Preserving West Virginia's History

One of the greatest treasures maintained by the State of West Virginia lies in its official Archives kept in Charleston at the State Cultural Center. Over the past few years, historians and genealogists have grown uneasy about the future of the facility.

Plans have developed under Governor Manchin's administration to transform the current State Archives reading room into a cafe and have patrons utilize a lending library to examine documents. To those knowledgeable about the importance of documents and archives, this potential development sets off red flags.

Some of the documents in the care of the State Archives have real monetary value. An entire underground economy centers around the secret (and sometimes not so secret) trade in valuable signatures. In the past couple of years the State and Regional History Collection at West Virginia University had to make more strict its security procedures. They discovered some of their rare and precious documents on Ebay. Security would be even more difficult at a lending library.

Additionally concerns have been raised over the storage and serving of food in the same building as these documents. Experts fear that food will attract rodents and insects that could damage the documents. Governor Arch Moore rejected the placing of food service in the Cultural Center for that reason. The state has issued assurances that the highest standards of cleanliness will be followed. West Virginia University recently opened a coffee shop in the same library building that houses its important collections.

What raises most concern is the sudden sacking of longtime director Fred Armstrong. Under Armstrong, service at the State Archives facility was always timely and enthusiastic. Governor Manchin did not issue clear reasons why the thirty year employee was dismissed. Commentators from as widely varied political viewpoints as Gary Abernathy (The Republican Gazette) and Phil Kabler (The Charleston Gazette) have questioned this move on the part of the administration. I remember one of Marshall University's most prominent history professors, the late Robert Maddox, speaking very highly of him several years ago. The situation is certainly strange. This follows a series of odd moves by Manchin, such as his intervention in West Virginia University's football schedule, removal of political signs in the 2006 elections, and the infamous "open for business" signs, that raise questions and create negative attention.

At the end of the day preservation of West Virginia's history represents and important and vital trust. We hope that the decisions concerning that trust reflect the fact that preservation will remain one of the state's most important priorities.