with another boy’s bubble gum.”

That film clip is one of nearly 100 snippets of moving images of people and historic events dating back to the early 1900s that the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s Archives and History Section has made available on its Web site.

Audiovisual Archivist Richard Fauss said the online footage represents only a fraction of the 1,800 linear feet of videotape, 501 linear feet of film and 87 linear feet of audiotape included in the state’s collection.

Much of what fills dozens of stacks in the Culture Center in Charleston was donated by television stations, beginning in 1976 with WSAZ-TV news reels. Some came from private individuals; others from government sources.

Archives and History Director Joe Geiger said he hopes the online videos will help raise the state’s profile “not just in West Virginia, but in the world.” He also sees potential for teachers to use the images in the classroom.

Teachers can talk about historic events, he said, but “until you see it, it’s not real for some kids.”

The oldest film in the collection was shot in 1918 of the Nitro powder plant. The plant was built by the federal government to manufacture explosives during World War I.

Though some other states have similar online offerings, including Florida and Minnesota, Geiger said West Virginia’s collection covers most of the state’s 146-year history. Fauss said West Virginia’s growing collection includes many gems.

As for the best, Fauss said that’s difficult to say.

“There are so many,” he said. “I guess it depends on the subject.”

The subjects vary and include footage of deadly floods and fires, trapped and striking miners, the Marshall plane crash and the battle at Blair Mountain.

Viewers can watch the funeral procession of George Woods passing through a herd of cows to the Woods’ family cemetery in Lincoln County in October 1963. Woods was born on June 20, 1863, the day West Virginia became a state and lived to see the state’s centennial celebration. He was buried wearing the sash he received while attending the centennial parade.

Or they can see news coverage of the deadly West Virginia Penitentiary riot in 1973 or the Kanawha County textbook controversy in 1974 that led to violent protests and a countywide closing of schools. They also document the closing of the state’s last one-room school house.

Several public works projects also are captured, including construction of the New River Bridge and Summersville Dam along with the closing of the Turnpike’s Memorial Tunnel and the demolition of Bender Bridge.

Personality videos posted online include Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton returning home to Fairmont from the 1984 games in Los Angeles and country music singer Kathy Mattea of Cross Lanes recording “Come Home to West Virginia.”

One of the state’s most colorful politicians, the late A. James Manchin, is featured in two videos. One of them highlight’s Manchin’s work in the 1970s to rid the state of open dumps, junked cars and other trash.

Fauss said the decisions on what to post online were made by consensus, primarily among him, Geiger and Allen E. Fowler, a data entry operator specializing in electronic archival records.

While they sought to select the best and most representative clips of the era, the group tried to include some humor. One has former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt predicting that presidential candidate Richard Nixon might play dirty politics by delivering a “sneak punch” against his 1960 rival, John F. Kennedy.

With such a vast collection, Fauss said he and others are working to compile synopses of the people and topics contained in each reel and tape.

It’s a time-consuming process that Fauss says is about 25 percent complete and may take years to finish.

But as the state’s collection continues to grow, so will the online offerings.

“We’re always looking,” Fauss said.

For more information, log on to www.wvculture.org/history/av.html.