Kicking Off Black History Month

Black History Month was created by the famous African American historian, Carter G. Woodson, in 1926. Originally known as “Negro History Month,” it was a response to what Woodson saw as a disturbing lack of Black history and narratives included in history curriculum—he wanted to encourage African Americans to rediscover their past that was intentionally forgotten or erased in mainstream history.

February cannot be the only month to engage with Black history—it is crucial that we learn about and celebrate Black history, stories, and narratives every day. However, Black History Month is an important time to acknowledge how much Black history has been excluded—both intentionally and accidentally—from mainstream culture and history. It is not a pigeonhole, but rather a time to elevate and reshare resources that help us engage with Black history all year long.

Weelunk strives to be a platform that uplifts and shares diverse and nuanced histories that are related to the Wheeling area. Continue to watch the Weelunk page for new articles by and about Black history and African American contributions to the Wheeling community. In the meantime, to kick-off Black History Month, Weelunk has compiled a list of resources to help you further explore African American history, stories, and narratives in Wheeling and West Virginia.

Selected Weelunk Articles

• The Green Book: Navigating Wheeling During Segregation
• Wheeling’s Twentieth Man: 250 Years of Race Relations in the Northernmost Southern City of the Southernmost Northern State
• American Legion Post 89 Making Community Proud
• The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Courage of Ann Thomas
• Celebrating Juneteenth Wheeling Style
• “The Black Community in Wheeling” (1920)
• Support Black-Owned Businesses in the Wheeling Area
• How an Ohio Valley Resident Became Black Baseball’s First Historian
• The Mysteries of Mabel: Journalist, Working Woman, and Mother
• The Blue Triangle Branch of the YWCA
• Cumberland W. Posey: The Millionaire Industrialist You Probably Haven’t Heard Of

Ohio County Public Library Resources

• African American Wheeling Research Page: Compilation of Wheeling African American history resources available at the Ohio County Public Library
• The Wheeling Memory Project: Ann Thomas
• The Wheeling Memory Project: William Burrus
• Wheeling Spoken History Project: Numerous Interviews

Selected Archiving Wheeling Blog Articles

• Wheeling-born Maestro Celebrates 100th Birthday
• Colonel Bill Turner: Wheeling’s First Black Police Officer

West Virginia Archives and History

• West Virginia Archives and History Center: African Americans: Compilation of West Virginia African American history resources at the West Virginia Archives and History Center
• Celebrating Lives: A Glimpse of African-Americans in West Virginia: A photo exhibit of African American life in West Virginia

West Virginia Public Broadcasting

• African American History Tagged Articles: Compilation of articles by West Virginia Public Broadcasting that have to do with African American history, with a focus on West Virginia

Other General Black History Resources and Institutions

• West Virginia Center for African-American Art & Culture
• Heritage Towers Museum and Cultural Center: A museum and cultural center that provides enriching educational and cultural enlightenment and is a premier Black culture and African Heritage facility in the state of West Virginia.
• Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture: Museum located in Washington, DC that is dedicated to African-American history and culture. Many of its artifacts and documents are digitized online.
• Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture: A research library that is part of the New York Public Library that is an archive repository for information on people of African descent worldwide. Many documents and exhibits are digitized online.

Historical Instagram Accounts

(Not necessarily focused on West Virginia)

• @blackbygodwv: Black news to, from, and by West Virginians. This Instagram account shares historical photos of Black West Virginians
• @blackarchives.co: Brings a spotlight to Black experiences through historic photos
• @race_women: Honoring our earliest Black feminist foremothers through historic photos and histories
• @blackhistory: Black history through historical photos from around the world

Note: This is not a comprehensive list, but merely a starting point to exploring, discovering, and learning more Black history.

• Emma Wiley, originally from Falls Church, Virginia, served as an AmeriCorps member with Wheeling Heritage researching and writing historical content for Weelunk from 2020-21. Emma has a B.A. in History from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. and is passionate about connecting communities, history, and social justice.