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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.

Storer College’s 155th Anniversary Recognized

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is recognizing the 155th anniversary of the founding of the historic Storer College this weekend.

The college opened in 1867 as one of the first schools in the nation to offer an education to formerly enslaved people. It operated until 1955. To recognize the anniversary, Harpers Ferry is holding a ceremony with the Storer College National Alumni Association.

“If you want to look at a place that tells the story from the Civil War to civil rights, it’s Storer College,” Harpers Ferry National Park representative Leah Taber said. “It was one of the first educational institutions open to formerly enslaved people after the Civil War, and certainly the first in West Virginia. So it occupies a huge place in civil rights history.”

Taber said the creation of Storer College represents education as a right for all people, regardless of race or gender.

“As we think about who we are as Americans, one of the things that we cherish as a nation is the right to education,” Taber said. “When we think about how fundamental a right education is, Storer College fits right into that.”

The ceremony is set for Oct. 2 at the campus’ Soldier’s Gate from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Storer College alumni and other notables are set to speak at the event, including:

Storer College National Alumni Association president James Green, Jr.
Tyrone Brandyburg, Superintendent, Harpers Ferry NHP.
Cathy Baldau, Executive Director, Harpers Ferry Park Association.
Dr. Bondy Shay Gibson-Learn, Superintendent, Jefferson County Schools.
Greg Vaughn, Mayor, Corporation of Harpers Ferry.
George Rutherford, President, Jefferson County NAACP.
Lynn Pechuekonis, author of Man of Sterling Worth: Professor William A. Saunders of Storer College.
Emma Dacol, producer/director of documentary Briscoe: Man of Science and Substance, about Storer professor Madison Briscoe.

Included in the ceremony is a ceremonial tolling of bells for Storer alumni who have passed away, with one of the alumni in attendance leading a candle lighting ceremony.

A program about Lockwood House, a former Civil War hospital and headquarters that became the center of the campus, is also scheduled for 3:45 p.m.

Eastern Panhandle Printmaker Highlights Historical Storer College Portraits In Art Exhibit

An Eastern Panhandle artist is displaying an exhibit this month based on photographs of students at Storer College, a historically Black college in Harpers Ferry that was created after the Civil War.

An Eastern Panhandle artist is displaying an exhibit this month based on photographs of students at Storer College, a historically Black college in Harpers Ferry created after the Civil War.

The exhibit displays six linoleum portraits, chosen from the West Virginia University Archives’ Storer College Collection in front of flashy wallpaper patterns.

The exhibit is on display each weekend in September at The Artists Gallery in Frederick, Maryland.

Rhonda Smith created the exhibit. She formerly taught printmaking for 30 years at Shepherd University and worked at the National Park Service in Harpers Ferry.

“It’s a little different than painting or drawing. It’s an indirect process, not a direct one,” Smith said about the printmaking procedure.

She says the placing of the portraits in front of these bold backgrounds represents Black students’ drive to be recognized.

“The education provided these individuals this opportunity to actually stand up and stand out and stand in front of the wallpaper, and be seen and be acknowledged for who they were and what they had achieved,” Smith said.

She also wants to bring light to a story that is not often told, and that not many locals know. Smith says the exhibit is also a way to educate those who visit about Storer College, one of the most prominent Black colleges of the time.

“It might be a way to get a different group of people to be curious, and to wonder a little bit more about that particular history, and then maybe to actually go to Harpers Ferry and Storer,” Smith said. “I think that’s what education is about — allowing people to stumble into and onto things.”

The exhibit is on display each weekend in September at The Artists Gallery in Frederick, Maryland. Shepherd University professor and author Dawne Raines Burke will give a lecture about Storer College at the exhibit on Sep. 18.

Harpers Ferry Looks Back At African American Memorial Day Tradition

After the Civil War, families of fallen Union soldiers recognized Decoration Day by adorning the graves of their loved ones with flowers. That remembrance became what’s now known as Memorial Day and also became a unique holiday for African American tourists visiting West Virginia during the late 19th century.

One of the earliest known observations of Memorial Day in the state began in the 1870s when groups of people would picnic at Island Park, an amusement park outside Harpers Ferry. These annual celebrations carried into the early 20th century and attracted hundreds of African American tourists. Harpers Ferry National Park intern Cassie Chandler is researching the park’s tourist community as part of her studies.

“Island Park was a wonderful place, especially, of course, in the African American community,” Chandler said. “A lot of churches came to Island Park to score a day of fun. They’d picnic. They played games. And how they would get here was through the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.”

In 1878, the B&O Railroad Company bought the park. Railroad companies were some of the largest employers of African Americans after the Civil War, though work conditions were still unfavorable compared to those of their white peers. Harpers Ferry park ranger Melinda Day says the destination became known as a safe public place for African Americans after its development, making it an annual vacation destination for both Black and white employees of the railroad.

African American community members crossing the Island Park bridge from the train station to the amusement park.

“They tended to be very hungry for leisurely destinations that were free from hostility, humiliation and exclusion that tended to mark their experiences at other white public spaces and commemorative sites,” Day said.

Island Park was also close to the historically Black Storer College. The Harpers Ferry school was built in 1867 to help educate the 30,000 African Americans in the region recently freed from enslavement. When school was out of session, the college would rent out the dorms to tourists in the area. This contributed to the notable amount of Black visitors to the island for holidays like Memorial Day.

“When the students broke for the summer, they would go home and those dorms were empty,” Day said. “And then the college started to put together that so many people, both white and Black, were coming here and needed a place to stay.”

Today, Island Park is just a memory. The facilities were wiped out by flooding in the 1920s. But the National Park Service has preserved the park’s only surviving structure, the Harpers Ferry Bandstand. The building is still in use today by community members and musicians.