Katherine Johnson

Turquoise color was introduced for Fiestaware

Louis W. Chappell began field recording of folksongs

Garnet was classified as first-class high school

Glenville State College received admission to the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education

"Biggie" Goldberg lead University of Pittsburgh to the national football championship

The Model L Gravely tractor was introduced

Benjamin Gravely retired from the day-to-day management of the company

The National Park Service conducted a survey of the Jefferson County site for the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park

The U.S. Department of Agriculture began purchasing property in Randolph County to reforest the land and reclaim streams to create Holly River State Park

U.S. Army Corp of Engineers constructed a floodwall to protect Huntington from the Ohio

The Huttonsville Correctional Center was founded as part of the West Virginia penitentiary system

Monsignor Thomas Quirk died

Louis Johnson served in the Roosevelt Administration as assistant secretary of war

Kenova experienced a disastrous flood

The State Labor Federation joined the CIO's new West Virginia state organization

Blanche Lazzell returned to Provincetown to study with Hans Hofmann

Pare Lorentz shot and edited The River

Lost River State Park opened

Sam Mallison was hired as head of public relations for the Benedum-Trees Company

The Marshall College centennial brought descendants of John Marshall to the campus for the unveiling of a bust of the chief justice

Walter Martens completed the Riverview Terrace apartments in Charleston

The Appalachian Trail was established

The Reber Radio Telescope was originally built by Grote Reber

The PSC was given jurisdiction over motor carriers of goods and passengers.

Walter Reuther represented 30,000 workers in 76 shops for the United Auto Workers

The original 440 sites designated by the Commission on Historic and Scenic Highway Markers were erected

The Harrison Rural Electrification Association was established

Recreation facilities were opened to the public in Seneca State Forest

Flood waters rose in the lower section of the Smoot Theater

Sam Snead joined the Professional Golf Association tour

Harley Staggers was elected Mineral County sheriff

The National Labor Relations Board charged Weirton Steel with unfair labor practices

The United Steelworks signed a contract at Wheeling Steel

Joe Stydahar was first named to the All-National Football League team

DuPont's Belle Works began world production of nylon

A large wood mill was built in the Tygart Valley Homesteads

The trade center building in Tygart Valley Homesteads was completed

The women of Friendly seated an all-female municipal government

CCC Camps Seebert and Will Rogers were closed

Volkmar Wentzel became a writer and photographer for National Geographic

Phil Conley sold the West Virginia Review

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

West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company built a bleached paperboard mill in South Carolina

Wheeling Downs opened for harness racing

Patty Willis exhibited her work at the Society of International Artists in New York

Carter G. Woodson began the publication of The Negro History Bulletin

Joseph Newman Alderson became the national WPA director

Grote Reber built a telescope with a 31.4-foot diameter parabolic dish in his backyard

Sam Jones won the state marble-shooting championship

A brick school building began serving the children at Tygart Valley Homesteads

Oscar Nelson commissioned Walter F. Martens to design the United Carbon headquarters

Sculptures by Annie Latham Bartlett was exhibited at the New York World's Fair

Andre Van Damme was recalled to military service during mobilization

West Virginia's share of the antebellum Virginia state debt was retired

Ground school courses and flying lessons were offered at Wertz Field as part of the National Civilian Pilot Training Program

Wheeling Dollar Saving & Trust acquired Citizen Mutual

Only 325 students enrolled at West Liberty State College

West Virginia Annual Conference of Methodists discontinued ties with Morris Harvey College

WHIS affiliated with NBC network

Patty Willis exhibited her work at the World's Fair

Aunt Jennie Wilson was widowed

WJLS went on the air in Beckley

Stanley Bender enlisted in the Army

Southern tract of present Calvin W. Price State Forest was sold to the state by New River Company

Carr China Company went out of business

Statewide circulation of the Charleston Gazette peaked at 86,000

Consolidated Bus Lines employed 337 individuals and operated 100 buses

Phoebia Moore died

Phyllis Curtin made her debut with New York City Opera

John Warren Davis retired as president of West Virginia State

Julius DeGruyter wrote The Kanawha Spectator: History of the Kanawha Valley

The Dunbar-South Charleston Bridge opened as a toll bridge

Gunner Gatski earned All-Pro honors in football

Perry Gresham became president of Bethany College

Perry Gresham wrote Disciples of the High Calling

John Ailes became editor of the Hampshire Review, Hampshire County

Hardy County Heritage Weekend began at Mill Island

Another 400 acres was added for the Harpers Ferry National Monument

Ken Hechler became the associate director of the American Political Science Association

Jean Lee Latham wrote The Story of Eli Whitney

The Library Commission moved to Charleston from Morgantown

The Lonesome Pine Fiddlers left West Virginia

A fire damaged the Martinsburg Journal building

"Speedy" Estep was killed racing a stock car in Columbus, Ohio

Davis Grubb wrote Night of the Hunter

A trail at the WVU Arboretum was named in honor of Lawrence Nuttall

Eldora Nuzum joined the Elkins Inter-Mountain

The West Virginia State Poultry Association annual meeting moved to Moorefield

Distribution of Salk polio vaccine

Chuck Ripper moved to Huntington as art director for the Standard Printing & Publishing Co.

Rat Rodgers was admitted to the College Football Hall of Fame

Eleanor Roosevelt stopped serving as U.S. representative to the United Nations

Alex Schoenbaum's restaurant chain was named Shoney's

WVU played in the Sugar Bowl

West Virginia became one of the first sates to finance development of park facilities by selling bonds

WKNA TV when on air in Charleston as channel 49

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of the Kanawha Valley was established

Oscar Nelson died

The initial accreditation attempt for Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston) failed

The Baptist State Convention began to meet at Hilltop

William J. Wallace became president of West Virginia State College

Enrollment at West Virginia State College was at 837 students

WJLS-FM Beckley became WBKW-FM

William B. Axtell became president of West Virginia Institute of Technology

Toni Stone joined the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League

The end of private education at Storer College in Harpers Ferry

New campus for Appalachian Bible Institute opened in Bradley

Gray Barker wrote his best-known book, They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers

Blackwater Lodge opened at Blackwater State Park

Boundary dispute between West Virginia and Virginia involving Monroe, Giles, and Alleghany Counties

Chauncey H. Browning was Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court

Cabell Huntington Hospital first opened for business

Lodge at Cacapon State Park was completed with a restaurant and banquet hall

The "golden" trout was spawned with regular rainbow trout at state fire hatchery

Charles Town Opera House was condemned

City National Bank was organized in Charleston

Roy Clarkson joined Department of Biology at WVU

Mine at Bishop exploded

Chapman Revercomb last Republican to be elected to the Senate in West Virginia

Associated Dry Goods bought the Diamond Department Store

Elizabeth Drewry helped pass constitutional amendment allowing women to serve on juries in West Virginia

Pete Everest graduated from Armed Forces Staff College

Pete Everest flew the X-2 at Mach 3

Ruel Foster wrote Elizabeth Madox Roberts, American Novelist

Charleston's Garnet High School closed

The state Board of Education authorized the construction of the student center, Pioneer Center, at Glenville State College

Joseph C. Gluck became pastor of the Forks-of-Cheat Baptist Church

The U.S. Government approached the C&O with proposal to build an "emergency relocation center" at the Greenbrier for reassembly of Congress

Davis Grubb wrote Shadow of My Brother

Minnie Buckingham Harper's second husband John B. Paterson died

Hazel Atlas Company operated 12 plants across the U.S.

Chuck Howley was named the Southern Conference Athlete of the Year

Sam Huff played with the New York Giants to win a championship game

The peak patient population at the Huntington State Hospital was 1,460

The federal Interstate Highway Act was passed

Jean Lee Latham won the Newbery Award for Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

Jean Lee Latham won the Newbery Award for Carry On, Mr. Bowditch

The Library Services Act by Congress enabled the Library Commission to acquire federal funding for public libraries in West Virginia

Clagg and Britton produced an atlas of West Virginia emphasizing historical factors and statewide economic data

Camden Eli "Cam" Henderson died

William Marland tried to fill the vacant U.S. Senate seat

G. Ogden Nutting started his newspaper career as a reporter and news editor for the Martinsburg Journal

Mason College of Music and Fine Arts merged with Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston)

Thomas Miller graduated from the WVU College of Law

The West Virginia Mountain State Gospel Singers Corporation was chartered

Alfred Knobler opened the new Pilgrim Glass plant on Walker Branch Road in Ceredo

The community of Port Amherst received that name

The Pruntytown Industrial School for Boys was reintegrated

The N&W was West Virginia's last steam powered railroad

Mary Lee Settle wrote O Beulah Land

The Mann's Creek Railroad line closed

Planning for Sutton Dam continued

Direct distance telephone dialing was introduced in Wheeling and Moundsville

The Greenbrier art colony was reopened with the work of Gladys Tuke and Jeanne Eleanore Coyne

Cecil Underwood became a leading spokesman for the Republican Party

A silicones products plant was built in Sistersville

Andre Van Damme founded the Charleston Ballet

Jerry West led East Bank High School to the state basketball championship

The West Virginia Publishing Company changed name to West Virginia Education Foundation

The timber flooring of the Wheeling Suspension Bridge was replaced with open steel grid

West Virginia Institute of Technology was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Ellie Schaul moved to West Virginia

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

Hulett Smith left the state Aeronautics Commission

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)

Tunney Hunsaker fought Ernie Terrell

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

Kathy Mattea's song "Walk the Way the Wind Blows" became her first major hit

McCoy's Mill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Congressman Alan Mollohan was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee

Mount St. George was added to the National Register of Historic Places

Regular national broadcasts of Mountain Stage began on National Public Radio

Zebra mussels were introduced from Europe to the Great Lakes by commercial barge traffic

Henry Payne was runner up for the Pulitzer Prize.

The Peter Tarr furnace was partially restored.

A new division was created within the PSC to provide assistance to public water and wastewater providers.

Otis Rice became vice chairman of the Kanawha County Bicentennial Commission

The Smoot Theater stopped serving as a movie theater

The State Supreme Court ruled on Cook v. Heck's regarding the firing of workers

United National Bank joined with Intermountain Bankshares and Kanawha Banking and Trust

The Education Foundation changed its name to West Virginia Historical Education Foundation

Pence Springs Resort property was purchased and renovated as a hotel

Thomas W. Cole left as president of West Virginia State College (now University)

Roomier pens making use of natural features were installed at the West Virginia State Wildlife Center at French Creek

The West Virginia Turnpike accommodated about 5 million cars

WVU Mountaineer Field football stadium expanded to 63,175 seats

A master's degree in business administration was first offered at West Virginia Wesleyan College

Rachael Worby became music director of Wheeling Symphony

The Henderson Hall historic district was added to the National Register

Robert C. Gillespie became president of West Virginia Institute of Technology

Conchata Ferrell married Arnie Anderson, a sound mixer