Transcripts For CSPAN3 West Virginia State Museum 20240713

Today, we will be talking about the early frontier, the development of the state, the industrialization of the state and we will go into the later andury, the 21st century see what virginia is today. We are in the museum frontier period. These are some of the earliest settlers. We are staying next to george washington, where it has specific artifacts such as his used and the telescope he to cite land here in the valley as well as in the eastern panhandle. Fort washington would have been here in the mid1700s. During this time, this was western virginia. It was part of the state of area thatnd it was an was not greatly developed. A lot of the ideas of separation, becoming a separate state and things of that nature were not being put into this area. These are artifacts that belong to daniel boone when he settled in the area. He was in the valley for about 10 years from 1789 to 1799. This is the rifle daniel boone carried in the 1790s. This is his Walking Stick and beaver traps that he used to trap the river. He was also a surveyor. Hes is a signed deed that surveyed land in the area and this is the way he marked a stone. Daniel boone was very important at the time. He was one of the representatives of the newly formed county in the 1790s, and he was very involved in both politics and development. We are in the family cabin that was built in 1870. Of whatin is a showcase type of a structure people lived in during that time. This cabin was used as the Vice President s it was a school house, it has been a little bit of everything. Ofhave used it as a showcase artifacts, because you would not necessarily have everything in a cabin at this time. , allof the artifact to see those things would have been from that time. Sideboardking at a made by the washington family. It is handcarved, beautifully decorated. Here, we call it the table from fort lee. The president of the historic french society, which predates the museum there was a tornado that went through charleston during the 1890s, and in order to preserve these pieces of fort lee, he made into a table. And aa beautiful piece treasure. Madeis a coverlet that was for a wedding in 1793. One of the very first in the collection. Wet a West Virginian, you know james as the inventor of the steamboat. This was his daughter. We are in the West Virginia state museum, where we talk about Harpers Ferry and the rate on the Harpers Ferry armory, a raid on secured that facility. He wanted additional weapons. He figured slaves from the area would join and that would be the beginning of a movement. Unfortunately for him, there was an africanamerican killed, the first person killed on the rate and other people from the town and that got people who were living in the area to combat john brown and try to stop he was trying to do. John brown is said to have started the very first beginnings of the civil war. John brown was captured and there is a mural in this exhibit that shows john brown with a comrade laying beside him. These are the charges against john brown. He was tried for treason. We are currently in the statehood room of the museum. This is the area that discusses the reasons for West Virginia becoming a state in 1863. Western virginians were looking to become a state earlier than improvementsing at that were not happening in the area. Inroads of transportation for not with the expected. Ton the civil war came along join the confederacy, that is when West Virginia called for separation. Western virginians were very divided over slavery. Region, what side they were involved in, there were brothers who one would fight for the confederacy and the other for the union. Even though they wanted statehood, they wanted to become a separate state, the state of West Virginia, they were very divided on slavery. We are now in the transportation section of the museum. Just after statehood, West Virginia, now that they are railroads,developing transportation routes. Things about this time is the development in coal and oil and gas. Those are Natural Resources West Virginia had plenty of with the development of transportation. They were able to get those goods to market, and West Virginia became a leader in the production of coal and oil and gas. River transportation was very important. One of the great things about West Virginia as we developed the lock and dam system that enabled us to utilize our rivers to better get products out of the various areas and to market. Is 12. 5 see behind me feet in diameter. It is from the sheer on the canal and ohio rivers. They were on the rivers in this area. Earlier, when we were talking about coverlets, we talked about james rossi, inventor of the steamboat. He developed a process and showed it to george washington. We have a model of the steamboat on the state museum collection. Some have referred to him as the first engineer in the country. Been a lot ofhas first in production manufacturing borrow the history of the united states. One of the leaders is the China Company that produced more china than any other company in the world. Today, you know it for fiesta where. They are also very big in dinnerware. Madevirginia not only china, but glass, one of the Top Producers of glassware. Michael owens developed the first automated bottling plants for the production of glass bottles. Highway was the largest producer of sheet glass of anybody in the world at a time. When you talk about West Virginia leading the way in production, in manufacturing, coal is one of the resources that has shaped the history of West Virginia. I goes back, it actually ties a lot of the things we talked about together. Coal was vital in the salt industry. That goes back to the early 1800s. Coles big boom started as far back as the 1840s, 1850s, but just before statehood. The railroad, especially the develop meant of the chesapeake and ohio railroads to open up coal mines, opening coal to become what we are today as one of the producers, not only of the country, but of the nation and the world. Is a, West Virginia significant part of the economy of the state, because of elopments in how you might how you mine coal and equipment. There are not as many coal miners as there were at one point, and the market depends on a lot of things, but coal is still very important in the state of West Virginia. We are currently in the art and craft room. This room shows glass, woodworking, quilting, textile making, marble making. Just a little bit of everything. It shows the sort of things that weve throughout the history of the state of West Virginia, and today, all of these are important now as they were them. We have our annual quilt exhibition, which are some of the most beautiful quilt you will ever see. Exhibition juried every two years. This showcases some from past years. Director, i often interact with visitors, and one thing they want to tell me after they have toward the state understandhat they what the state of West Virginia is about, and that is what we want them to get. The understand that hardworking people, the development of manufacturing and all the other components in the fabric of our people are represented in this museum. West virginia is a proud people and we hope that once you go youugh the state museum, understand the fabric in the history of the state. Announcer 1 our cities tour staff recently traveled to charleston, West Virginia, to learn about its rich history. To watch more video from charleston and other stops on our tour, visit cspan. Org cities tour. You are watching American History tv, all weekend, every weekend on cspan3. Next on history bookshelf, Jean Edward Smith talks about his biography of fdr. He examines the president s private and public life, which included his battle with polio, has outlook on the economy, and his relationship with his wife. We recorded his remarks at the Franklin D Roosevelt president ial library and museum in 2007. I am happy to start the session in which we meet Jean Edward Smith, the author of the new biography of fdr. As i was telling him, we are so delighted to have a new biography, particularly a single volume biography, which makes it much more accessible for everybody to be able to have the story in