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Volume 43, Number 1


On the cover: Jenes Cottrell (1901-1980) of Clay County was a great banjo player and talented woodworker who made everything from rolling pins to banjos crafted from Buick torque converters. A legend of West Virginia folk music, he’s shown here at the 1979 Vandalia Gathering. Photo by Rick Lee, courtesy of the West Virginia State Archives.

Published by the
STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA

Jim Justice, Governor

Gayle C. Manchin, Secretary
Office of Education and the Arts

Randall Reid-Smith, Commissioner
Department of Arts, Culture and History

Stan Bumgardner, Editor

Kim Johnson,
Editorial Assistant

Karin Kercheval Design
Publication Design

Spring 2017

2 From the Editor
4 Goldenseal Good-Byes
6 Talking Turkey Calls
Aaron Parsons of Jackson County
By Emily Hilliard
8 40 Years of Vandalia!
14 Vandalia Award
28 Vandalia Through the Years
36 2016 Vandalia Winners
38 2016 Liars Contest
40 The Banjo in West Virginia
By Gerald Milnes
48 "Profiteers, Charity Charlatans, and Anti-Mother Propagandists"
Anna Jarvis and the Enemies of Mother's Day
By Katharine Lane Antolini
58 A Warm Welcome
World War I Troop Trains in Huntington
By James E. Casto
62 "Cap" Ferguson: A Black Trailblazer
By Maria Sisco and Stan Bumgardner
71 The Block
By Anthony Kinzer
72 Dr. Emory Kemp:
A West Virginia Preservationist Pioneer
By Barbara Howe
78 West Virginia Back Roads:
Selling Bikes in Bath
By Carl E. Feather
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