The History Project

Huntington's favorite son first made his name as a star at Douglass High School, and then went just a few blocks away to Marshall University. Being the first Black player at any West Virginia college, he shattered ceilings as well as records. First drafted into the NBA by the Syracuse Nationals, he made his name legendary when the team transferred to Philadelphia and became the Seventy-Sixers, where many of his records still stand in franchise history, and he is still known as one of the best players the league has produced.

In the 19th century, the National Road reached from Cumberland, Maryland to Wheeling but was hindered by the wide Ohio River. That problem languished for over three decades before leaders took the situation into hand. They invited the nation's two leading engineers to compete for the task of designing a landmark bridge, but fate managed to make them both a part of its final design. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge is the structure that set off the race for the nation's biggest, longest, and highest bridges for which our country is known.

Amusement parks started in Europe, evolving from pleasure gardens and fairs, but in the United States, they were created as waterside attractions or by local trolley companies to encourage more ridership on weekends. Created around the turn of the 20th century and called "trolley parks," there were hundreds of them throughout the country and West Virginia was no exception. With seven trolley parks and one waterside park, West Virginia had a collective total of eight amusement parks during the golden age of that great American institution's development, and from among them, Camden Park still thrives, bearing witness to the magic of that era.

Joseph McCarthy was a little-known Senator from Wisconsin when he came to Wheeling in February 1950 to address the Ohio County Republican Women's Club. But after giving an incendiary speech in which he claimed to have a list of communist traitors throughout the federal government, McCarthy's name was on the lips of all Americans. With the bitter seeds he planted in Wheeling, he grew the vociferous red scare that would cast a shadow over a nation mired in the angst of the Cold War.

Education is a basic foundation for any individual whose goal is to change the way the world sees things, and Carter G. Woodson built one of the strongest foundations of anyone, much less the son of former slaves. Woodson collected advanced degrees the way some people collect coins and stamps, but with a greater purpose, which was to educate the world, especially about the contributions of Black people to society. Almost a century later, Woodson's influence on American history is seen clearly not just during Black History Month, but each and every day.

When history is told, it is often shaped by those who've benefitted most in the telling of its story. Sometimes it takes someone to rouse us from our complacency and remind us that history is shared by everyone and before Carter G. Woodson did that for us, a coal miner from Fayette County, West Virginia named Oliver Jones did it for him, setting in motion one of America's most significant educational movements and events, Black History Month.

American history is full of famous names, but only a few are fully recognized by most everyone and Booker T. Washington is one of those names. The author of "Up From Slavery" used his own story to help bring about racial reform. From enslavement to the halls of academe, Washington became the right man for his times.

Christopher Payne—known as C.H. to his friends—lived more lives than a collection of most people. Born into enslavement, his mother insisted upon getting him an education. After the Civil War, he was able to become a teacher and a pastor before publishing newspapers in which he addressed the stories of African Americans. He moved through the world of politics to garner the respect of President Teddy Roosevelt and the world.

Sometimes the path to greatness goes through some unsavory territory. Before Stephen Benton Elkins rose to prominence, his rise included business dealings that remain a dark part of our nation's history. He came to West Virginia from the American Southwest when he married into a U.S. Senator's family, whose support would eventually make him a Senator, too.

Americans love a good rags-to-riches story and few could rival that of Henry Gassaway Davis. Born into a meager merchant's family, Davis worked his way up through the railroad and developed investments to build an empire, and joining the elite of Capitol Hill in Washington, founding many West Virginia towns and one of its beloved colleges.