Synthetic Rubber

National Geographic published a photograph of the view of Prospect Rock (Morgan County) and rated it among America's outstanding beauty spots.

Volkmar Wentzel illustrated a National Geographic article "West Virginia, Treasure Chest of Industry"

Rex Parker married Eleanora Niera.

The USS West Virginia was severely damaged as one of the six battleships at Pearl Harbor

UMWA eliminated the traditional wage differences between northern and southern coalfields

Cleve Bailey appointed director of the state budget

Main structure of the Buckhannon Highways Garage was built by prison labor

The administration building was built at Buckhannon Highways Garage

Wilma Lee and Stoney Cooper were married

Rose Cousins went to Tuskegee Institute to try out for the Air Force training program for black combat pilots

West Virginia: A Guide to the Mountain State was published

An extension was added to the original 1927 Diamond Department Store building

Joanne Dru married Dick Haymes

West Virginia Farm Bureau Service Company was sold to Southern States Cooperative

Ruel Foster joined the faculty of WVU

Earle T. Andrews became general manager of operations of the Berkeley Glass Sand Mining Plant in Morgan County

Governor Neely appointed Howard Gore to the state's three-man Public Service Commission

Alberta Pierson Hannum wrote The Gods and One

Roy Lee Harmon wrote Around the Mountains

Homer Holt began practicing law in Charleston

Another Textile Workers of America strike occurred at Interwoven Mills

It's Wheeling Steel radio program moved to the NBC Blue Network

Johnnie Johnson left West Virginia

The first funds were allocated by legislature for libraries

Hubert Skidmore wrote Hawks Nest

Hubert Skidmore wrote Hawks Nest

The Little Beaver Lake was created with the damming of Little Beaver Creek

Joseph Long left office as president of Huntington Chamber of Commerce

The electric railway from McMechen and Moundsville were replaced by buses

Walter Martens began a partnership with his son Robert Martens

Sandy Mason died

Matilda Mason became the president of Mason College of Music and Fine Arts

Labor leader Joe Powell began work as a glass cutter for Roland Glass Company in Clarksburg.

Attorney General Abraham A. "Cousin Abe" Lilly resided in the penthouse at the Ruffner Hotel

An article by Clay Perry in the Saturday Evening Post describes four cavers trapped in the Sinks of Gandy for five hours

Col. H. Clare Hess was appointed superintendent at the State Police Academy

The National Labor Relations Board found Weirton Steel guilty of unfairly promoting its company union

The Stone & Thomas department store chain came to Charleston

Morris Harvey College became a self-governing independent college

The Navy named a light cruiser the U.S.S. Huntington

Volkmar Wentzel enlisted in the Air Force

A mine strike at Widen occurred

WSAZ radio began fulltime operation and assumed frequency of 930 kHz

New River State College was renamed the West Virginia Institute of Technology (now WVU Institute of Technology)

Chuck Yeager enlisted in the Army Air Corps

Hurry-up Yost retired as Michigan's athletic director

Helen Froelich married Rush Holt

The President's Committee on Fair Employment Practices visited West Virginia to investigate the firing of seven Jehovah Witnesses from the Pittsburgh Plate Glass plant in Clarksburg

Pete Everest completed the aviation cadet program and was commissioned as second lieutenant

U.S. Army purchased the Greenbrier Hotel and 7,000 acres of surrounding land

Stella Fuller left the Salvation Army and opened her own relief operation in Huntington

The West Virginia Review resumed publication

Herschel C. Ogden died

Spanky Roberts entered combat in North Africa

West Virginia had purchased 311 acres for Audra State Park

Lew Burdette learned to pitch with American Viscose Rayon Company Team

A community board, which helped raise funds to build Charleston Memorial Hospital, was formed in home of Mr. and Mrs. William Ziebold Sr.

Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation established by Michael and Sarah Benedum

Committee began searching for church camp site to honor the Peterkins

Pete Everest was assigned to China-Burma-India region

Smokey Bear was introduced by the Wartime Advertising Council

"Biggie" Goldberg served in the U.S. Army for two years

Davis Grubb's first published story was "The Lollipop Tree" in Good Housekeeping

The GI Bill of Rights provided generous educational benefits to WWII veterans

The Jones Diamond was first displayed at the Smithsonian

Jean Lee Latham received a Silver Wreath for her work training Signal Corps inspectors for the War Department

The first meeting of the West Virginia League of Women Voters was held

Ned Cline died

Kermit McKeever became superintendent of Watoga State Park

A summer youth camp began at Minnehaha Springs

The Monongahela Power & Railway Company was completely out of the streetcar business

Eleanor Steber sang at the Democratic National Convention

Increasing pressure to install a black administration at Storer College led to the forced retirement of President Henry T. McDonald

W.W. Trent was reelected state superintendent of Schools

The government began selling the Tygart Valley Homesteads to settlers

The United Carbon Building appeared on the cover of Pencil Points architectural magazine

The nursing school at Welch Community Hospital ceased operation

Only 118 students enrolled at West Liberty State College

Cornelius Charlton moved with his family to New York City

United Mine Workers of America established a Welfare and Retirement Fund

Ashford General Hospital closed

Wood County Airport, Parkersburg, built

Greater Cumberland Regional Airport, at Wiley Ford, built

The Bailes Brothers moved to KWKH Shreveport

Bluefield joined the Appalachian Rookie League in baseball

Van Bittner directed the abortive drive to organize southern industrial workers

Everett Ferguson sold Browns Island to Weirton Ice and Coal Supply Company

Lew Burdette signed his first professional contract with the New York Yankees

Col. E. G. Via died

Camden Park was sold to James P. Boylin

Jim Comstock founded the Richwood News Leader

Samuel Cooper attended the World Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland

Bruce Crawford founded the West Virginia Advertising Company

Phyllis Curtin appeared at Tanglewood Music Center

Davis & Elkins College received full accreditation

Dolores Dowling left the Army Nurse Corps as a first lieutenant

Joanne Dru starred in her first film, Abie's Irish Rose

Proposed amendment to make the Board of Education a constitutional body

First consulting forester in West Virginia began work

Patrick Gainer became professor of English at WVU

Joseph C. Gluck, eventually dean of students, vice president for student affairs and special counselor to students, began work at WVU

The third floor of the Governor's Mansion was added

Alberta Pierson Hannum's book Spin a Silver Dollar was released as a radio play

Governor Meadows reappointed Roy Lee Harmon as poet laureate of West Virginia

Hawkshaw Hawkins began working on the Wheeling Jamboree broadcast from WWVA

Johnnie Johnson began performing in Chicago

The village of Lilly was razed due to construction of the Bluestone Dam

Pare Lorentz was awarded the Legion of Merit

A new dining hall was constructed at Marshall College (now University)

Jack Maurice returned to the Charleston Daily Mail

Arnold Miller returned home from WWII

The UMWA Health and Retirement Funds were created

Ruth Ann Musick began teaching mathematics and English at Fairmont State College (Fairmont State University)

Eldora Nuzum was made managing editor of the Grafton Sentinel

Molly O'Day was signed to Columbia Records contract by Fred Rose

American Cyanamid established plant at Willow Island

The West Virginia Broadcasters Association was organized

Louis Jordan made "Salt Pork, West Virginia" a best-selling recording

The Secondary Schools Activities Commission appointed a full-time executive secretary to the board

Raymond Hayes made a trip to Fayette County

Meredith Sue Willis was born

Sam Snead won the British Open

Buddy Starcher cut his first recordings on Four Star

An appropriation of $60,000 was obtained for the West Virginia State Police Academy during the legislative session

Storer College was accredited as a baccalaureate institution

A constitutional amendment providing educational reforms was defeated

Joe Stydahar won another championship with the Chicago Bears

Festus Summers became a full-time professor at WVU

DuPont's Belle Works ceased production of nylon

Frank Thomas built Fayette Airport

The United Brethren merged with the Evangelical Association forming the Evangelical United Brethren Church

There were 261 United Brethren churches in West Virginia

Hobert Skidmore died

The current West Virginia Historical Society was incorporated

The West Virginia Review was sold again

There were 6,000 students enrolled in WVU

Irvin Stewart became president of WVU

George Smith died

WJLS added an FM affiliate

American neurologist Walter Freeman adapted a variation of the surgery called the transorbital lobotomy

Artist Helen Chilton was born in Pennsylvania

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

Ken Hechler began teaching at Princeton University

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

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