 |
Meet
|
Since the Spring of 2023, David Abruzzi has done an amazing amount of work to document, highlight, and publicize the Town of Paw Paw's built history. He successfully nominated four buildings to the National Register in a year's time and prepared multiple historic property inventory forms. As part of this work, Abruzzi completed a study of Paw Paw's apple orchard industry, which also led to submission of an essay to Appalachian National Forest Heritage Area's "America 250" program. Abruzzi has conducted oral history interviews with the town's oldest citizens, prepared a self-guided walking tour and pamphlet, and provided guidance to historic property owners.
Nominated by Town of Paw Paw
Treasure Barberich-Wyckoff has been a dedicated volunteer at Arthurdale Heritage for over three years and this year served as a summer intern. In 2024, she spent nearly 73 hours giving tours, assisting in the archives by cataloging the large book collection, and working in the Craft Shop on weekends as well as volunteering at larger events such as Maple Day, New Deal Festival, and Fall Festival. An excellent tour guide, Barberich-Wyckoff infuses tours with a love of Arthurdale and the State of West Virginia. She was awarded Arthurdale Heritage's Volunteer of the Year Award in 2024.
Nominated by Arthurdale Heritage, Inc.
Alexander Pierce Bennett is the museum curator for the World Scouting Museum, which moved from Las Vegas to West Virginia in 2023. He has installed displays and exhibits, worked to develop programming for the community and scouts in the region, and overhauled and updated the museum website. Bennett has been involved with adding social media channels for the museum and creating a museum audio tour and podcast. He also wrote the museum's core documents, started grant research and processing, and began a Merit Badge College. In addition, Bennett currently is serving as vice president for the West Virginia Association of Museums.
Nominated by World Scouting Museum
A descendant of the land's original Cockayne owner who arrived in present-day Marshall County in the 1790s, John E. Cockayne first visited the farmhouse in 2008. He soon provided critical support that helped achieve the required matching funds for grants to repair the deteriorated building. When Cockayne Farmstead launched an endowment fund in 2023 to work towards long-term sustainability, John Cockayne was the first substantial contributor, and he made a second contribution the next year. In addition, through his dedication to preserving his family history, John Cockayne also has collected genealogical information on the family that enhances the house's story and adds to the Cockayne family legacy.
Nominated by Cockayne Farmstead
A retired educator, Steven L. Cooper is longtime president of the Spencer High Alumni Association. He collects photos, documents, and other items on local history, and most recently he provided older yearbooks from the old Spencer and Walton high schools that were digitized and made publicly available on both Facebook and the Roane County schools website. An earlier project was Cooper's research on the girls state high school basketball tournament that took place in Spencer 1919-1924, which lead to his co-authoring an article on the subject that appeared in Goldenseal in 2013. In addition, the occasional Roane County Album feature of the local newspaper publishes photos that Cooper collected.
Nominated by Roane County Historical Society
Susan Crum embodies the spirit of Guyandotte Civil War Days. She served as treasurer of the organization in 2023 and 2024, working well within the budget to provide an exceptional experience for both participants and bystanders. She has been on every fundraising and event planning committee. As a first lieutenant gunner in Chapman's Battery Valley Division, Crum re-enacts a woman who disguised herself as a man during the Civil War. She also is a vital force in preserving Barboursville Civil War Days and participates in Education Days for the Barboursville and Guyandotte groups.
Nominated by Guyandotte Civil War Days and Raid on Guyandotte, Inc.
Sharon David served the Friends of Wheeling as a Preserve WV AmeriCorps member between August 2022 and September 2024. Through initiatives such as the Orphaned Cemeteries Project and restoration efforts at Wheeling cemeteries, she highlighted their cultural significance. David's leadership in organizing workshops and clean-up events engaged nearly 100 volunteers who contributed more than 1,300 hours cleaning, documenting and restoring historic tombstones. She also helped garner a 9/11 Day of Service Grant from Volunteer West Virginia to facilitate the cleaning of 175 veteran tombstones and the restoration of four monumental markers. By fostering youth involvement, educating property owners, and connecting students with preservation career opportunities, she is ensuring the state's history is preserved for future generations.
Nominated by Friends of Wheeling
Tina Faber has been an important asset to the Jackson County Historical Society since she joined in 2010. A member of the board of directors, she has worked with the society to create a robust digital footprint by facilitating website creation, maintenance, training for members, and content addition since 2013. In addition, she has helped create and administer an active social media presence. Faber has also chaired the committee that created a second volume of county history. Currently, she is focused on cemetery preservation and ensuring that the public has access to the county's history in digital form.
Nominated by Jackson County Historical Society
Terry Golden is an enthusiastic and active member of the Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society, and he became vice president in 2024. He volunteers monthly at the society's Morgan Room, reorganized material in the room to increase research availability, and coordinated the donation and installation to two bookcases there. Golden represents the society at local community events, chaired the committee that revised the Berkeley Springs/Morgan County history brochure, and negotiated the placement of society books and brochures in local places. In addition, he is leading the effort to update and replace the plaques installed on the 133 original lots in the Town of Bath.
Nominated by Morgan County Historical and Genealogical Society
Joe Grimm is a lifetime member of the Rowlesburg Area Historical Society, and he is a very active member. As a retiree of the CSX Transportation System, he is a valuable resource for the society's B&O Depot Museum. Grimm has been a great asset spearheading the repair work on society buildings and leading a maintenance crew to take care of the roadways and grounds to the historic Cannon Hill Civil War site, the historical museum, and the depot museum. He has given tours and contributes his ideas and knowledge to the organization for its growth and welfare.
Nominated by Rowlesburg Area Historical Society
Susan Haddad was one of the initial members of the Victorian Old Town Association and served three years as association president. She also was one of the originators of the group's house tours, which raised funds used primarily for neighborhood beautification projects. Haddad has had a major impact on historic preservation in Wheeling, renovating her 1839 home and an 1869 commercial structure in the Center Market Historic District, as well as assisting other historic property owners. She has been recognized by the Friends of Wheeling and the City of Wheeling for her contributions.
Nominated by Victorian Old Town Association
A direct descendant of Devil Anse Hatfield, Jackie Lee Hatfield Jr. is president of the Hatfield & McCoy Foundation. He established the Devil Anse Hatfield Homeplace and Museum in Sarah Ann, which has been visited by more than 18,000 people, and he is dedicated to preserving the history of the family, the feud, and the regional coal industry. For the past four years, Hatfield has worked tirelessly to restore the homeplace property, where Devil Anse spent his last years, and the nearby family cemetery. He makes presentations at schools, organizations and elsewhere and hosts a YouTube channel.
Nominated by West Virginia Historical Society
Diana Hill has served as secretary for the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society for the past ten years. In addition to taking the minutes at meetings, she has been the lead docent at the Phelps-Tavenner House, has written a script for other docents to use, and organizes volunteers for Saturdays. Hill keeps display items properly identified, created an excellent filing system in the research room, and has written several booklets about the Phelps and Tavenner families. She spends hours researching genealogy and local history to respond to e-mail questions, and she rarely misses weekly workdays.
Nominated by Wood County Historical and Preservation Society
Linda Holt serves as secretary for the Wayne County Genealogical and Historical Society and has been integral to assuring the organization functions effectively. She handles many administrative tasks such as purchasing supplies and returning phone calls and correspondence. In addition, Holt serves as the librarian and has been instrumental in setting up the society's new library. She volunteers many hours to make sure items are indexed, and she assists with research requests and training others about how to research. Currently, Holt is helping with a project at Crum PK-8 that assists students in researching their Revolutionary War ancestors.
Nominated by Wayne County Genealogical and Historical Society
James Derek and Mary Johnson are the "go to team" for Cooney Ricketts Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The couple design the parade floats for the chapter and work together to showcase the history of the Civil War era as well as to adhere to the various themes of the parades. They compiled a list of southern music popular during the war that is played on the float during parades. At Civil War re-enactments, they lead a game, "What Time Is It Old Fox," that students love. In addition, when Derek undertook cleaning the UDC Scary Creek monument in St. Albans, Mary was there helping him. Their contributions are immeasurable.
Nominated by Cooney Ricketts Chapter 2726, United Daughters of the Confederacy
A member of the board of directors for more than ten years, Mary Montgomery Lindquist is chair of the education committee of the Greenbrier Historical Society and past chair of the membership committee. In her current role, she is creating a better interface with county schools. On the membership committee, Dr. Lindquist finalized a re-vamp of the fee structure and helped create a new brochure. She also advocated for more attention to members and an assessment of their opinions and needs. Lindquist has served on many home tour committees, where she contributed her expertise in preparing homes for display and opened her own historic home for tours and fundraising events.
Nominated by Greenbrier Historical Society
Janet Mayenchein has been a member of the board of directors of the KYOWVA Genealogical Society for more than two decades. She was instrumental in producing the society's history book on the bicentennial of Cabell County several years ago. Mayenchein also has written articles for the newsletter, contributed to meetings, participated in research trips arranged by the society, and answered research questions.
Nominated by KYOWVA Genealogical Society, Inc.
Phyllis Beane McFadden has been a longtime member of the St. Albans Historical Society and an advocate of its mission to collect and record the history of St. Albans. She has supported research and publication of several projects, including the society's history book in the 1990s, and she supports the annual historic house tour. At age 93, McFadden is a source of information on local historical events, people, and places in town. Recently, she helped with histories of local churches for a historic church tour, and she currently is working on a 75th anniversary history of Highlawn Presbyterian Church.
Nominated by St. Albans Historical Society
Brenna K. Mitchell has served on the board of directors of the Pendleton County Historical Society since 2019 and has been editor of the newsletter since 2020. She conducted the research and wrote Pendleton's Boys of '17 (2019), and, after chairing a committee that identified the structures destroyed in the Franklin fire of 1924, wrote Franklin in Flames (2024), both published by the society. Through her research, articles, presentations, and books, Mitchell has given the public a better understanding and appreciation of the contributions and hardships of earlier county residents, and this has increased membership and interest in the historical society.
Nominated by Pendleton County Historical Society
Jonathan L. Nance became a working member of the Madie Carroll House Preservation Society at the age of nine when the society was formed in 1988. He has volunteered many hours over the years, including clean-up that first summer, the deconstruction of the unstable north chimney, and reconstruction of the barn. Nance also has helped with annual activities such as the Easter Egg Hunt and Guyandotte Civil War Days. For Guyandotte's bicentennial in 2010, he typed most of the 26 pages of historical articles that were in the program book. A current member of the board of directors, Nance has served several prior terms on the board as well.
Nominated by Madie Carroll House Preservation Society, Inc.
Kristie Ojeda is a blessing to Barboursville Civil War Days. She has organized the Ladies Tea for both the Barboursville and Guyandotte Civil War Days groups, setting period-correct tables and teaching those who come on topics such as ladies' etiquette, the purpose of the teas, and what women did during the war. Ojeda helps with other activities for one or both events such as the dance, education day, fundraisers, and video advertising. She designed, wrote, and published a newspaper for Guyandotte using articles from local newspapers, and, for 2025, is planning a period-correct newspaper for Barboursville.
Nominated by Barboursville Civil War Days
Susan Reilly has shown great dedication in working with the Marshall County Historical Society and in the preservation of history. She has been a member of the board of directors and program coordinator for the society. Director of the Moundsville-Marshall County Public Library, Reilly has worked with the group to gather its genealogy materials with the library's genealogy with the goal of digitizing the information and making it available online. In addition, she has been instrumental in the creation of the library's new archival center, which not only will hold the library's archives but also the historical society's records.
Nominated by Marshall County Historical Society
Terrie Rogers has made significant contributions to the preservation of Mineral County history through research and active participation. She researched the history of the local Twin Mountain and Potomac Railroad and assisted in organizing a railroad display at the Old Stone House (Travelers Rest). At this location, Rogers also assisted in the art of stringing and operating a 100-year-old rug loom from which rugs have been produced and sold to help pay utility bills for the house, owned by the Mineral County Historical Foundation. In addition, she has helped the foundation vice president to assure that restoration of the building would continue.
Nominated by Mineral County Historical Foundation & Mineral County Historical Society
Ronald Scott Jr. has been working independently to support the Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable in developing public awareness of the aftereffects of the Civil War on history and culture. He initiated and produced the Ohio Valley's annual Juneteenth celebration a full year before it was made a national holiday. In 2022, Scott rewrote a 1936 speech on African Americans in Wheeling from a 2022 perspective that was on display in the Ohio County Public Library as part of the exhibit, "Accepting, Understanding and Opportunity: The 20th Man That Stands Before You." His work educates, entertains, and enlightens by focusing on truth, intention, and adaptation to make sure people understand and cherish "our" history.
Nominated by Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable
Lori Sexton has been a trustee with the Mercer County Historical Society for the past year. For several years, she has set up an encampment at the 2-day Mercer County Heritage Festival, where she enjoys speaking and teaching students and adults about how women survived the Civil War era. Sexton also has portrayed a woman dressed as a man during the war. In addition, she helps the historical society sell concessions.
Nominated by Mercer County Historical Society
Paul Michael "Mike" Vaughan has positively influenced the Raleigh County Historical Society's public relations program. Armed with historical information and garbed in period costume, he frequently re-enacts Alfred Beckley, an important figure in the county's early decades, at public society events such as Founder's Day and Christmas at Wildwood, as well as in the City of Beckley's Christmas Parade. Vaughan's appearance also has been requested at Theatre West Virginia 2024-2025 season's opening night at Grandview, New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.
Nominated by Raleigh County Historical Society
Cade Vogelsong joined the board of directors of Preservation Alliance of West Virginia (PAWV) in 2021 and has been president since 2023. He has actively contributed to the group's advocacy and endangered properties committees. Vogelsong has championed federal legislation and programs that benefit rural historic preservation, meeting numerous times with the staff of West Virginia's federal representatives to share valuable perspectives. His leadership has strengthened PAWV's response to threatened historic resources, empowering communities to save endangered places, and elevating PAWV's advocacy efforts. In addition, his fundraising guidance has helped staff reach a larger audience and enhance the organization's sustainability.
Nominated by Preservation Alliance of West Virginia
A 25-year member, Linda Nelson Whaley has held numerous offices with the United Daughters of the Confederacy at the local, state, and general level and currently is the recorder of military service awards. While Border Rangers Chapter president, she compiled and digitized the original applications of members, 1895-1970, into a book. She also worked to locate division convention minutes from 1898 to the present. Whaley organized two division chapters, and she participates in all division activities. In addition, she has spent many hours researching, studying, and portraying women from the Civil War era, and she has made presentations to other organizations and UDC chapters.
Nominated by the Border Rangers Chapter 2580, United Daughters of the Confederacy
Timothy Wheeler is the president of the Veterans Memorial Museum of Southern West Virginia, located in Hinton. In addition to serving as president, he oversees daily operations and works to curate collections and exhibits. Wheeler has successfully applied for grant monies to improve, enhance, and expand the museum's preservation of historical treasures. Known throughout the community as the "go to" person for information concerning Summers County veterans, Wheeler provided invaluable assistance in the gathering of information for Summers County Historical Society's World War II book.
Nominated by the Summers County Historical Society