On Thursday, July 19, 2018, Kyle Warmack will present “Vanishing Act: Rediscovering the South Charleston Naval Ordnance Plant” in the Archives and History Library at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Despite the direct involvement of Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, an all-star cast of 20th-century West Virginia politicians ranging from former Governor William MacCorkle to U.S. Senator Joe Manchin, personal involvement from U.S. Senators Robert C. Byrd and Jennings Randolph, and a central role in American military developments of the last one hundred years, the South Charleston Naval Ordnance Plant has received recognition in only a few short articles and brief recollections since its conversion to an industrial park in the 1970s. Speaker Kyle Warmack will discuss not only the factory’s origins and development, but also the process of recovering its history piece by piece—from Navy records in the National Archives to Massachusetts Institute of Technology yearbooks. He also will share a sneak preview of the South Charleston Interpretive Center’s special Ordnance Plant exhibit that will be open this fall.
After graduating from the UCLA School of Film and Television, Kyle Warmack spent a decade working as a chief lighting technician and cinematographer in Los Angeles before moving to West Virginia in pursuit of opportunities in historic preservation. He is a fulltime AmeriCorps member with the Clio Foundation (based at Marshall University) and designer of the South Charleston Interpretive Center’s “Century Strong” exhibit, which will be open next to the Naval Ordnance Plant from September 3 to October 27, 2018.
Participants may park behind the Culture Center after 5:00 p.m. on July 19 and enter the building at the back loading dock area. There also is limited handicapped parking available in the new bus turnaround.
For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
