On June 5, 2012, Larry L. Rowe will present “Malden and the Salt Industry” at the Tuesday evening lecture in the Archives and History Library. The program will begin at 6:00 p.m. and is free and open to the public.
Larry Rowe will discuss his research and analysis of the history of Old Malden and how its race culture is unique because of the town’s heritage as an early American industrial center in a mountain frontier culture where enslaved persons lived and worked alongside white workers. This history centers on the boyhood times of Booker T. Washington, whose life in Malden set his belief in hard work, family life, and middle class values and affirmed his trust in the best ideals of America.
Rowe is a graduate of West Virginia University, where he was Phi Beta Kappa as an undergraduate and Order of the Coif at the law school, finishing in the top 10 percent of his class. He also holdsa master’s degree in public administration from WVU. Rowe served as senior law clerk to U.S. Circuit Judge K. K. Hall before establishing his own law practice. He was elected to two terms in the House of Delegates and one term in the West Virginia State Senate. He has been a member of the State Ethics Commission and is the current chair of the Board of Governors of West Virginia State University. Rowe also has recently served on the Kanawha County Library Foundation Board and the West Virginia Youth Symphony Board and is a member of the Kanawha Valley Historical Preservation Society.
Larry Rowe’s passion for history began at the knee of his grandmother, Alma Lee, whose guidance helped him win a Golden Horseshoe in 1962 from Peterstown, Monroe County.
His passion for Malden’s history began when he purchased the home of Minnie Wayne Cooper, an African American leader and educator, and heard stories of her childhood when “Uncle Booker” would visit in Malden with his sister, Amanda Johnson, her mother’s best friend. He considers the love of Malden and West Virginia as a passion and a moral duty.
For the past two years Rowe has been the coach for the Horace Mann Middle School History Bowl Team, which this year won its regional and was the runner-up at the state championship. Horace Mann students, including Rowe’s son Christian, have won five Golden Horseshoes during those two years.
On June 5, the library will close at 5:00 p.m. and reopen at 5:45 p.m. for participants only. For planning purposes, participants are encouraged to register for the lecture, but advance registration is not required. To register in advance, contact Robert Taylor, library manager, by e-mail at Bobby.L.Taylor@wv.gov or at (304) 558-0230, ext. 163. Participants interested in registering by e-mail should send their name, telephone number and the name and date of the session. For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230.
