Black History Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Harpers Ferry’s Ties To Civil Rights Movement Showcased In New Documentary

Harpers Ferry was home to the second-ever meeting of a civil rights group that gave way to the NAACP. A new documentary in part highlights the town’s connection to the movement.

The historical importance of Harpers Ferry becomes clear on any drive across the town’s cobblestone roads. Museums, Victorian homes and storefronts shelved with old-time goods line each of the town’s winding streets.

Many West Virginians know Harpers Ferry as a hub of Civil War history, serving as the site of an 1859 abolitionist uprising led by John Brown and Shields Green.

But fewer people know that the town also played a seminal role in the 20th century civil rights movement. Now, a new documentary, which can be viewed for free on PBS Passport, aims to raise awareness of an often overlooked piece of American history with direct ties to West Virginia.

Origins Of A Black-led Civil Rights Group

In 1905, a group of Black civil rights leaders came together to form the Niagara Movement. Historians describe the group as a precursor to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The group was founded by Black Americans in Canada, just outside of Niagara Falls. It aimed to address racial injustice in the aftermath of the Civil War, advocating against things like sharecropping, racial segregation and pervasive anti-Black violence across the United States.

For its time, the Niagara Movement was viewed as radical. It was run exclusively by Black civil rights leaders like W.E.B. DuBois and William Monroe Trotter.

Curtis Freewill Baptist Church, one of the meeting places of members of the Niagara Movement, is located on Storer College Place in Harpers Ferry.

*Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Plus, it offered a countercurrent to accommodationist perspectives on racial justice, which encouraged Black Americans to temporarily accept segregation, better their communities and one day push for increased civil rights.

This revolutionary mindset is what drew the group to Harpers Ferry in just its second year. Beyond its ties to abolitionist uprising, the West Virginia town was home to Storer College, a historic Black college open to discussions on racial liberation.

“They felt safe to come to a Black college,” said Scot Faulkner, who co-founded a local organization called the Friends of Harpers Ferry National Park. Faulkner’s group serves as a liaison between current town residents and the national historic park.

“They saw a link between themselves as a force, basically an aggressive force on behalf of African American rights,” he said. “They felt common ground and common philosophy with John Brown and the more radical abolitionists going back into the 1850s.”

While visiting parts of the town, Faulkner said the group’s leaders even took off their shoes because they felt that they were walking on “sacred ground.”

Faulkner said that Harpers Ferry provided a stepping stone for early civil rights leaders addressing racial injustice at the turn of the twentieth century. But not everyone who visits the town is aware of this history, which can be overshadowed by the town’s Civil War ties.

Located in downtown Harpers Ferry, the Storer College Museum contains several displays on the history of Black education, as well as the Niagara Movement’s meeting in West Virginia.

*Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

Shining A Light On The Niagara Movement

A new documentary titled “The Niagara Movement: the Early Battle for Civil Rights” released through Buffalo Toronto Public Media earlier this month tells the story of the Niagara Movement, from how it was founded to how it gave way to the NAACP.

Raymond Smock is a historian who serves as director emeritus of Shepherd University’s Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education. He also previously served as historian of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Smock contributed to the documentary, and hosted a screening of it on Shepherd’s campus earlier this month.

While the film doesn’t center on Harpers Ferry alone, Smock said it shows that the West Virginia town facilitated early civil rights discussions.

“This was an amazing meeting at a very historic spot where John Brown’s raid, some say, started the Civil War,” he said. “There was a great interest in holding this meeting.”

Still, Smock said that the Niagara Movement does not always get sufficient attention in contemporary historical discussions.

An exhibit on the Niagara Movement, an early civil rights organization, is located inside the Storer College Museum in Harpers Ferry.

*Credit: Jack Walker/West Virginia Public Broadcasting*

“In the immediate vicinity, if you’re in Jefferson County, West Virginia, the Harpers Ferry meeting of the Niagara Movement is pretty well-known history,” Smock said. “But it’s not well known in most other parts of the state or the nation.”

Both Faulkner and Smock said that they hope the documentary helps people learn more about the Niagara Movement and civil rights history.

Much of this history can be discovered right in West Virginia, at historic Harpers Ferry sites like the Storer College campus and the Storer College Museum. The multi-level museum has exhibits dedicated to Black history, from the Niagara Movement and beyond.

For Faulkner, the ability to discover these pieces of American history on a simple walk through town is what makes Harpers Ferry great.

Harpers Ferry “was the philosophical and emotional link between the Niagara Movement in the 20th century and the abolitionist movement, especially the more forceful aspects of the abolitionist movement, of the 19th century,” he said.

“It was a really important melding of these two threads in American history, and certainly of the African American rights movement,” Faulkner said.

WVPB To Host GOSPEL Preview And Panel Discussion

WVPB invites you to learn more about a new docuseries, GOSPEL. The series explores the rich history of Black spirituality through sermon and song and delves into its extraordinary impact on culture and pop music.

Join Us Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. at the Davis Fine Arts Center on the West Virginia State University Campus

WVPB invites you to learn more about a new docuseries, GOSPEL, from Executive Producer, host, writer Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The series explores the rich history of Black spirituality through sermon and song and delves into its extraordinary impact on culture and pop music.

The preview will be followed by a brief panel discussion and refreshments. The event is free and open to the public.

WHAT: Screening of Docuseries Preview, GOSPEL

WHERE: Davis Fine Arts Center, West Virginia State University Campus, Institute, WV

WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 1 at 6 p.m. – 7 p.m.

Learn more about this event.

Celebrating A Tradition Of Poets And Discussing The Resurgence Of Black Lung, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, Rev. George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia was born in the years after slavery ended. He’s remembered today through his poetry. And a new wave of black lung disease is ravaging Appalachia. We’ll hear more from a black lung town hall in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Coal miners have their own thoughts about black lung, too.

This week, Rev. George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia was born in the years after slavery ended. He’s remembered today through his poetry.

And a new wave of black lung disease is ravaging Appalachia. We’ll hear more from a black lung town hall in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Coal miners have their own thoughts about black lung, too.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Celebrating Poetry About 20th Century African American Life
The Voices Of Black Lung Miners
Black Lung Town Hall Meeting In Kentucky

Celebrating Poetry About 20th Century African American Life

Poetry has been a tradition in Jeanette Wilson’s family for generations. They’ve recited the poems of Wilson’s grandfather and her uncle George for nearly a century. Now, these poems about African American life in southwest Virginia are reaching a wider audience — and connecting the past to the present.

Folkways Reporter Connie Kitts brings us this story.

The Voices Of Black Lung Miners

For years, it looked like black lung disease was on the decline, but a new epidemic has emerged. In 2018, NPR and the PBS program Frontline investigated a resurgence of advanced black lung among coal miners across Appalachia. They found that despite mounting evidence and a stream of warnings, federal regulators and mining companies failed to protect workers.

The result was that thousands of miners were afflicted with an advanced stage of black lung disease — known as Progressive Massive Fibrosis.

We bring this story from the miners themselves, as told to NPR’s Howard Berkes and Ohio Valley ReSource reporter Benny Becker. It was originally broadcast on NPR’s All Things Considered on Jan. 22, 2019. The full documentary Coal’s Deadly Dust is available on pbs.org.

Black Lung Town Hall Meeting In Kentucky

In July, the Appalachian Citizens Law Center hosted a black lung town hall in Whitesburg, Kentucky. The nonprofit law firm invited miners and their families to hear from experts about the current state of black lung disease in Appalachia. One of those experts is Kentucky radiologist James Brandon Crum, who first alerted federal researchers to what they later labeled an epidemic of complicated black lung.

WMMT in Whitesburg recorded the meeting for its program Mountain Talk. What Dr. Crum has to say is eye-opening — especially if you’re not part of the coal mining community.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Jeff Ellis, Charlie McCoy, Southern Culture on the Skids, June Carter Cash, and Tim and Dave Bing

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

A Model Train Club Faces Uncertainty

This week, we hop a tiny train to discover the miniature wonders of a West Virginia model railroad club that now faces an uncertain future. We also visit Madison, West Virginia — a former coal community that’s looking to reinvent itself. And we visit a cemetery in Bluefield, Virginia and learn how racial segregation extended from cradle to the grave. You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

This week, we hop a tiny train to discover the miniature wonders of a West Virginia model railroad club that now faces an uncertain future.

We also visit Madison, West Virginia — a former coal community that’s looking to reinvent itself.

And we visit a cemetery in Bluefield, Virginia and learn how racial segregation extended from cradle to the grave.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Model Train Club Coming To A Crossroads
Coal Towns Look To Reinvent
Appalachian Writers Workshop To Return
Segregated Cemetery Remembered And Restored

Model Train Club Coming To a Crossroads

Model trains are a symbol of American childhood. You can probably picture it. A circle of track, some plastic trees, a few diecast cars sitting at the railroad crossing.

Well, the model train setup in our next story takes things to a whole different scale. Folkways Reporter Zack Harold brings us the story.

Coal Towns Look To Reinvent

Appalachia’s coal industry has had a pretty good last couple of years, all things considered. But a growing number of places have lost coal altogether. And after decades of relying on it, they’re trying to figure out what’s next.

West Virginia lawmakers established a grants commission last year, to funnel federal dollars to coalfield communities. WVPB’s Randy Yohe visited Madison, West Virginia, to hear about its efforts to build a new economy, after coal.

Appalachian Writers Workshop To Return

Last summer, torrential rains brought flooding and destruction to parts of Eastern Kentucky, West Virginia and southwestern Virginia. Among the communities hit was the town of Hindman, Kentucky — home to the Appalachian Writer’s Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School. When the floods began, the writer’s workshop was midway through its weeklong session. Several campus buildings were damaged, but all of the students and faculty there eventually made it home safely.

The school announced plans for this year’s Appalachian Writers Workshop. Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch spoke with workshop organizer Josh Mullins about the flood and the upcoming workshop.

Segregated Cemetery Remembered And Restored

Bluefield is a small town on the border of Virginia and West Virginia. For decades, on the Virginia side, graves of the Black residents who helped build the community were neglected in the town’s segregated cemetery. And it might have stayed that way if it hadn’t been for the efforts of one persistent woman whose family was buried there.

Folkways Reporter Connie Bailey Kitts reports.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Otis Gibbs, Del McCoury, Tyler Childers and Amythyst Kia.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

You can send us an email at InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram and Twitter @InAppalachia.

And you can sign-up for our Inside Appalachia Newsletter here!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Ohio County Public Library Unveils Project Highlighting Black History, Civic Empathy

The Ohio County Public Library is modernizing a historic speech from one of Wheeling’s most notable African American leaders as part of a larger project to boost civic empathy in the region. It’s an updated version of a speech heard on Wheeling airwaves in 1936, advocating for the town’s “Twentieth Man.”

Listen to the full "20th Man Speech" for 2022 by Ron Scott

“In February of 1936, about one in every twenty persons living in Wheeling was of African descent,” Wheeling YWCA Cultural Diversity and Community Outreach Director Ron Scott, Jr. recited at the beginning of the speech. “Today, in 2022, the population of Wheeling is 27,052. Of that number, 1,435 are Black or of African descent. Which is 5.3 percent — or one in 20.”

The library is using the speech to teach patrons about the meaning of being a good citizen, and why looking back at local history matters in the present day.

The project began as part of a larger undertaking based out of the John Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh, which has 150 affiliates across Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. Program manager Robert Stakely said it’s a way to teach students across the tri-state area about their local history.

“We engage them in such a way that it’s educational, and in this case, making them better citizens, making them better stewards of their community,” Stakely said. “And we do that through history.”

The original speech, broadcast on WWVA in Wheeling 86 years ago, was made by Harry Jones, Wheeling’s only African American attorney at the time. Library Director of Programming and Local History Sean Duffy said it discussed how the local Black community had been affected by Jim Crow segregation to a mostly white audience.

A digitized copy of the first page of the transcript of Harry Jones’ original 1936 speech.

“He spoke very plainly about the fact that there were no jobs for Black people through white owned businesses, there were no opportunities,” Duffy said.

He reasoned that showing off the speech could help people empathize with the African American experience during the 1930s by providing it through the exact words of someone living through that period.

“I thought immediately this would fit the paradigm so that when kids today look at what happened in 1936, and then reflect on how things are now, what’s gotten better? What things are still the same?”

Today, the percentage of African Americans living in Wheeling is roughly the same: one in 20. The rewritten speech by Ron Scott, Jr. calls for local support of Black businesses and the uplifting of Black professionals, the amount of which have both declined in the area since 1936. Scott said he was expecting this version of the speech to just be a look back at the past, but that wasn’t quite the case.

“We found out by doing the speech that a lot of things are just viewed differently, or dressed in different clothing so that it looks like it’s different,” Scott said. He noted how the framing of these issues in a modern light could help people who take interest in the project to make a shift in viewpoint from sympathy to empathy.

“What we’re used to are folks saying, ‘Well, that was a shame that, that happened,’” Scott said. “And now we’re getting folks into saying, ‘Well, how is that still affecting things?’ Or, ‘How can I do something to lessen the blow?’”

The original speech has been lost to history — local engineers theorize it was recorded to an acetate disk, which could have been destroyed in one of the radio station moves over the years, or just wasn’t saved. But Scott said the meaning of the speech lives on, even a century later.

“He’s making sure that he gets this message out, but in a way that is kind of welcoming at the same time, telling you, ‘This is what it’s like for us. Don’t you want to know?’” Scott said.

The full recording of Scott’s speech is available through the WALS Foundation on SoundCloud. A transcript of the original 1936 speech is available to read on the Ohio County Public Library’s website, as well as more information about the Civic Empathy Through History Project.

Biography Details Life Of Longest Serving Black Teacher At Harpers Ferry's Storer College

In 2017, Lynn Pechuekonis moved into her residence in Harpers Ferry, soon discovering it was the previous home of the longest serving Black teacher at the historical Storer College. Pechuekonis’ curiosity and research led her to create a biography about that teacher, William Saunders.

Reporter Shepherd Snyder spoke to her about the book, titled Man of Sterling Worth: Professor William A. Saunders of Storer College.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

Snyder: Starting off, I was wondering if you could introduce yourself and go through the general premise of your book.

Pechuekonis: Hi, my name is Lynn Pechuekonis. I live in Harpers Ferry. And I moved into a beautiful home here and then discovered that it had been the original home of William A. Saunders, who was a professor at Storer College. And as I became more curious about who he was, my research turned into a book about his life from his birth in Louisa County, Virginia to formerly enslaved parents, to his death at age 93.

Snyder: For our listeners who might not know, can you talk about Harpers Ferry and its impact on Black history and culture?

Pechuekonis: Sure thing. So a lot of people think of John Brown when they think of Harpers Ferry and his raid, and it probably had some impacts on the town that he didn’t expect. By the end of the Civil War, there were quite a number of self-liberated African Americans, formerly enslaved people gathered in Harpers Ferry that I’ve seen estimates of 500 to 700 of.

The missionaries from the Free Will Baptist church up in the north had already sent people down here to start working with the formerly enslaved peoples, and Harpers Ferry seemed like an ideal place for a school. The school started out teaching children. And soon it was believed that we needed a normal school, and a school to teach teachers because the need for education was so great among the Black population. So the Baptists up north were able to convince John Storer to donate $10,000 and Storer College was begun. And because of Storer College, an even greater population of African Americans flocked to Harpers Ferry.

The school had a very progressive stance towards encouraging home ownership in the town. And so a number of black residents were able to purchase property and have homes on really good land up in the upper town area where it was not prone to flooding, like in the lower town. And there was quite a thriving Black community here from just after the Civil War until about 100 years after.

Snyder: You mentioned earlier this book is particularly about one professor from Storer, Professor William Saunders. I was wondering if you could go into why you had an interest in him, specifically. Why is he important?

Pechuekonis: Well, what I discovered was that Professor Saunders was the longest serving Black teacher at Storer College. So he was there from 1907. He retired in the 1940s, but continued to be an integral part of the school even after that. The president (of Storer College) called him once “A man of sterling worth and a friend of every righteous cause.” He was known for helping struggling students, he boarded students in his home. And he taught an amazing breadth of classes from math, science, to professional studies in teaching, to sociology, to history of West Virginia and even Bible courses. So it was really hard to earn a degree at Storer College in the 20th century without sitting through at least one class from Professor Saunders. And he also was just an incredible man who served in his community and was a leader throughout the area.

Snyder: Is there anything of interest or any particular anecdotes or stories people should know about Professor Saunders and his life?

One of the things that stood out to me was that he was well known across the state. When (historian and author) AB Caldwell wrote his “History of the American Negro in West Virginia”, Professor Saunders was included in that that work. He was also selected by two West Virginia governors to represent the state at the Negro National Education Congress in 1911 and 1915. He was painted by Black artist William Edward Scott, who was known for his portraits, and he was even included in “The Crisis”, the publication by William E.B. Du Bois for the NAACP. Saunders went to Bates College for his bachelor’s degree program, and even though it was a predominantly white school, he really excelled there and even became a football star during college.

Snyder: What was it like researching material about his life and getting material for this book?

Pechuekonis: So there was a bit of a challenge. Professor Saunders married another Storer College graduate, who was at least 12 years younger than himself. She was a teacher here in Harpers Ferry as well. She taught at the elementary school for Black children here, but they never had any children of their own. So there was nobody to save their photos and their papers, no direct descendants to speak with.

So really, I was left with looking at what’s in the public record and what had been archived at Storer College’s archives, many of which are held by the West Virginia University Library. Some are still held by the (Harpers Ferry National Historical) Park Service, which took over the Storer College property after it closed. And those records are just full of references to Professor Saunders. He was always, you know, leading prayers, teaching classes. Very early in his career here, he was a football coach. He played in the band and he performed in theater productions that the school had. So his name is sprinkled throughout the records all over the place, in Storer College records, and also in newspaper articles. And as I mentioned, AB Caldwell’s history includes a brief biography of him. I also found some interesting information from a biography that his grandniece’s husband wrote in a creative writing class at Storer College.

Snyder: Fast-forward to today, why should people care about Professor Saunders and Storer College? What do you think their legacy is in 2022?

Pechuekonis: I think it’s really important to understand history, understand that Harpers Ferry was not just about John Brown’s raid and the Civil War. There were a lot of really great people who lived here and who were involved with the college who wanted to see people get an equal education here. I know that the alumni of Storer College held it very dear. Often people refer to it as the Storer College bubble. And there was not just the campus, but the whole section of the neighborhood where African American residents felt safe. Even if they didn’t attend the school, young people came to Storer College, and it’s just a beautiful inspiring story that I I find incredibly interesting, I think others do as well.