Hulett Smith

Jim Comstock received B.A. from Marshall College

Spanky Roberts graduated from Fairmont's Dunbar High School

Spanky Roberts received a B.S. in mechanical arts from West Virginia State College

Federal government sold Arthurdale homes and community building to the homesteaders

West Virginia Aeronautics Commission formed

Florence Blanchfield retired

Jesse Bloch's son, Thomas, became president of Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company

Bluefield State College (now University) was fully accredited by the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education

Business affairs for WVU and state colleges was transferred to WVU Board of Governors and State Board of Education

Tony Boyle was brought to Washington as assistant to UMW President John L. Lewis

Harry Brawley won an award for the "School of the Air" series

Carter Coal Company sold to Youngstown Sheet & Tube

Western Maryland Railroad took possession of the Cheat Mountain Club

American Cyanamid built plant near Willow Island

Levi Johnson Dean had 139 architectural commissions

Coal production peaked with 174 million tons

Jack Fleming began announcing for WVU sports

Harry B. Heflin became the third president of Glenville State College

"Biggie" Goldberg led the Chicago Cardinals to the NFL Championship

The Greene Line acquired the Delta Queen

Louis W. Chappell recorded Edden Hammons at Richwood Hotel

Voters approved a city charter for the Weirton

Alberta Pierson Hannum wrote Roseanna McCoy

Ken Hechler began teaching at Princeton University

Marshall won the NAIB national basketball tournament in Kansas City

Homer Holt became general counsel for the Union Carbide company in New York City

The Huttonsville Correctional Center became a separate institution from the state penitentiary at Moundsville

The West Virginia Conservation Commission constructed a dam and bridge at the Jug of Middle Island Creek, restoring water to the original channel

Wertz Field in Institute received modern facilities at Kanawha (Yeager) Airport

Supreme Court ruling West Virginia-Pittsburgh Coal Company v. Strong limited surface mining

The West Virginia League of Women Voters was recognized by the national office

Operation of all locks and dams except Lock and Dam No 1 on the Big Sandy was discontinued

Elli Mannette had perfected a steel drum with two octaves of a diatonic scale

Jacob Rader Marcus established the American Jewish Archives

Dan Maroney became a bus driver for the Charleston Transit Company

Mildred Mitchell married William L. Bateman

Mildred Mitchell-Bateman was accepted a position as staff physician at Lakin State Hospital

Morgantown annexed part of Evansdale

The Pence Springs property containing the original spring, hotel and fields were purchased by the state of West Virginia for use as a state prison for women

Women prisoners from Moundsville Penitentiary were transferred to women's penitentiary in Pence Springs

The Nazarene Camp and Conference ground was established at Summersville

WPDX Clarksburg began competing with WMMN Fairmont for country music audience

Alex Schoenbaum opened the Parkette Drive-In and Bowling Alley in the west side of Charleston

Oliver S. Ikenberry became president of Shepherd College

Marshall College (now University) won the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball Championship

Miles Stanley became the president of his steelworkers union local

An additional appropriation of $60,000 to build the State Police Academy was obtained from legislature

Edward W. Stifel Sr. died

The Co-operative Transit Company ceased streetcar operations in Wheeling area

City Lines of West Virginia ceased streetcar operations in north-central West Virginia

Surface mining production reached 18.4 million tons

Union Carbide purchased the Institute butadiene, styrene and support facilities to convert to chemical plants

Reported 14,510 people were employed in textile-related jobs in West Virginia

The University of Hard Knocks was conceived by Jim Comstock

Andre Van Damme and family moved to America

Vitrolite ceased production

Enrollment at West Virginia State College was 1,785 students

The West Virginia Turnpike Commission was created by legislature

The Nickel Plate Railroad purchased a majority of the Wheeling & Lake Erie

Henry Mazer became conductor of the Wheeling Symphony

Doc Williams had a major hit, "Beyond the Sunset"

Florence Blanchfield ceased as superintendent of the Army Nurse Corps

Sam Jones joined the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro American League

Buck Harless became part owner of a lumber company

Toni Stone played for the semi-pro Twin Cities Colored Giants

Woodford Sutherland killed after training flight when his parked P-51 was hit by another

Akro Agate Company ceased production

Clair Bee ended his college coaching career at Long Island University after the point-shaving scandals that devastated college basketball

Florence Blanchfield received the International Red Cross's Florence Nightingale Medal

Harry Atlee Burdette and Fred Clifford Painter first to be put to death via electric chair in West Virginia

Charleston Memorial Hospital dedicated with 129 beds

Air Force ROTC program was established at Davis & Elkins College

Fiestaware colors forest green, rose, chartreuse, and grey were introduced

Floodwall in Point Pleasant was completed

Ruel Foster wrote William Faulkner: A Critical Appraisal

Tony Brown graduated from Garnet High School

Gunner Gatski earned All-Pro honors in football

Ella Holroyd retired from Concord College

Ray Wetzel died in a car accident

Elizabeth Kee took her place in the House of Representatives, replacing her late husband, John Kee

Maryat Lee wrote and produced the street play Dope!

The federal navigation system on the Little Kanawha River was turned over to the state

Kanawha County Democratic boss Homer Hanna Sr. and Governor Patteson picked William Marland as candidate for governor

Catherine Marshall wrote A Man Called Peter

J. Kemp McLaughlin led the squadron on active duty in the Korean War

Okey Mills married Netie Mae Neely

Waterford Park (later Mountaineer Race Track) opened

Ruth Ann Musick and others founded the West Virginia Folklore Journal

Karl Myers compiled a second poetry collection, Cross and Crown

College assumed its current name, Potomac State College of West Virginia University

Benjamin Rosenbloom retired from practicing law

K. Duane Hurley became president of Salem College

Sam Shaw became editor of the Moundsville Daily Echo

The Paw Paw Tunnel was shut down

The first coaxial cable television system started carrying programming of WSAZ to Welch

Bishop Swint asked Maryland Province of the Society of Jesus to help establish a Catholic college of liberal arts in West Virginia (now Wheeling Jesuit University)

Hurry-up Yost was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame

Robert Graetz Jr. married Jeannie Ellis

Legislation to protect the environment from surface mining was enacted

Alderson-Broaddus College (now University) achieved accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Three-class format based on school size, each class having eight teams was created for the state high school basketball tournament

Berwind Lake Wildlife Management Area began

J. G. Bradley sold the Widen Mine to Clinchfield Coal Company

Owners of Maryland's Pimlico Race Course bought Charles Town Race Track

Name changed from Barber Sanatorium to Kanawha Valley Memorial Hospital

Goodyear plant built near Apple Grove

There were 47 covered bridges still in existence in West Virginia

Donald Duncan sold the Duncan Parking Meter Corporation

Ellis Dungan Productions produced Wheels to Progress

Medium green was introduced for fiestaware

Hal Greer advanced to the National Basketball Association after graduation from Marshall

Perry Gresham wrote Sage of Bethany

Four Boone County businessmen opened the first Heck's department store in Charleston

Dixie Kilham bought the Hilltop House

William Hoffman wrote Days in the Yellow Leaf

Homer Laughlin China Company began producing restaurant china

John Knowles wrote his first novel, A Separate Peace

John Knowles wrote his first novel, A Separate Peace

Catherine Marshall married Leonard E. LeSourd

Kyle McCormick wrote The New-Kanawha River and the Mine War of West Virginia

Charlie McCoy moved to Nashville

New Mennonite congregation started in Pocahontas County

The Mill Point Prison Camp closed

Moncove Lake was created by the damming of Devil Creek

Size of the Moundsville prison doubled

John Forbes Nash was hospitalized for schizophrenia

The first radio telescopes were in operation at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory at Green Bank

The historic Reber Radio Telescope moved to Green Bank

Warden M. Lane outline a proposal for reorganization of the Conservation Commission to correct an overlapping of duties

Lewis Keller, Sr. purchased the Oakhurst Links property from Cary Montague

Don Gardner became the first president of Ohio Valley College (now University)

Rex and Eleanor Parker had a conversion experience and thereafter performed only sacred music

Rebel Records was founded in Maryland

Nat Reese returned to West Virginia to work for the State Road Commission

ABC-TV first aired Lunch with Soupy Sales

WVU basketball team lost 71-70 to California in the National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament final

Reported 2,843 schools in West Virginia

Shenandoah Downs opened in Charles Town

Agnes Smith published An Edge of the Forest

Blaze Starr met Louisiana Gov. Earl Long while performing in New Orleans

Jerry West was named most valuable player of the NCAA tournament

Jerry West was unanimous All American first-team choice

Patrick Gainer became president of the West Virginia Folklore Society

The Mountaineers went to the national basketball championships

Water ski shows failed to draw a crowd

William F. Troy, S.J. became president of Wheeling College (now Wheeling University)

Katherine Johnson married Lt. Colonel James A. Johnson

Tunney Hunsaker fought Ernie Terrell

The Special Forces (Green Berets) were created in the Army National Guard

Governor Barron created the Commerce Department

New legislation reorganized the Conservation Commission as the Department of Natural Resources

Game and Fish Commission grew to seven members

Governor Barron again named Roy Lee Harmon poet laureate

The West Virginia Human Rights Commission was created to move toward equality of access and opportunity

Davis Grubb published Shadow of My Brother

Questions were raised on the authenticity of the birthplace of Nancy Hanks

William Hoffman wrote Yancey's War

Walt Shupe became superintendent of the Holly River State Park

The West Virginia Human Rights Commission reported that "blatant racial discrimination" was over

Reported that Kanawha State Forest holds 574 species from 292 genera representing 93 families of fauna

Clark Kessinger was a guest artist on the Grand Ole Opry radio program

John Knowles wrote Indian Summer

The Library Commission adopted a plan for implementing the Blasingame Report proposals

Curly Ray Cline joined the Stanley Brothers

Bill Hart retired as editor of the Dominion News

Breece D'J Pancake argued that Mothman was a California condor in a letter in the Huntington Herald Dispatch

Mylan Pharmaceuticals began manufacturing its generic version of penicillin G

James Marvin Powell became president of Ohio Valley College (now University)

Radio station WVBC, licensed to Bethany College, began broadcasting.

James Rexrode's wife died

Mary Lee Settle wrote All the Brave Promises

Congressman Harley Staggers became chairman of the House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee

Buddy Starcher recorded "History Repeats itself" for Boone Records

Eleanor Steber quit singing with the Metropolitan Opera

The Carr China Factory building burned

Three more dormitories were built at Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston)

A student union building was built at Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston)

The Stonewall Jackson Lake was authorized

Gary District became the first black high school to win the WVSSAC state basketball championship

Williamson Liberty lost the WVSSAC

A separate organization began representing the interests of West Virginia's surface mining operators

Harrison Ferrell left as dean of West Virginia State College (now University)

Edwin D. Hoffman was appointed dean as the first white administrator at West Virginia State College (now University)

Victorine Louistall returned to WVU to teach library science

Wesley Chapel opened at West Virginia Wesleyan

Wheeling Hospital set up the first coronary care unit in West Virginia

Frank R. Haig, S.J. became president of Wheeling College (now Wheeling University)

The Mingo County Courthouse was built in Williamson

Legislature passed what was considered the toughest strip mine legislation in the country

Patch Adams graduated from George Washington University

Appalachian Volunteers took over many county anti-poverty programs

Walter Barnes retired from serving as president emeritus of the Folklore Society

Maurice Brooks published The Life of the Mountains

Robert C. Byrd was elected secretary of the U.S. Senate Democratic Caucus

The state capitol building annex was torn down

Marmet Hospital became part of General Hospital (now Charleston Area Medical Center)

Samuel Cooper was named West Virginian of the Year by the Charleston Sunday Gazette-Mail

Fine arts building and dining hall were finished at Fairmont State College (now University)

Frank George was featured on his first recording

Grave Creek Mound State Park created

Charles Haden served on the Monongalia County Board of Education

Charles Haden first became a member of the faculty of WVU College of Law

Chuck Howley played for the Dallas Cowboys in the "Ice Bowl"

Sam Huff retired from the Washington Redskins

Charles James II modernized the James Produce Company with computers and refrigerated trucks

Hugh Curry became president of Kanawha Valley Bank

Ellie Mannette migrated to the U.S.

Catherine Marshall wrote Christy

A new dormitory was constructed at Marshall University

The Marshall University Library was remodeled and expanded

John Brooks Cottle died

Mountaintop removal mining began in West Virginia

Ruth Ann Musick stopped serving as editor of the West Virginia Folklore Journal and retired from Fairmont State

John Norman became involved in medical research concerning organ transplants

Eldora Nuzum was named president of the Association of Newspaper Editors of West Virginia

A par-3 nine-hole golf course opened opened at Pipestem State Park

Otis Rice served as president of the West Virginia Historical Association

Jay Rockefeller married Sharon Percy

The Soupy Sales Show was taken off nationally

West Virginia Legislature recognized the Secondary Schools Activities Commission as a legal entity

Red Sovine wrote "Phantom 309"

Miles Stanley returned to West Virginia from Washington

West Virginia adopted a corporate net income tax

Reported 7,100 people were employed in textile-related jobs in West Virginia

A nine-hole golf course opened at Twin Falls State Park

Cecil Underwood announced his candidacy for governor

C. W. Ferguson III became circuit judge

The West Virginia Highlands Conservancy was incorporated

West Virginians ratified the Modern Budget Amendment to the state constitution

Republican Arch A. Moore Jr. was elected state's 28th governor

Richard Nixon was elected president

Jim Sprouse ran unsuccessfully for governor

Chauncey H. Browning 's son, Chauncey H. Browning Jr., was elected state attorney general

Jay Rockefeller was elected Secretary of State

Frederick M. Staunton, publisher of the Charleston Daily Mail, retired

Chief Logan State Park gained state park status

Denomination adopted the name Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

Orval Brown was released from the state mental hospital at Weston

Stephen Coonts earned a B.A. at WVU

George Crumb was award the Pulitzer Prize for Echoes of Time and the River: Four Processionals for Orchestra

Phyllis Curtin sang with the Charleston Symphony Opera

Phyllis Curtin was named West Virginian of the year with George Crumb by the Charleston Sunday Gazette Mail

Home Demonstration clubs changed name to Extension Homemaker Clubs

National attention was brought to the issue of mine safety

Fesenmeier sold its brewery to Little Switzerland Brewing Company

Two-year associate degree in forestry was developed at Glenville State College

Five high schools were consolidated into Gilmer County High School

The last Gravely tractor rolled off the Dunbar assembly line

Charles Haden served on the Monongalia County Board of Education

Roy Lee Harmon wrote Rhymes of a Mountaineer

The Modern Budget Amendment made the governor responsible for preparation of the state budget

West Virginia's first spring gobbler season began

Sonny Hyde transferred to the state Department of Natural Resources to work on Outdoor West Virginia (now Wild Wonderful West Virginia)

The Jones Diamond left the Smithsonian to be on exhibition at the State Fair

Linsly School relocated to Banes Hall in Wheeling

The present entrance to the Lost World Cavers was dug through a hill

Joe Manchin's family shoe store burned

A new academic building was constructed at Marshall University

Enrollment at Marshall University reached 8,177

Irene McKinney received her bachelor's from West Virginia Wesleyan College

M. Blane Michael graduated from New York University

M. Blane Michael began working at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York

R. E. Fisher died leaving the Moorefield paper to Pheobe Fisher Heishman and husband David

Mountain Artisans was founded

John W. Saunders became president of Beckley College (now Mountain State University) replacing D. K. Shroyer

The National Bank of Commerce built a new building known as Commerce Square in Charleston

New Vrindaban began as a project of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness

The New York Central System merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad to create the ill-fated Penn Central

The annual Nature Wonder Weekend was first held in North Bend State Park

Nylon precursor chemical stopped being produced at Belle Works

Logging on Otter Creek began again

Pilgrim Glass Corporation plant manager Karel Konrad introduced cranberry glass

Radio station WVWC, licensed to West Virginia Wesleyan College, went on air

The last case of polio in West Virginia was reported

James Rexrode's works were displayed at the Shenandoah Valley Folklore Society at the Harrisonburg Arts and Crafts Festival

Spanky Roberts retired from McClellan Air Force Base

The West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey conducted another extensive excavation on the St. Albans archeological site

David Selby appeared in Dark Shadows

James A Butcher became president of Shepherd College (now University)

Grace Martin Taylor retired from Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston)

Norman L. Fagan suggested a Theater West Virginia show based on the Hatfield-McCoy Feud

The Evangelical United Brethren Church merged with the Methodists forming the United Methodists, becoming West Virginia's biggest denomination

There were 240 Evangelical United Brethren Churches in West Virginia, at the time of their merger with the Methodists

Kendall Vintroux retired from the Charleston Gazette

VISTA volunteers had streamed into rural and hard-pressed areas of West Virginia

The WAJR facilities moved to the Greer Building

West Virginia counties reasserted their control over economic opportunity commissions and community action programs, as local officials react to War on Poverty

WesBanco was incorporated

Wheeling Downs reopened

Jon Dragan founded Wildwater Expedition Unlimited at Thurmond

Bill Withers was discharged from the U.S. Navy in San Jose

Runway expansion for jet airliners began at Kanawha Airport

Chuck Yeager became a brigadier general

Keith Ham leased 130 acres in Marshall County for the establishment of a rural retreat

Nick Saban led the Monongah High School football team to a state championship victory over Paden City High

Helen Chilton graduated from Denison University

Charleston Section of the National Council of Jewish Women undertook “Appalachian Corridors,” the first exhibition to expressly curate the work of Appalachian artists

The Charleston Rotary club elected its first two women members

Cynthia Rylant earned the Newbery Honor Book for A Fine White Dust

The Ohio Valley Refining Company closed in St. Marys

The Shepherdstown historic district expanded

Edward Stifel II constructed a new three-story lodge

The business and operation tax (B&O) was eliminated for most business activities

Corporate net income tax rose to 9.75%

A lost of $279 million from the Consolidated Investment Fund

Charleston joined the Class a South Atlantic League

Hazo W Carter, Jr. became president of West Virginia State College

Chestnut Ridge Hospital was built

Harry Hamm authored the report "Wheeling 2000"

Denise Giardina wrote Storming Heaven

Tim Armstead graduated from the UNiversity of Charleston

John Davis Chandler portrayed "Bleak" in the film Adventures in Babysitting

After winning a record 105 games in a row, the Lady Bobcats lost to the Scott Skyhawks 72-55.