Ken Hechler

West Virginia State Board of Education adopted flag-salute regulations

Florence Blanchfield was commissioned as a lieutenant colonel

Construction on the Bluestone Dam began

Alonzo Brooks returned to French Creek

Log lodge, two framed dormitories, swimming pool and bathhouse constructed at Camp Washington-Carver

Brandon Hass sold the property now known as Cathedral State Park to the state

The Charleston Ordnance Center received the coveted Army-Navy "E" production award

Carl Rutherford learned to play in same tunings as others

Julia Davis wrote The Sun Climbs Slow

U.S. Farm Security Administration came to an end

Two separate groups of Italian POWs were imprisoned in West Virginia

The first and largest contingent of Italian POWs arrived to build Camp Ashford

Andrew Gardner Jackson died

Gordon L. Bennett was the first executive secretary of the Library Commission

The Linsly School became known as the Linsly Military Institute

The Lost World Caverns cave was discovered as the Grapevine Cave

Frank McEnteer arrived in the Middle East

Kermit McKeever became superintendent of Lost River State Park

J. Kemp McLaughlin was assigned to the 92nd heavy bombardment group of the Eighth Air Force

Mercer County's miners produced 3,500,000 tons of coal

Arnold Miller joined the army

Okey Mills enlisted in the army as paratrooper

The Civilian Conservation Corps was terminated

Calvin W. Price received an honorary law degree from West Virginia University.

Dyke Raese coached the West Virginia University men's basketball team to a major sports national championship.

The Schoolhouse Cave survey was completed

Hugh Shott served in U.S. Senate

Hubert Skidmore wrote Hill Lawyer

Sam Snead had won 29 tournaments

President of UMWA District 17 Van Bittner resigned

CCC Camp Watoga was closed

Wertz Field Airport closed

Only 212 students enrolled at West Liberty State College

Phil Conley re-acquired the West Virginia Review

Antonia Modarelli became director of the Charleston Civic Orchestra

The Works Progress Administration ceased operation

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

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

Hulett Smith began serving on the state Aeronautics Commission.

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

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

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

Katherine Johnson began working with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics as a “computer” doing complex analysis and calculations

Toni Stone joined the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American League

Emile Hodel became editor of the Beckley Post-Herald

Michael Benedum built the Bridgeport Civic Center

Reorganization transferred state mental health and penal institutions to Department of Mental Health and the Commissioner of Public Institutions

Weirton Steel purchased Browns Island for $40,000

S. Maude Kaemmerling willed 3,135 acres of land in Canaan Valley to West Virginia for recreational use

FMC developed new source of brine at Bens Run

City National Bank opened its doors under President Donald Shonk

Bishop mine explodes again

Jim Comstock founded the weekly West Virginia Hillbilly

Deer restocking program ended

Roy Bird Cook received the Award of Merit from the West Virginia Library Association

Little Jimmy Dickens left the Grand Ole Opry

Irvin Dugan retired as newspaper artist

Donald Duncan's sons took over the Duncan Yo-Yo Company

Fairfax Stone dedicated as state historic monument and became state park

Gunner Gatski played football one year for Detroit

The Knights of the South Branch was organized to revive medieval jousting

Roy Lee Harmon wrote Unto the Hills

Logan High School and its field house and athletic fields were constructed on Hatfield Island

The first interstate highway construction contract in the state was awarded on I-64 for a bridge across a road in Cabell County

Jean Lee Latham was awarded the Boys' Clubs of America Junior Book Award for Trail Blazer of the Seas

The McClains were approached by WVU professors who feared that early West Virginia histories would be lost if not reprinted

Kyle McCormick wrote The Story of Mercer County

John Norman served on the aircraft carrier Saratoga

A group from West Virginia and Ohio purchased land to establish a college with an independent board of trustees, now Ohio Valley University

Marbon Chemical is built

The announcement of plans to merge the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central System was made

Filippo Colasessano's son began selling pepperoni rolls in his Fairmont lunch spot

The Division of Disease Control began a statewide polio vaccination program

The Kanawha River bridge was opened in Winfield

Red Ribble stopped photographing southern West Virginia

Otis Rice began teaching at West Virginia Institute of Technology

The Wm. M. Ritter Lumber Company company stores were sold

The Wm. M. Ritter Lumber Company coal reserves were leased to the Island Creek Coal Company

Jay Rockefeller went to the International Christian University in Tokyo

Shenandoah Downs purchased land north of Charles Town Race Track for night harness racing

WVU Rod Hundley became All-American in basketball

Jim Sprouse began practicing law

Beckley radio station WAJR increased to 5,000 watts

Ernest T. Weir died

The last high school basketball was played under the African-American West Virginia Athletic Union

Benjamin Starks founded the Beacon Journal in Charleston

The Federation of Labor and Industrial Union Council agreed to combine as the West Virginia Labor Federation, AFL-CIO

West Virginia State College lost its federal land-grant status

Stanley H. Martin became president of West Virginia Wesleyan College

The Whipple mine shut down and the company store closed

The Winfield bridge was completed

WSAZ radio switched affiliation to NBC

Black lung activists from across the state assembled at the Charleston Civic Center to press for new laws

William Anthony "Tony" Boyle defeated Joseph A "Jock" Yablonski in the election

West Virginia voted Republican in presidential election

Arch A. Moore Jr. elected for a third term as governor

Jay Rockefeller was elected to the U.S. Senate

Alan Mollohan beat Jim Altmeer to remain in the House of Representatives

Voters approve the state lottery amendment

A. James Manchin ran for state treasurer

John Raese lost to Jay Rockefeller in his bid for the US Senate.

Charlotte Pritt campaigned for state Senate and won

Margaret Workman became the first woman justice and the first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia

Gaston Caperton defeated incumbent Governor Arch A. Moore Jr.

Joe Manchin was reelected to the West Virginia Senate

Margaret Workman was elected first woman on the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals and first woman elected to statewide office in West Virginia

Thomas Miller led the ticket in both the primary and general elections in State Supreme Court race

Darrell McGraw failed to gain reelection to the State Supreme Court

Walt Helmick elected to the House of Delegates

Joe Manchin was reelected to the West Virginia Senate

Darrell McGraw was elected state attorney general

McHugh reelected to the Supreme Court

Gus Douglass again elected commissioner of agriculture

Glen Gainer III elected state auditor

Jefferson County voters approve video lottery

Republican Gov. Cecil Underwood was elected to second term

Jay Rockefeller was reelected to the U.S. Senate

Darrell McGraw was reelected state attorney general

Charlotte Pritt ran against Republican Cecil Underwood for governor of West Virginia and lost

Franklin D. Cleckley left the Supreme Court

Robin Davis elected to the Supreme Court

John Perdue first elected state treasurer

Denise Giardina ran for governor of West Virginia as candidate of the Mountain Party

Robert C. Byrd was elected to his 8th term in the Senate

Shelley Moore Capito was elected to the 2nd District Congressional seat

Gus R. Douglass was elected his 9th 4-year term as Agriculture commissioner

Cecil Underwood failed to be elected a third term

The Libertarian candidate, Bob Myers, failed to gain 1% of the votes

A. James Manchin was reelected to the House of Delegates

Bob Wise was elected governor

Darrell McGraw was reelected state attorney general

West Virginia voted for Republican George W. Bush in the election

Robin Davis reelected to 12 year term on Supreme Court

DeSales Heights building was demolished

Hazel Dickens received the Lifetime Achievement Award from North American Folk Music and Dance Alliance

Gods and Generals was filmed in Harpers Ferry

The community celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Flatwoods Monster sighting

Jennifer Garner appeared in Catch Me If You Can

The Monongahela National Forest's Middle Mountain Cabin was torn down

"Biggie" Goldberg moved retired to Elk Grove Village, Illinois

Judge Charles Haden once again made decision restricting the practice of mountaintop removal mining

Homer Hickam published We Are Not Afraid

William Hoffman ppublished Wild Thorn