Item Type : Magazine Single Issue
Publisher : West Virginia Division of Culture and History
Date Published : SUMMER 2024
Description:The Summer 2024 issue of GOLDENSEAL features a cover story on Mt. Zion Baptist
Church, one of only two historically Black churches in Fairmont, Marion County. The
congregation will celebrate 122 years of service this July. On the cover is Mother Birdie
Williams, a longtime member of the congregation. The article, written by Barbara Grigg, features
excerpts from interviews with elder members of the congregation regarding the church and their
life growing up in Fairmont.
Our State Folklorist Jennie Williams shares an interview with instrument repairman Bob
Smakula who will be retiring this year. Bob has been repairing instruments in Randolph County
for decades now, and is a beloved member of the Elkins community.
We feature two then-and-now articles in this issue. First a reprint originally published in
1981 by Colleen Anderson of her 1974 interviews with the Craftspeople of Arthurdale, followed
by an update on Arthurdale by Carl Feather. Arthurdale celebrates their 90th Anniversary this
year. Our second then-and-now features a reprint of a 2013 article by Nancy Merical regarding
the Mountain State Art & Craft Fair which celebrated the sixty-third year of their festival over the
July fourth Weekend. In the same vein as our then-and-now articles, contributing author Alan
Byer has written a great piece focusing on the making of the movie Matewan, and the West
Virginians involved with the film.
Kyle Lovern shares the West Virginian Roots of pro baseball player Stan Musial. Gary
West shares the recollections of Stan Beafore and the Fairmont Little League of 1951 and the
Fairmont Pony League of 1953—both teams made it to the Little League World Series.
June 6th, 2024 marked the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy during
WWII. We feature three articles in this issue as acknowledgement of that anniversary. Edwin
Daryl Michael shares his memories of WWII as a young boy in Shinnston; Donald Lambert
shares the history of the 40-8 Boxcar located in Welch, McDowell County; and Sharon Sprouse
Bramhall shares the story of Second Lt. Paul Barton, a Clarksburg native and hero in more
ways than one.
Also in this issue: contributing author Rod O’ Donnell shares the story of the National
Track & Field Hall of Fame, which was originally destined to be located in Putnam County; West
Virginia Author Kathleen Jacobs shares her thoughts on WV Literature; and Carl feather wraps
it all up with another WV Backroads, this time featuring Davis glass artist Scott Meyer.
Issue Index