W. E. Blackhurst

Appalachian Bible Institute had a student body of 40 and needed more space

Walter Barnes retired as president of the West Virginia Folklore Society

West Virginia physician Joseph E. Martin Jr. insisted black lung was a progressive, terminal disease associated with exposure to coal dust.

Improved amplifiers made it possible to offer as many as five cable television channels by the end of the year

Monsanto and Bayer built polyurethane foam plant in New Martinsville

J. R. Clifford remains re-interred at Arlington National Cemetery

Explosion at Jamison No. 9 mine killed 16

Life magazine dedicated 3 pages of photos to Phyllis Curtin's "dance of the seven veils"

Farm Women's Clubs changed names to Home Demonstration clubs

West Virginia State's land grant college status was transferred to WVU

Fairmont State College opened the campus to black students for the first time

Deadly explosion in Consolidation Coal Company's Farmington Mine

The Follansbee steel mill was sold to the Louis Berkman Company

Davis Grubb wrote A Dream of Kings

John T. Willet became commissioner of the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park

Harold Hayslett established Hayslett Violins in South Charleston

The West Virginia Turnpike was completed from Princeton to Charleston

The federal government transferred the deed of the Holly River State Park to the state

Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corporation built a large aluminum plant in Ravenswood

Garland Wilson died in Paris

Joy Manufacturing Company reported that 72% of all coal loaded mechanically was loaded by Joy loaders

Lakin State Hospital was integrated after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled segregation unconstitutional

Harts High School was built at Harts

Marshall College named its buffalo mascot "Marco"

Governor William Marland implemented his no-nonsense policy of public school desegregation following the U.S. Supreme Court Brown v. Board of Education decision

Minter Homes Corporation began concentrating on custom millwork, finished lumber, windows, doors and other items for building contractors

Public school districts in Morgantown desegregated

John Norman received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School

The Oak Hill Saturday Night Wrestling television show first aired

Peach production was at 900,000 bushels

The Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative purchased Hardy County Power and Light

Fred Schaus began coaching basketball at WVU

Shepherd College admitted African-American students for the first time

Red Sovine joined the Grand Ole Opry

Morris Harvey College football team participated in the Cigar Bowl in Tampa

Miles Stanley was elected president of the Kanawha Valley Industrial Council

A Turnpike Division was added to the State Police

The Statler hotel chain was purchased by Conrad Hilton

Boyd Stutler left the American Legion magazine

Pope Pius XII bestowed the honorary title of archbishop ad personam on John Swint

Clint Thomas became messenger for the state Senate

The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Morgantown was founded

WCHS-TV Channel 8 was launched

The Press Association was revived under its original name

The West Virginia State Wildlife Center began evolving as a zoo

Geoffrey Hobday began leading the Charleston Symphony Orchestra

West Virginia dedicated the Charlton Memorial Bridge on the West Virginia Turnpike

The Centennial year closed and virtually all elements of the program had been successfully completed

Patch Adams spent two weeks in a psychiatric facility for depression

President's Appalachian Regional Commission (PARC) recommendations sent to President Johnson

Appalachian Hospital network saved by the Board of National Missions of the United Presbyterian Church

Appalachian Volunteers organized

Only 417 nesting pairs of bald eagles could be found in the U.S.

W. E. Blackhurst was the first commentator for the Cass Scenic Railroad

Florence Blanchfield received the West Virginia Distinguished Service Medal

A new student union building was built at Bluefield State College (now University)

Tony Boyle was elected president of the UMWA

Ruby Bradley retired from the army

Elk River Coal & Lumber Company sold its sawmill at Swandale to Georgia-Pacific

Expansion of Cabell Huntington Hospital increased the size to 280 beds and 48 bassinets

Centennial Golden Trout received first widespread stocking

Mower Lumber Company purchased Cheat Mountain Club

Jim Comstock ran for unsuccessfully for Congress

Phyllis Curtin sang at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference in Charleston

Julius DeGruyter wrote A Brief History of Kanawha County and the Kanawha Region

Dolores Dowling became secretary and administrative assistant of the Veterans Administration regional office in Huntington

Thomson Newspapers of Canada purchased all three Fairmont papers

Ann Flagg returned to teaching at Evanston Consolidated School District and Southern Illinois University

The department led the effort to organize a crafts fair at Cedar Lakes

The book, Mountain Heritage was published

Patrick Gainer published The West Virginia Centennial Song Book of 100 Songs

Patrick Gainer recorded Folk Songs of the Allegheny Mountains for Folk Heritage Recordings

Earl Andrews became president of the Pennsylvania Glass Sand Corporation at Berkeley Springs

Legislature authorized counties to cooperate with local governments and the federal government

Land on Maryland Heights was added to the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park

The widows of Edward and Walker Long and William D. Brike took charge of Huntington Newspaper Publishing

Charles Hodel was named to the West Virginia Press Association's Hall of Fame

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals who ruled in State ex rel. Slatton v. Boles that the state policy is to "protect and reclaim juveniles" and will be treated as delinquents rather than criminals

Kanawha Records began to record authentic indigenous mountain music as performed by contemporary West Virginia musicians

Reynolds Memorial Hospital opened a new facility in Glen Dale

The National Youth Science Camp was founded in Pocahontas County

The West Virginia Chapter of Nature Conservancy was founded by volunteers

The Greenbrier Historical society re-formed after disbanding during the Civil War

New buildings of the Ohio Valley College (now University) were occupied on a permanent campus

The Libbey-Owens-Ford glass bottle plant closed in Charleston

Jim Comstock found a preserved baby and the two female mummies in a barn in Philippi.

The West Virginia Centennial showboat, Rhododendron, plied the Kanawha, Ohio and Monongahela Rivers

Spanky Roberts was assigned to Griffis Air Force base

The St. Albans Archeological Site was first identified by Samuel D. Kessel

Salem College received full accreditation by the North Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges

Devid Selby married Claudeis "Chip" Newman

WVU Rod Thorn became All-American in basketball

Boyd Stutler published West Virginia in the Civil War

Legislation to protect the environment from surface mining was enacted

Rod Thorn became the second pick in the first round of the NBA draft and went to Baltimore Bullets

The Unitarian Universalist church in Morgantown was built

The VISTAs (Volunteers in Service to America) began

Geoffrey Hobday left the Charleston Symphony Orchestra

The Charleston Symphony Orchestra was led by a season of guest conductors

The first Water Festival was held at Hinton

Billy Edd Wheeler recorded "Coal Tattoo"

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

The Shott brothers revived their WHAJ-FM

The Widen mine and railroad ceased operation

WVU at Parkersburg became the first of WVU's Appalachian Centers

A naval radio station was established at Sugar Grove

Ellie Schaul helped decorate the Centennial Showboat Rhododendron

Development of West Virginia's Appalachian Corridor highways began

Appalachian Regional Commission established by Congress

President Johnson's War on Poverty began

Charleston joins Morgantown and Huntington as alternating site of state high school basketball tournament

George Hodel became president of Beckley Newspapers

Bens Run Earthworks officially recorded by the Archeology Section of the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey

E. J. Scrafford became interim president of Bluefield State College (now University)

Weldon Boone wrote A History of Botany in West Virginia

Maurice Brooks published The Appalachians

Harry F. Byrd retired from the Senate

Governor Smith signed bill to end death penalty in West Virginia

Franklin Cleckley earned a J.D. from Indiana University

Arden Cogar exhibited his wood chopping at New York World's Fair

Diamond Department Store built a $1 million addition to its Charleston building

Pete Everest became brigadier general

African-American State Farm and Homemakers Council voted to join the West Virginia Homemakers Council

Gertrude Humphrey left WVU Extension work

One-volume edition of Flora of West Virginia was published

Ruth Ann Musick published The Telltale Lilac Bush

Ruel Foster wrote Jesse Stuart

Per capita personal income in West Virginia was 76% of national average

The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation made its first discretionary grant, to Morris Harvey College (now University of Charleston)

State Route 150, the Highland Scenic Highway, began construction

The Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) was established

Hope Natural Gas Company and New York State Natural Gas Corporation merged to form Consolidated Gas Supply Corporation

Hopemont Sanitarium became a personal care center

Blasingame Report recommending improved library service was completed

The West Virginia Library Commission launched an ambitious library construction project

A joint committee was created to study and survey matters of government, finance, and claims against the state and make recommendations to the full legislature

The Logan Banner was sold to a Tennessee publishing company

Marco mascot first began showing up at Marshall University events

Dan Maroney was elected a vice president in the Amalgamated Transit Union

Paul Marshall stopped working at Libbey-Owens-Ford in Kanawha City

Morgantown Glassware Guild was purchased by Fostoria Glass

Mount Storm Lake was built to supply water for steam generation at coal-fired power plant

Mylan Pharmaceuticals moved to Morgantown

The last coke-making operation in the New River Gorge closed at Sewell

Delf Norona became the first recipient of the Sigfus Olafson Award for his outstanding contributions to the West Virginia archeology

E. Lewis Case became president of Ohio Valley College (now Ohio Valley University)

Ohio Valley College (now University) was accredited by the state of West Virginia

Congress created the 100,000 acre Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area.

Jack Rollins moved to Cincinnati

The Soupy Sales Show first debuted nationally

Burl Sawyers resigned as state roads commissioner under indictment

Charles Town Race Track installed lighting

Smoke Hole became part of the Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area

Red Sovine wrote "Giddyup Go"

Miles Stanley was selected as personal assistant to AFL-CIO President George Meany

Fred Torrey made a bust of John F. Kennedy

U.S. combat troops first deployed in the Vietnam War

The War on Poverty was scaled back due to the escalation of the Vietnam War

Don West came to West Virginia and established the Appalachian South Folklife Center

Charles Schiff became conductor of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra