Preserving A Historic Black Church And A Conversation With Mike Pushkin On This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, while Republican candidates dominate the media leading up to next week’s primary election, there are also Democrats up and down the ballot running for state offices. Their campaign strategy, however, takes a different path.

Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party, spoke with Randy Yohe on the efforts to rebuild the party and restore Democrats to state offices.  

Also, in this show, Harpers Ferry is a hot spot for Black history in West Virginia. The town was home to a major abolitionist uprising, a Black civil rights conference and the historically Black Storer College.

But preserving the city’s historic sites requires upkeep. When the town’s residents saw a historic Black Baptist church falling into disrepair, the idea for a new preservation project was born.

Now, the project has received a $100,000 rehabilitation grant. Jack Walker spoke with Lynn Pechuekonis, incoming chair of the Harpers Ferry-Bolivar Historic Town Foundation, about what’s in store for First Zion Baptist Church.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University.

Chris Schulz produced this episode.

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