Summary

Finding a Clear Path intertwines literature, agriculture, and ecology as author Jim Minick takes the reader on many journeys, allowing you to float on a pond, fly with a titmouse, gather ginseng, and grow the lowly potato. The reader visits monarch butterflies and morel mushrooms, encountering beavers, black snakes, and bloodroot along the way. Using his background as a blueberry farmer, gardener and naturalist, Minick explores the Appalachian region and also introduces information that can be appreciated from a scientific point of view, explaining, for example, the ears of an owl, or the problems with the typical Christmas tree. Reading this collection of essays invites you to search for ways to better understand and appreciate this marvelous world, opening paths for journeys of your own.

Contents

• Walking
  • Finding a Clear Path
  • Creases
  • Walking in the World of Language
• Naming it All
  • Naming What You Love
  • Seasons' Dance
  • The River of Spring
  • Small, Bright Glows of Spring
  • Drive
  • Cruel April
  • Longevity
  • Snake Stories
• Floating
  • Springs, Strong and Sweet
  • To Pond
  • The Return of the Beaver
  • Sea Turtles
• Flying
  • Nests
  • Birding by Car
  • Vanishing Birds
  • Monarchs: Flying Poetry
  • Mirrored Intruder
  • Terrifying Beauty
  • Counting Birds at Christmas
  • Homes for the Holidays
• Gathering
  • Miacle Morels
  • Have Fungi, But Ne Careful
  • The Bridge of Antlers
  • Growing Ginseng
  • A "Woods Garden" Full of Cohosh
  • Wineberries—Wild, Red Jewels
  • In Praise of Pawpaws
• Growing
  • Food Security, or Do You Know Where That Egg Came From?
  • Grow a Patch of Your Own
  • Some Kind of Habit
  • How to Get the Good Bugs In
  • Summertime, Winter Work
  • Gray Buffalo
  • Beans, Bovines, and Beetles
  • Groundhogs
  • Health, Hunger, and Hunting
  • Footprints, or We All Have Big Feet
  • For the Love of Chicken
  • The Holy, Lowly Spud
  • Claiming Ground
  • Corn Mazes
  • Cussed Yellow Jackets
  • Shocked
  • We Create the World We Eat: The Benefits of Organic Food
  • Beyond Organic
  • Star Linked
  • Not Ready for Roundup's Results
  • Zone
  • The Trouble With "Waste"
• Working Among Trees
  • Sunlight on Willow
  • Hitting the Mark
  • Masonry Stoves
  • Praise for One Tough Tree
  • The Slow Work of Healing
  • Green Lumber, Green Profits: Sustainable Forestry in Appalachia
  • A Rision Tide Floats All Logs
  • A Different Fire: The Southern Pine Beetle
  • Bullish Invasives
  • Eastern Hemlocks Fade from our Forests
  • Beyond Bare-Ground: Organic Christmas Trees in the South
  • Bowls for Christmas
  • Handmade
• Following Myself Home
  • Night Walking
  • Following Myself Home
• Appendix

Author

Jim Minick lives, writes, and farms in southwest Virginia, while teaching writing and literature at Radford University. His poems and essays have appeared in many books and periodicals including Orion, Shenandoah, YES!, Natural Home, Encyclopedia of Appalachia, Appalachian Journal, Appalachian Heritage, and Wind. Since 1996, Minick has written a regular column for The Roanoke Times New River Current as well as other articles that have appeared in major newspapers throughout the south.

Reviews

"In Finding a Clear Path, Jim Minick maps the trails, real and metaphorical, that twine through the ancient Appalachian hills and through the hearts of those who love them, gracefully uniting the land, the wildlife, and its people."
Scott Weidensaul, author Mountains of the Heart

"In Finding a Clear Path, Jim Minick walks woods, gardens, and fields with a poet's eye; his seeing is sharp, his knowledge deep, his sentences tough and lean. And he is as practical as a farmer's almanac, too, offering not only observations and reflections, but advice on country matters of all kinds. Minick knows that on this lovely, flawed planet of ours, much is well."
Richard Hague, author Ripenings and Milltown Natural

"Jim Minick is blessed with brevity. Each of his one to three page essays meditates on one small thing, yet manages to enhance our understanding of the whole wide world. Readers be warned: seeing the macrocosm in a microcosm is a dangerous subversion of the normal egocentric human perspective, and may cause changes in attitude."
Chris Bolgiano, author The Appalachian Forest and Living in the Appalachian Forest

"...Finding a Clear Path is a beautifully wrought example of nature writing and environmental advocacy at its most appealing."
John C. Inscoe, Journal of Appalachian Studies

Summary

In this revised and expanded edition of Hollows, Peepers, and Highlanders, author George Constantz, a biologist and naturalist, writes about the beauty and nature of the Appalachian landscape. While the information is scientific in nature, Constantz’s accessible descriptions of the adaptation of various organisms to their environment enable the reader to enjoy learning about the Appalachian ecosystem. The book is divided into three sections: “Stage and Theater,” “The Players,” and “Seasonal Act.” Each section sets the scene and describes the events occurring in nature. “Stage and Theatre” is comprised of chapters that describe the origins of the Appalachia region. “The Players” is an interesting and in-depth look into the ecology of animals, such as the mating rituals of different species, and the evolutionary explanation for the adaptation of Appalachian wildlife. The last section, “Seasonal Act,” makes note of the changes in Appalachian weather each season and its effect on the inhabitants.

Contents

• Thanks
•   1. Prologue
• Stage and Theater
•   2. Origins
•   3. Forest Design
•   4. Creating Diversity
•   5. Catastrophe and the Appalachian Quilt
•   6. Balds
•   7. The Asian Connection
• The Players
•   8. The Improbable Lady’s-slipper
•   9. Sexual Decisions of Jack-in-the-Pulpit
•   10. Nuptial Gift of the Hangingfly
•   11. Femmes Fatales of Twilight
•   12. Small Fishes in Shallow Headwaters
•   13. Darter Daddies
•   14. To the Brook Trout, with Esteem
•   15. A Lungless Salamander Trilogy: Primer
•   16. A Lungless Salamander Trilogy: Coexistence
•   17. A Lungless Salamander Trilogy: Mimicry
•   18. Love Among the Frogs
•   19. Box Turtle’s Independence
•   20. Copperhead’s Year
•   21. Oaks and Squirrels
•   22. Highlanders
• Seasonal Acts
•   23. Autumn Leaves
•   24. Window on Bird Politics
•   25. Thwarting Swords of Ice
•   26. Spring Tensions
•   27. Dawn Chorus
•   28. Trees and Caterpillars
• Epilogue
•   29. The Remnant Archipelago
•   30. Abuse, Resurrection, Hope
• Actors
• Jargon
• Sources
• Index
• Author

Author

Born in Washington, DC, in 1947, George Constantz spent six years of his childhood in Barranquilla, Colombia, among the iguanas of the Magdalena River’s floodplain, and in Chihuahua, Mexico, where he chased roadrunners through the desert. Since receiving a BA in biology from the University of Missouri-St. Louis and a PhD in zoology from Arizona State University, Constantz has worked as a park naturalist, a teacher of biology and environmental science, a fish ecologist, researcher, and writer. He founded Cacapon Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving Appalachian rivers. Currently, he manages the Education Program at the Canaan Valley Institute. He lives with his wife, Nancy Ailes, in the Cacapon River watershed of West Virginia.

Reviews

“Creative and interesting histories, facts, and personal reflections flesh out the well-researched information insuring that this colorful exploration of the mountains will delight, rather than bore, the reader.”
Appalachian Heritage

Summary

A manual to identify trees and shrubs in winter when the lack of leaves, fruits, and flowers makes them least identifiable, Woody Plants in Winter has become a classic for naturalists, botanists, gardeners, and hobbyists. Earl L. Core and Nell P. Ammons, both West Virginia University professors of distinction, originally published this book with the Boxwood Press in 1958.

Contents

• Woody Plants in Winter
• Key to the Genera
• Descriptions of Genera and Species
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index

Summary

Macrofungi Associated with Oaks of Eastern North America, which was written as a companion to Field Guide to Oak Species of Eastern North America, represents the first major publication devoted exclusively to the macrofungi that occur in association with oak trees in the forests of eastern North America. The macrofungi covered in this volume include many of the more common examples of the three groups—mycorrhizal fungi, decomposers, and pathogens—that are ecologically important to the forest ecosystems in which oaks occur. More than 200 species of macrofungi are described and illustrated via vibrantly colored photographs. Information is given on edibility, medicinal properties, and other novel uses as well. This publication reflects the combined expertise of six mycologists on the macrofungi anyone would be likely to encounter in an oak forest.

2008 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award Finalist

Contents

• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• Oak Forests in Eastern North America
• Taxonomic Groups
•   Basidiomycota
•   Ascomycota
•   Myxomycota
• Mycorrhizal Species
• Pathogens
• Decomposers
• Glossary
• References
• Muchroom Poisoning
• General Index

Author

Dr. Steve Stephenson, who has also published Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms of the World and Myxomycetes of New Zealand, is a former Professor of Biology at Fairmont State University, West Virginia. 

Introduced to fungi in 1995 by Stephenson, fellow author and information technology specialist, Denise Binion is the co-author of Field Guide to Native Oak Species of Eastern North America.

William Roody is currently documenting the distribution of macrofungi throughout West Virginia and works with the state’s rare plants and animals.

Dr. Larissa Vasilyeva, a research scientist, has described 100 new species of the pyrenomycetous fungi, along with twenty new genera in this group.

Dr. Harold Burdsall Jr., a mycologist and former project leader, has been studying wood-inhabiting fungi for more than forty years and is currently a volunteer mycologist.

Dr. Orson K. Miller Jr., a former professor of botany at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, has published more than 160 scientific manuscripts and eight books.

Reviews

"All mycologists and mycophiles east of the Rocky Mountains will find this book a tremendous asset when hitting the woods!"
John Plischke, Fungi Magazine

Summary

Originally published in 1948, this is the germinal text on nearly 250 species of spring wildflowers found in West Virginia. Common or English names and scientific or Latin names are given for each species. The descriptions are in two sections: The first description includes the meaning of the name of the flower, uses, habitats, and ranges in West Virginia. Secondly, the plant itself is described in deep detail to help in identification. Each description is accompanied by a facing page detailed line drawing. This book is a must have for those interested in the beauty and science of West Virginia's spring flora. 

Author

Earl L. Core co-wrote the four-volume Flora of West Virginia. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from West Virginia University and his doctorate from Columbia. He was a biology professor at WVU where the 75-acre arboretum managed by the university bears his name.

The illustrator, William A. Lunk, received his doctorate at the University of Michigan and went on to become curator of their University Museums.

Summary

In this new, scholarly text—an ambitious study of contemporary poetics—Joe W. Moffett deciphers the twentieth-century long poem, searching for a better understanding of why long-poem writers are preoccupied with a search for origins.

Moffett focuses on issues like postcolonialism, nation, modernism, and postmodernism. He conceptualizes his theories by using what he calls “originiary moments”: historical periods or specific events from which a poet contends our culture descends. These moments enlighten and inspire the modern poet to use origin or “source” as a way to examine present culture and social conditions. The poems also encourage modern readers to question, revise, and repudiate. Moffett organizes his argument by arranging specific examples into three categories of originary moments: Sumerian, Homeric, and Anglo-Saxon.

According to Moffett, the long poem is appealing because it “lacks strict conventions that govern other genres.” Using a wide variety of poems to support his arguments, Moffett asks many stimulating questions and also provides provocative answers.

Questions of when and where It All Began have been off the critical agenda for some time now, embargoed by poststructuralism. Undeterred, Joe Moffett boldly revisits the search for cultural origins, which preoccupied major poets throughout the twentieth century. Capacious in his scope, eclectic in his choices, Moffett rounds up unusual subjects, including long poems by Armand Schwerner, Derek Walcott, Geoffrey Hill, and Judy Grahn, with excursions into Charles Olson, Seamus Heaney, and others. Nowhere will you find clearer, more intelligent, or better-informed readings of these poems than Moffett’s.

Contents

• "Returning to the Origin and Bringing Something Back" in the Twentieth-Century Long Poem
• Charles Olson's The Maximus Poems and Armand Shwerner's The Tablets: From Late Modernist to Postmodernist Long Poem
• "Master, I Was the Freshest of All Your Readers": Postcolonialism and Postmodern Self-Reflexivity in Derek Walcott's Omeros
• Narrating the Origins of the Nation: Geoffrey Hill's Mercian Hymns and "An Appology for the Revival of Christian Architecture in England"
• "A New Myth of Origin": Judy Grahn's A Chronicle of Queens and Popular culture
• Conclusions: Origins and the Modern/Postmodern Divide
• Bibliography
• Index

Summary

As a border county in a border state, Barbour County, West Virginia, felt the full terror and tragedy of the Civil War. The wounds of the Civil War cut most bitterly in the border states, that strip of America from Maryland to Kansas, where conflicting loyalties and traditions ripped apart communities, institutions, and families. Barbour County, in the mountainous Northwest of (West) Virginia, is a telling microcosm of the deep divisions which both caused the war and were caused by it. By examining and interpreting long-ignored documents of the times and the personal accounts of the people who were there, Clash of Loyalties offers a startling new view of America’s most bitter hour. Nearly half of the military-age men in the county served in the armed forces, almost perfectly divided between the Union and the Confederacy. After West Virginia split with Virginia to rejoin the Union, Confederate soldiers from the regions could not safely visit their homes on furlough, or even send letters to their families. The county’s two leading political figures, Samuel Woods and Spencer Dayton, became leaders of the fight for and against secession, dissolved their close personal friendship, and never spoke to one another again. The two factions launched campaigns of terror and intimidation, leading to the burning of several homes, the kidnapping of a sheriff, the murder of a pacifist minister, and the self-imposed exile of many of the county’s influential families. The conflicting loyalties crossed nearly all social and economic lines; even the county’s slave owners were evenly divided between Union and Confederate sympathies. With a meticulous examination of census and military records, geneologies, period newspapers, tax rolls, eyewitness accounts, and other relevant documents, Clash of Loyalties presents a compelling account of the passion and violence which tore apart Barbour County and the nation.

Contents

• List of Tables
• Introduction
• Borderland County
• Wellsprings of Loyalty
• Dark Clouds Gather
• Patterns of Enlistment
• War in the Mountains
• Keep the Home Fires Burning
• Strangers in a Strange Land
• Let Malice Go
• Appendix A
•   Notes on Sources and Methods
• Appendix B
•   Immigration into Barbour
• Appendix C
•   Birthplaces of Barbour's Soldiers, their Fathers, and their Grandfathers
• Appendix D
•   Chronology of Enlistments
• Endnotes
• Bibliography
• Index

Author

John W. Shaffer earned a PhD in history from UCLA. He has taught at California State University at Chico. He is the author of Family and Farm: Agrarian Change and Household Organization in the Loire Valley, 1500–1900, as well as numerous articles in journals and books. Shaffer is currently vice president of United Mercantile Agencies in San Francisco.

Reviews

“[A] fascinating study . . . ”
C. Stuart McGehee, West Virginia History

“ . . . to my knowledge no Civil War scholar to date has documented patterns of local conflict so meticulously, and those seeking to understand Appalachia’s Civil War will find in this monograph an effective model for continued exploration.”
Robert Tracy McKenzie, Journal of Appalachian Studies

Summary

This wilderness travelogue about the exploration of Canaan Valley, West Virginia, was originally published in 1853. With appeal far beyond its time and region, first editions of this chronicle reached New York, London, and even Germany. This often humorous and always fascinating story reveals Kennedy’s journey into an unexplored territory.

Contents

• Preface
• Introduction
• Getting under Way
• In which the Expedition dances a Hornpipe on the Top of a Mountain
• The Coxkneys explained by the Prior of St. Philips, from the Top of the Allegany
• Winston and its Catellan—Mr. Edward Towers
• The Blackwater Invasion determined upon
• The Dale on the Potomac—and a Somewhat particular Description of the Array
• The March into the Canaan
• The Lodge in the Wilderness
• The Blackwater Founr—A Great Number of Trout taken—Mr. Butcut fries some Fish
• The Blackwater Villa
• The Falls of the Blackwater
• How we got out of the Canaan—and in Spite of our Teeth
• The Return to Winston—“Bootless Home and Weather-beaten Back.”

Author

Philip Pendleton Kennedy resided in the present-day eastern panhandle of West Virginia, where he socialized, hunted and fished, and dabbled at writing. The Blackwater Chronicle is his only major published work.

Reviews

“Philip Pendleton Kennedy’s account of this adventure makes for enjoyable reading today. More than this, however, the book provides both an interesting glimpse into antebellum American literary culture and an important record of the Canaan wilderness before it was despoiled by economic exploitation. These qualities make The Blackwater Chronicle a work of lasting value.”
Timothy Sweet, professor of English, West Virginia University

Summary

Few reference works are as valuable to  scholars and non-scholars as an historical atlas. The Historical Atlas of West Virginia is important title for libraries, schools, and every West Virginian who wants to understand how historical forces are mapped onto the state’s terrain. Frank Riddel’s The Historical Atlas of West Virginia is copiously illustrated with maps, tables, and charts depicting everything from geological deposits and strata that have fed the state’s industries to the settlement patterns of the immigrants who settled in West Virginia. Using federal and state statistics, it also includes revelations from the national census figures since 1790.

2008 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Award Finalist
2008 Southeastern Library Association Southern Book Competition, Honorable Mention for Typographical Design

Contents

-1. Preface
0. About the Author
1. GEOGRAPHY
   
   1. West Virginia’s Location
   2. Latitude, Longitude, and Size of West Virginia
   3. West Virginia within the Appalachian Region
   4. West Virginia’s Borders
   5. Physical Subdivisions of West Virginia
   6. Land Relief in West Virginia
   7. Major Rivers in West Virginia
   8. Natural Wonders in West Virginia
   9. State and National Parks and Forests in West Virginia
2. HISTORY
   
   10. The Adena and Hopewell Heartland
   11. Early Woodland Sites in West Virginia, 1000 B.C.–A.D. 1
   12. Early Middle Woodland Sites in West Virginia, A.D. 1–A.D. 500
   13. Late Middle Woodland Sites in West Virginia, A.D. 500–A.D. 1000
   14. Late Prehistoric Cultures in West Virginia, 1000–1700
   15. Major Indian Tribes and Their Approximate Locations during the Late Prehistoric and Early Historic Periods
   16. Major Indian Trails in West Virginia
   17. Hunting Areas of Predominant Tribes in West Virginia Early in the 18th Century
   18. Territorial Provisions of the Virginia Charter of 1606
   19. Territorial Provisions of the Virginia Charter of 1609
   20. The Exploration of Western Virginia, 1650–1673
   21. The Exploration of Western Virginia, 1674–1749
   22. The Exploration of Western Virginia, 1750–1752
   23. The Fairfax Proprietary: Granted in 1649 and Defined by Surveys in 1736 and 1746
   24. The Great Land Companies of Colonial Virginia
   25. European Claims East of the Mississippi, 1713–1763
   26. Frontier Defenses in Western Virginia, 1750–1792
   27. Virginia and Conflict between France and Great Britain, 1753–1763
   28. European Possessions after the French and Indian War, 1763–1776
   29. Settlement in West Virginia by 1763
   30. Pontiac’s Rebellion, 1763–1764
   31. The Royal Proclamation of 1763: A Barrier to Settlement beyond the Mountains
   32. The Indian Boundary Line, 1768–1771
   33. Land Schemes in Western Virginia: Indiana and Vandalia
   34. Dunmore’s War—1774
   35. An Effort to Create a New State in Western Virginia: Westsylvania
   36. The American Revolution in Western Virginia
   37. The New Nation—1783
   38. The Virginia-Pennsylvania Boundary Dispute
   39. Western Land Claims and Cessions, 1776–1802
   40. The Reduction of Virginia’s Land Claims, 1632–1863
   41. Reducing the Indian Threat to Western Virginia, 1793–1795
   42. Settlement in West Virginia by 1800
   43. The Civil War in West Virginia—1861
   44. The Civil War in West Virginia—1862
   45. The Civil War in West Virginia—1863
   46. The Civil War in West Virginia—1864
   47. The Civil War in West Virginia—1865
   48. Counties Represented at the First Wheeling Convention—May 1861
   49. Results of the Virginia Referendum on Secession in the Counties that became the State of West Virginia—May 23, 1861
   50. Counties Represented at the Second Wheeling Convention—June 1861
   51. Boundaries of the Proposed State of ‘Kanawha’
   52. Results of the Referendum on the New State Ordinance—October 24, 1861
   53. Boundaries of West Virginia Adopted by the Constitutional Convention (November 26, 1861–February 18, 1862)
   54. Boundaries of West Virginia when Admitted to the Union—June 20, 1863
   55. West Virginia’s Capitals
   56. The West Virginia Mine Wars, 1912–1913 and 1919–1921
   57. Absentee Ownership in West Virginia
3. THE EVOLUTION OF COUNTIES
   
   58. Western Virginia Counties, 1734–1742
   59. Western Virginia Counties, 1743–1753
   60. Western Virginia Counties, 1754–1771
   61. Western Virginia Counties, 1772–1775
   62. Western Virginia Counties, 1776–1778
   63. Western Virginia Counties, 1779–1782
   64. Western Virginia Counties, 1783–1791
   65. Western Virginia Counties, 1792–1800
   66. Western Virginia Counties, 1801–1810
   67. Western Virginia Counties, 1811–1820
   68. Western Virginia Counties, 1821–1830
   69. Western Virginia Counties, 1831–1840
   70. Western Virginia Counties, 1841–1850
   71. Western Virginia Counties, 1851–1863
   72. West Virginia Counties, 1863–Present
   73. West Virginia County Seats
4. THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
   
   74. Principal Roads in Western Virginia in 1800
   75. Principal Roads in Western Virginia in 1835
   76. Principal Roads in Western Virginia during the Civil War
   77. Principal Roads in West Virginia in 1955
   78. Principal Roads in West Virginia in 2008
   79. Railroads in West Virginia in 1863
   80. Railroads in West Virginia in 1893
   81. Railroads in West Virginia in 1920
   82. Railroads in West Virginia in 2000
   83. Locks and Dams in West Virginia
   84. Public Airports in West Virginia
5. NATURAL RESOURCES AND EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES
   
   85. Salt Deposits in West Virginia
   86. Major Lumber-Producing Counties in West Virginia
   87. Oil Deposits in West Virginia
   88. Natural Gas Deposits in West Virginia
   89. Coal Deposits in West Virginia
6. EDUCATION
   
   90. Academies Established in Western Virginia prior to the Civil War
   91. Institutions of Higher Education in West Virginia
7. POPULATION, 1790–2000
   
   92. Western Virginia’s Population in 1790
   93. Western Virginia’s Population in 1800
   94. Western Virginia’s Population in 1810
   95. Western Virginia’s Population in 1820
   96. Western Virginia’s Population in 1830
   97. Western Virginia’s Population in 1840
   98. Western Virginia’s Population in 1850
   99. Western Virginia’s Population in 1860
   100. West Virginia’s Population in 1870
   101. West Virginia’s Population in 1880
   102. West Virginia’s Population in 1890
   103. West Virginia’s Population in 1900
   104. West Virginia’s Population in 1910
   105. West Virginia’s Population in 1920
   106. West Virginia’s Population in 1930
   107. West Virginia’s Population in 1940
   108. West Virginia’s Population in 1950
   109. West Virginia’s Population in 1960
   110. West Virginia’s Population in 1970
   111. West Virginia’s Population in 1980
   112. West Virginia’s Population in 1990
   113. West Virginia’s Population in 2000
8. LEGISLATIVE, JUDICIAL, AND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS
   
   114. West Virginia House of Delegates Districts
   115. West Virginia State Senate Districts
   116. West Virginia Judicial Circuits
   117. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1863)
   118. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1882)
   119. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1901)
   120. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1915)
   121. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1934)
   122. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1951)
   123. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1961)
   124. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1971)
   125. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1982)
   126. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 1992)
   127. West Virginia Congressional Districts (Apportionment of 2002)
9. Appendix A: Governors of West Virginia
10. Appendix B: United States Senators from West Virginia
11. References
12. Index

Author

Frank S. Riddel is originally from St. Mary’s, WV, and holds undergraduate and master’s degrees from Marshall University and a doctoral degree from the Ohio State University. He has co-authored two books published by the West Virginia Historical Education Foundation, West Virginia Government and American Government: The USA and West Virginia. He is currently an emeritus professor of history at Marshall University where he continues to teach West Virginia history.

Reviews

“The Historical Atlas of West Virginia is a significant contribution to the literature on the state of West Virginia. . . . In all, a handsome and useful work . . . whose maps will be used by generations to come for a better understanding of our state.”
Kenneth C. Marris, West Virginia History

“ . . . fills a major gap in West Virginia historiography.”
West Virginia Archives & History News

Summary

From 1909 to 1913, Governor William Glasscock served the state of West Virginia as an ardent progressive and reformer. In his inaugural address he proclaimed government "the machinery invoked and devised by man for his benefit and protection” and good government the guarantor of the happiness, prosperity, success, and welfare of the people. Governor William Glasscock and Progressive Politics in West Virginia recounts the life and work of West Virginia’s thirteenth governor. Born during the Civil War, Glasscock witnessed a country torn by sectional, fratricidal war become a powerful industrial nation by the turn of the twentieth century. Author Gary Jackson Tucker demonstrates how Glasscock, along with others during the Progressive Era, railed against large and powerful political and economic machines to enact legislation protecting free and fair elections, just taxation, regulation of public utilities, and workmen’s compensation laws. Never hesitating to use the power of the state to stand firm against racism and mob rule, and placing his own personal safety in jeopardy, Glasscock won the praise and admiration of average people. Glasscock’s four years in office took his own health and financial security from him, but left behind a better government—a good government—for the people of West Virginia.

Contents

1. Foreword
2. The Origins of a Young Reformer
3. Mountain State Politics
4. The Evolution of a Progressive Governor
5. Settling Into Office
6. The 1910 Crash of the Republican Party
7. The Runaway Legislature of 1911
8. Divided Republicans Prepare for the War of 1912
9. Governor Glasscock and Violence in West Virginia
10. The 1913 Legislature: One Last Chance
11. Epilogue
12. Bibliography
13. Index

Author

Gary Jackson Tucker hold as PhD in History from  West Virginia University. Retired from the Wood County, West Virginia public school system, he presently teaches history at West Virginia University-Parkersburg.

Reviews

"An excellent contribution to Appalachian studies. Rather than a view of the region as a product of colonial settlers and isolation by the mountain terrain, the region is placed at the center of the many social conflicts that accompanied the industrialization process. At the forefront of modern scholarship, the book emphasizes the diversity of the region rather than its homogeneity."
Arthur G. Neal, Journal of American Culture

"West Virginians who wish to understand their history should read Gary Jackson Tucker's excellent book, which is both a biography and a political history of the Progressive Era in West Virginia. This book relates the battles for dominance between Progressive politicians and men of privilege and wealth. Tucker provides the background to understand current debates on issues, which were first argued in the West Virginia Legislature 100 years ago."
Dr. Kenneth Bailey, The State Journal

"Gary Jackson Tucker has written the definitive political biography of William E. Glasscock, West Virginia's seventh Republican governor. Tucker's research is impeccable, his prose is lively, and the narrative is tightly focused..."
Rand Dotson, The Journal of Southern History

"Although not published during the heated 2009 political season, Gary Jackson Tucker's examination of Governor Glasscock (1909-1913) sheds light on the historical origins and shortcomings of progressive politics in the state. By limiting his study to West Virginia state politics and the reform governor at the precise moment of deep-seated, changing political viewpoints, Tucker has helped reinvigorate the field of Progressive Era historiography."
William Hal Gorby, Appalachian Journal