On this West Virginia Morning, this year marks the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Most of us have an “I remember where I was” story from that day as many of us watched the planes crash into buildings, and the horror we felt. The world changed that day.
On this West Virginia Morning, this year marks the 22nd anniversary of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. Most of us have an “I remember where I was” story from that day as many of us watched the planes crash into buildings, and the horror we felt. The world changed that day.
Nearly 3,000 people died in New York City, Washington, D.C. and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
To commemorate the day, several West Virginia Public Broadcasting staffers contributed to this audio postcard. We’ll hear from Annie Thompson, Bill Lynch, Emily Rice, Kristi Morey, Curtis Tate, Eric Douglas, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schulz, Maggie Holley and Chris Barnhart.
Also, in this show, alumni of West Virginia University rallied in Morgantown Saturday in support of faculty and students. Chris Schulz has more.
And the woman who sparked the 1974 Kanawha County Textbook Controversy has died. 82-year-old Alice Whitehurst Moore passed away at her home in Tennessee. Us & Them host Trey Kay has this remembrance.
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 Concord University and Shepherd University.
Our Appalachia Health News project is made possible with support from CAMC and Marshall Health.
West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schultz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.
Caroline MacGregor is our assistant news director and produced this episode.
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The woman who sparked the 1974 Kanawha County Textbook Controversy has died. 82-year-old Alice Whitehurst Moore passed away at her home in Tennessee over the weekend.
The woman who sparked the 1974 Kanawha County Textbook Controversy has died. 82-year-old Alice Whitehurst Moore passed away at her home in Tennessee over the weekend.
Moore was on the Kanawha County Board of Education and sparked a national debate with her objection to a new set of language arts books designed to reflect America’s increasingly multicultural society. Moore helped mobilize a protest that targeted schools and businesses throughout the county.
National attention came when boycotts paralyzed businesses in Kanawha and eight surrounding counties. Moore never advocated violence, however some protesters resorted to such tactics.
The controversy extended well beyond the Kanawha Valley. It provided the newly formed Heritage Foundation with a cause to rally an emerging Christian conservative movement.
It’s with deep sadness that I report the passing of a dear friend and someone who helped define the Us & Them podcast in its earliest days. Alice Whitehurst Moore passed away on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023. Her daughter Chrissie Moore-Henthorne says her mother died at her home in Acton, Tennessee surrounded by her family. She was 82 years old.
I first became aware of Alice when she served on the Kanawha County Board of Education in West Virginia in the 1970s. In 1974, when I was in 7th grade in that school district, Alice sparked a national debate and conversation on multiculturalism when she objected to the adoption of a new set of language arts classroom textbooks for the district.
The books were recommended by a group of English teachers to reflect America’s increasingly multicultural society. Alice reviewed many of the proposed books and found a significant number of the passages and themes to be objectionable. She met with concerned parents in church basements and community centers and mobilized a book protest.
The effort drew national attention because it called for boycotts that paralyzed businesses for Kanawha and eight surrounding counties. Although Alice never advocated violence, some protesters resorted to violent tactics. School buildings were hit by dynamite and Molotov cocktails, sniper bullets hit some school buses, journalists were beaten and protesting miners shut down some of the region’s coal mines.
Alice Moore’s campaign flyer.
Courtesy
Textbook supporters said new curriculum materials would introduce students to fresh ideas about multiculturalism. Opponents said the books undermined traditional American values. The controversy extended well beyond the Kanawha Valley and became a rallying point for the then newly formed Heritage Foundation and its Christian conservative movement.
As a student, I was aware of how the protests made my hometown of Charleston, West Virginia the spotlight of news. Decades later, I chronicled the story of the Kanawha County Textbook Controversy in an award-winning audio documentary The Great Textbook War.
Shown is a woman at a protest in the 1970s who was inspired by Alice Moore.
Courtesy
I met Alice while making that report, and we developed a deep friendship that led to the creation of the Us & Them podcast. Our very first episode was called “Trey & Alice” and it provides some insight into the loving and sometimes contentious relationship that Alice and I had through the years.
Alice left West Virginia in the early 1980s and returned to her hometown of Acton, Tennessee. She lived there until her passing. She was the wife of a Church of Christ preacher and the mother of five, the grandmother of seven and the great-grandmother of four.
I want to share my deepest condolences to Alice’s family and gratitude to her for supporting the work of speaking across the differences that divide us.
A caricature of Alice Moore drawn by the Charleston Gazette’s Taylor Jones.
Events are set to take place across West Virginia this weekend in remembrance of the victims of 9/11. 2022 marks 21 years since the attack, which claimed the lives of at least five people with ties to the state.
Events are set to take place across West Virginia this weekend in remembrance of the victims of 9/11. 2022 marks 21 years since the attack, which claimed the lives of at least five people with ties to the state.
One event being held in Princeton Sept. 10 is a memorial stair climb up 110 stories, organized by the Princeton Fire Department. It’s the second annual climb, with the first organized for the 20th anniversary last year. For first responders like Lt. Rick Shagoury, the event carries personal weight.
“We lost 343 firefighters and all these first responders. And being a first responder, it just hits home,” Shagoury said.
Registration for the climb is from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m., with the climb itself starting at Hunnicutt Field at 9 a.m. and continuing until 1 p.m.
In Huntington, a vigil at the Healing Field at Spring Hill Cemetery is set up through Tuesday. Huntington native Paul Ambrose, who was on the flight that was crashed into the Pentagon, is buried there. Cemetery operations manager Eldora McCoy said these vigils have meaning for every local community affected.
“As other communities do theirs in their own way, this is our way to remember,” McCoy said.
Flags can be purchased at the cemetery for $35, with proceeds going to the cemetery’s Memorial Bell Tower fund. The vigil is also next to the site’s World Trade Center Artifact Memorial, which was constructed in 2017 from steel rails found at the site of the attack in New York. A ceremony is also set to take place at the cemetery at 2 p.m. Sunday.
Educational assemblies are also scheduled at schools around the state this week, including one at Westwood Middle School.
“Our students weren’t born yet when 9/11 occurred, so this opportunity is about raising awareness and bringing to life for them a very important moment in American history,” Westwood Principal John Conrad said in a news release.
Sen. Joe Manchin recognized the anniversary in a statement Friday.
“Each American grieved and felt the shock of our national vulnerability following the attacks, but we also experienced something else as a nation – our country learned of the great strength, bravery and character of our heroes who inspire us to this day. In the aftermath, we came together as a nation, showing we were united, resilient, and courageous in the face of tragedy,” Manchin said.
Alongside Ambrose, four others connected to the state died during the attacks, including Mary Lou Hague, Chris Gray, Jim Samuel and Shelly Marshall.
Nicholas County Deputy Sheriff Tom Baker was laid to rest Wednesday.Mourners came from near and far to pay their respects to a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty
Nicholas County Deputy Sheriff Tom Baker was laid to rest Wednesday.
Mourners came from near and far to pay their respects to a law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty.
Last Friday night, Baker and Corporal J. Ellison responded to a domestic disturbance. Baker was shot and killed, Ellison was wounded. One of the assailants was also killed, a second is jailed and charged with murder.underearrest fo murder.
As deputy fire chief with the Summersville Fire Department, Brian Bell worked fires, accidents and disturbances side by side with Baker. As he helped organize the honors at the Summersville Arena and Convention Center funeral site, Bell said his friend Tom was a great guy with the badge on or off, a man who gave his all for his community.
“Anytime I’ve seen him out on a car accident or anything, he was smiling and doing this job while being respectful to people,” Bell said. “He took it seriously, but he showed a lot of respect to people that were in need.”
Connections can be distant but compelling. Sgt. Julian Hinton traveled from Chesterfield County, Virginia. Hinton said aclose friend of the men and women in his department is the brother of a Nicholas County deputy who was involved in the disturbance that left Deputy Tom Baker dead. Hinton said, as a fellow officer, he was compelled to pay his respects.
“It’s something that is a bond in the law enforcement community that we show respect since it was the ultimate sacrifice,” Hinton said. “Personally, I’ve been a member of the Honor Guard for several years. It’s just something that is in the heart.”
Jefferson County Sheriff Tom Hansen traveled from the Eastern Panhandle. He came to pay respects to a fellow officer and help send a message.
“I’ve been in law enforcement for over 35 years. I’ve been to too many funerals,” Hansen said. “My men, and every other law enforcement officer, go out every day to protect and serve whatever community, county, state they work, and they are not the enemy.”
Hansen said it’s all about mutual respect and honoring one who made the ultimate sacrifice.
