Today in History

On June 20, 1863, West Virginia became the 35th state in the Union. The land which formed the new state originally constituted part of Virginia. Historically, the two areas differed culturally, as pioneering individuals traditionally settled the western portion, while a slave holding aristocratic society developed in the eastern portion. Westerners made an unsuccessful attempt to formally separate from Virginia in 1769. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, the residents of the western counties, few of whom owned slaves, decided to stay with the Union. "Mountaineers always freemen" is the state's motto. For much of the twentieth century, West Virginia maintained the lead among the nation's coal producers. Miners protested difficult and frequently dangerous working conditions with a series of strikes between 1912 and 1921. During this period, the National Guard and the U.S. Army separately intervened a total of six times to quell violence. Legislation passed in the 1930s granted workers the right to organize unions, which improved labor relations in the industry. Despite these reforms, many workers left West Virginia from the 1940s to the 1970s in search of better economic opportunities.

A trend of increased retirement to West Virginia in the 1980s resulted in renewed population growth for the state. The wealth of natural resources attracted retirees to West Virginia, which is the state highest in elevation east of the Mississippi and is part of the Appalachian Mountain system. Forest forms approximately three-fourths of the state, while farms cover many of the ridges and fertile valley bottoms. West Virginia boasts thirty-three state parks, and is considered one of the best spots in the world for white water rafting, which constitutes an important part of the state's growing tourist industry. The same rugged terrain that attracts new residents to the state today isolated earlier generations of West Virginians in the days before modern advances in transportation and communication. Many unique cultural traditions have developed because of this isolation, including different types of music, quilting, and furniture making. Today, the state's many festivals and fairs celebrate these arts. The American Memory Historical Collections contain many items relating to West Virginia:

• Search the collections of Photos & Prints on West Virginia to find images of the state.
• View photos of coal mining towns and workers during the Depression. Search on West Virginia in the collections: FSA/OWI Photographs, 1935-1945, and Washington as It Was, 1923-1959.
• Search on coal or on West Virginia in the American Life Histories, 1936-1940 to read personal accounts of coal miners in West Virginia and other states.
• Search the American Memory map collections on West Virginia to see railroad routes in the state and panoramic maps of West Virginia towns.
• Search the Today in History Archive on West Virginia to find out more about West Virginia history. For example, see features on Harper's Ferry and on quilting, a popular tradition in West Virginia.