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"Your Gateway
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History of the Mountain State,
1939-2006"

Volume 60

Volume 60 is now available!

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Volume 60 of West Virginia History presents an eclectic look at the state's history that highlights events of the twentieth century. Thomas C. Townsend is the focus of the journal's lead article. A West Virginia lawyer, Townsend worked for the United Mine Workers of America and defended participants in the Battle of Blair Mountain against murder and treason charges in the Mine Wars trials of the early 1920s. Townsend also served as state tax commissioner and was the Republican Party's gubernatorial candidate in 1932, running on a pro-labor and pro-tax reform platform.

The little-known Federal Music Project, a New Deal program of the Works Progress Administration, is the subject of an article that looks at the project's Huntington orchestra. Established in 1936, the Huntington Federal Music Project Orchestra provided jobs for unemployed area musicians during the Great Depression and led to formation of the Huntington Symphony Orchestra.

West Virginia Archives and History, which was created in 1905 and celebrated its centennial in 2005, spanned much of the twentieth century. Volume 60 looks at the 100-year history of the state's official document repository, a major research facility for individuals and organizations seeking information on the state and its people. Archives and History also launched West Virginia History in 1939.

This issue of West Virginia History also features letters of Hardy County's Union Militia during the Civil War. Archives and History houses a large collection of West Virginia Adjutant General's Papers, many acquired during the tenure of first state historian and archivist Virgil Lewis. More clearly than some other parts of the state, Union and Confederate sympathies divided wartime Hardy County, and this eastern panhandle area was in turmoil throughout much of the war.

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From 1939 to 2006, West Virginia History featured some of the best scholarship on the economic, political, social, and cultural history of West Virginia and the Appalachian region. West Virginia History also reviewed the latest books on state and regional history. Volume 60 of West Virginia History is available for the subscription fee of $15 in the U.S. or $18 outside the U.S. To receive your copy, return the order form with your check or Money order. Checks or money orders should be made payable to "West Virginia Archives and History" and sent to Archives and History Section, The Cultural Center, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV 25305-0300. Many back issues are also available.

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West Virginia History Journal

West Virginia History Center

West Virginia Archives and History