Accessibility Statement
Sign Language Interpreting and Captioning Services are available by request for participants who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing. To request an Interpreter or Captioner please contact LibraryDeanOffice@mail.wvu.edu at least 3 business days prior to this event.
Mountaineers Are Always Free: West Virginia at 250 In-Person
The West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC) invites you to our 2026 West Virginia Day Celebration. As America celebrates its semiquincentennial, the WVRHC is reflecting on the history and culture of the Mountain State in the last 250 years.
At 2:00 p.m. in the Milano Room of the Downtown Library, WVU Associate Professor of History Dr. William "Hal" Gorby will lead a panel discussion with recent graduates of the WVU History department. Birthday cake and refreshments will be served.
Panelists include:
- Dr. Kristen Bailey, Bargaining for Statehood: The Intersection of Capitalism and Politics in the Creation of West Virginia, PhD, 2025
- Matthew Powell, White Paper and Black Water: Environmental Control of Labor in Appalachian Paper Mill Communities, MA, 2025
- David Solomon, Not Far Enough: The West Virginia Human Rights Commission and the Civil Rights Movement, MA 2025
- Dr. Jack Weaver, Rifles and Riflemen: Material Culture, Violence, and Early American Identity, 1720-1820, PhD, 2025
Immediately following the reception, attendees are invited up to the History Center to see the new exhibition, "Mountaineers Are Always Free: West Virginia at 250." The exhibit features the power of place in West Virginia, examines the people who call West Virginia home, and highlights stories of struggles for freedom and democracy across the state's history.
Registration is not required, but greatly appreciated for planning purposes.
- Date:
- Thursday, June 18, 2026
- Time:
- 2:00pm - 4:30pm
- Time Zone:
- Eastern Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Milano Reading Room
- Audience:
- Alumni Faculty Graduate Students Library Employees Public Undergraduate Students
- Categories:
- West Virginia & Regional History Center