The History Project

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The History Project.

  1. 12/22/2025

    Mother Jones – Union Leader WV Mine Wars – Part 4

    It's an old joke that well-behaved women seldom make history and while that may not be true, Mother Jones put the maxim to the test. Having lost her entire family to a yellow fever epidemic, Jones dedicated her life to helping American laborers get their fair share. A firebrand whose voice still rings through the hills of West Virginia, she left her mark on the state and our nation. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWU2bj-_pn8

    2 min

  2. 12/12/2025

    Frank Kenney – Union Leader WV Mine Wars – Part 3

    Heroes often rise from the place where they were born, and Frank Keeney is just such an example. Born in Cabin Creek, he grew up in the epicenter of the labor struggle of West Virginia's southern coalfields. He did not wait for things to get fixed but decided to fix them himself, getting elected to the UMWA and leading the miners to the first major strike in the state. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh8tHZUT41o

    2 min

  3. 11/24/2025

    Mary Lou Retton

    When a young Mary Lou Retton of Fairmont saw Nadia Comaneci compete in the 1976 Olympics, she decided that gymnastics was for her. After local coaching and training from Comaneci's coach, she ascended to the same heights as her heroine and became a role model for later American gymnastic Olympians like Kerri Strug and Simone Biles.

    2 min

  4. 11/17/2025

    Joseph H. Diss Debar – Creator of State's Symbolism

    Every West Virginian knows that "Mountaineers Are Always Free" but what many may not know is that our state motto was a quick addition to our state seal by its designer. A Frenchman came to the mountains and blended the imagery of his old and new homes to give West Virginia its symbolism. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lps8fSbGJUc

    2 min

  5. 11/03/2025

    Katherine Johnson - NASA Mathematician

    Many legends blaze trails loudly with a roar, but others, like Katherine Johnson, lead direction with a gentle whisper. After the release of the book and th film "Hidden Figures," the world learned about Johnson and her colleagues, the women who played a key role at NASA in America's space race. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgcQTUQQDIw

    2 min

  6. 10/24/2025

    The Legend of John Henry

    In the company of Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, and the Mighty Casey, John Henry is a legend whom people see as a proper metaphor for the American spirit. Created from the ideals of African American laborers on the Big Bend Tunnel in the 1870s in Talcott, West Virginia, John Henry is the embodiment of the hero hardworking people needed then and now, and this is more than his story: It is our story. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiPpJVWWHcE

    2 min

  7. 10/20/2025

    George Washington's Kanawha Tracts

    While George Washington is famous for his grand estate, Mt. Vernon, in Virginia, few may know he owned thousands of acres in what would become West Virginia. As an surveyor and a veteran of the French & Indian and Revolutionary wars, Washington collected large parcels in the river valleys of the colonial West and they became a part of the Kanawha Tracts. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcsEhjvruhk

    2 min

  8. 10/13/2025

    The Wheeling Convention

    No other state was ever torn from another as was West Virginia. With the Civil War looming on the horizon, The Richmond Convention gave Virginia the opportunity to secede from the United States and The Wheeling Convention restored the rights of the state's western citizens to remain with the U.S. by seceding from Virginia. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvQCHyQMRq4

    2 min
See All (62)

About

The History Project.

Information

  • Channel
    WVgov
  • Creator
    David Marcum
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    62
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2023
  • Show Website
    The History Project

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