Honoring Veterans

During November, we celebrate Veteran's Day. It's a day that we honor those who served in times of war and peace in our armed forces. The Russell County Public Library Local History Collection contains a wealth of information about the men--and women--who served in the armed forces.

RCPL's Local History Collection

Some stories are sad: Robert Calvin Hawkins was killed during the Korean Conflict. We have a small digital collection of his papers donated by his family. It's poignant to read the exchange of letters from the War Department to the family, informing them when and how his body would be returned to them for burial--by train to Abingdon.

Others are amazing. Russell County native Giles Jessee Adams, the only son of John Robert Alva Adams and Maude Puckett Adams, was a naval veteran. He continued serving after World War II and was on USS Noa when astronaut John Glenn and his Friendship 7 capsule were pulled out of the Pacific in February 1962.

The Cumbow Meeting Room at the Lebanon Library houses a memorial to the Russell County service members who were killed in action during the 20th century. Did you know that the Lebanon Meeting Room had a name? It's named for William C. Cumbow, a WW II veteran and prisoner of war, who was chair of the Library Board of Trustees when the building was constructed.

Stop by and take a look at the memorial wall or the collection of books on military history. You can learn about how war is conducted by looking at the wall. Just don't stop by on Saturday, November 11. We're closed in honor of Veteran's Day.

However you honor or remember Veteran's Day, never forget: we owe our freedom to those who serve.

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

Historic Russell County Day

 

Join us to celebrate Russell County History! The Library of Virginia is coming to Russell County Public Library with their LVA On the Go van. They will offer short talks and workshops listed below. There will be children’s activities and a chance to record your stories about the RCPL or your family. Where was the library the first time you visited? Do you remember the bookmobile - and Marion, the bookmobile driver?

Come to explore research resources, discuss regional and family history with knowledgeable LVA staff, discover educational materials, and much more. The Sons of Confederate Veterans will be camping on the lawn for the day, so you can even take a trip back in time.

You can visit all three Russell County museums this Saturday. The Dante Coal Miners and Railroad Museum, the Old Courthouse at Dickensonville, and the Honaker Heritage Museum will be open on Saturday, October 21. Explore your history and heritage!

10:30 am  Genealogy 101
11:00 am   Virginia Untold: The African American Narrative
Noon         Digital Resources from the Library of Virginia
1:00 pm    Russell County in Maps

Historic maps of Russell County will be on display in the Lebanon Library Meeting Room in October. And if you stop by the Honaker or Lebanon Library this month, we’ll give you a question you can use to start writing your family history. By the end of the month, you’ll have several pages of your family history.

Learn more about the Library of Virginia’s 200th anniversary. And visit your Russell County Public Library in October when we celebrate our 64th birthday.

 

School is in Session!

G. H. Givens announces school start date as September 4, 1935

We take the Russell County Schools for granted. But the school system we know took over a century to evolve. School commissioners were first appointed for Russell County in 1818; at that time the commissioners directed the schools. Russell County included what is now Wise, Buchanan, and Dickenson counties. In the 1840s the court laid out school districts under order of an act of the General Assembly. Several public and private schools served Russell County in the last half of the 1800s.

In 1870 a school system directed by a superintendent came into being. But the district boards cooperated with the county superintendent to manage school business until 1922. The present system of a county school board was enacted by state law in 1922.

In the 1930s the school board was appointed by the Trustee Electoral Board (who were appointed by the Judge of Circuit Court.) The school board, the superintendent, and the clerk of the board were the only members of the school administration!

In honor of the newly appointed superintendent, Dr. Kimberly Hooker, here's a list of the superintendents.

E. D. Miller
D.C. Alderson
M. C Clark
W. J. Kendrick
William L. Patton
H. W. Fugate
R. N. Anderson
G. H. Givens  1928-1965
Alex Levicki  1965-1971
Omer Elkins  1971-1973
A.P. Baldwin  1975-1976
David Musick  1976-1979
Charles Long  1979-1985
Larry Massie  1985-2000
Dr. Lorraine Turner  2000-2010
Dr. Michael Puckett  2010-2012
Dr. Brenda Hess  2012-2016
Dr. Gregory Brown  2016-2022
Dr. Kimberly Hooker  2022-

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

School Memories and Teacher Appreciation Week

Photos of old Russell County schools

Since it's Teacher Appreciation Week, we have a suggestion. Call that teacher you remember fondly from your school days. Call that teacher who was so hard on you, because s/he believed you could do more than you thought you could. 

Teachers make us think of schools, so we also want to highlight the history of Russell County Public Schools. In the first half of the 20th century, most schools in Russell County were one- or two-room frame buildings. In 1930, for the white population, there were 81 schools. Seventy-two were elementary schools, and while no elementary school had more than five teachers, 43 schools had only one teacher! The five high schools were Cleveland, Dante, Honaker, Lebanon, and Temple Hill (Castlewood.)

In 1930, there were four elementary schools for African American children and no high school. One school serving these children was the Arty Lee School in Dante. It was named after Artemus 'Arty' Foster and Lee Long. Arty Foster, an African-American community leader, is credited with convincing Long, Clinchfield Coal Company vice-president, to build the school. High school grades were not added until about 1940. In 1953 a new Arty Lee School was opened that contained all eleven grades.

When they added the high school grades at the African American school in Dante, African American students were bused from Lebanon, Castlewood, and adjoining counties (as contract students.) In the middle of the century, Virginia and the Southwest Counties had high drop-out rates. Arty Lee School helped address this issue.

During May we will feature photos of some of the old schools on our social media accounts. Stop by the Lebanon Library where we will have a large frame with pictures of many of these schools.

Do you have memories of a school that has been closed? Share them. Time marches on, but the memories remain. And give that teacher a call.

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

The Invisible Half of the County

Russell County Public Library founded 1959

For thousands of years, women were the invisible half of the population. History records the men who led or excelled. Yet, when women were not elected to offices or appointed to boards, they still served. Women led. Look at this picture. The Women's Club was instrumental in the foundation of the public library in Russell County. And they did it in hose, heels, and hats. (And they had to iron much of what they wore...when was the last time you used an iron?!)

Women are more than half the population, yet we are still not represented fully in our communities' jobs and roles. We need to step up to the plate and serve--apply for the job, run for the office, coach the team.

As we take our full and rightful roles in society, we need to remember the women in the past and the present who have filled important roles, large and small. The Women's History Essay Contest is your opportunity to honor a women who is native to or lived in Russell County. Russell County Public Library holds the Women's History Essay Contest every other year and the judges use the essays to recommend women for the Russell County Women's Hall of Fame. 

Write the women of Russell County into history with your essay.

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph 

Agricultural Roots of the Fair

Photo from the Virginia Tech Imagebase

When you think of the county fair, what comes to mind? A midway with rides and bright lights? Or once-a-year food treats like funnel cakes and cotton candy?

Demolition derbies and well-known entertainers are standard attractions now. But there's still the horse and mule pull and the horse shows, where you see little boys so small they can walk under the bellies of their mounts, girls racing around barrels, and men and women with fast walking horses, their manes and tails streaming behind them. 

Our agricultural roots are the foundation of fairs. The annual fair was an opportunity to show off your livestock. A prize-winning bull or mare might be sold for a good price, or bring income when bred. When we rarely traveled outside our county, the annual fair was a chance to catch up with distant neighbors, as well as take a breath after the long days and hard work of growing and harvesting.

Photo from the Virginia Tech Imagebase

Folks still enjoy the exhibits. Fairs are a chance to show off your culinary skills (canned goods to pies), growing prowess (the biggest pumpkin or tomato or dahlia), and artistic skills (sewing, painting, photography, crafts.) The commercial exhibits give local businesses a chance to talk face to face with current or future customers. 

The 1890 Census of Agriculture shows Russell County with over 1500 farms producing 144,489 bushels of apples (43,259 bearing trees), plus the cherries, peaches, and pears. Sheep production for that year was 9161 fleeces (35,084 pounds of wool.) The cows produced more than 1 million gallons of milk in 1890. Russell County produced 840 lbs. and 48 gallons of maple syrup (with 170 acres in sorghum, making 85 gallons of molasses.) Over 150 acres of potatoes (Irish and sweet) produced over 10,000 bushels.

In 1954 Russell County had over 2,000 farms with over 200,000 acres in production. In the 2017 Census of Agriculture, Russell County had 918 farms with 170,285 acres in production. The volume of crops produced in the 21st century pales when compared to the variety of crops produced a hundred years ago. A big buzz has been about growing hemp; Russell County grew that in 1890. But in 2017 no production of sorghum or wool fleeces.

The earliest fairs date from 1916 and the Russell County Fair and Horse Show began at Lebanon in 1923 and resumed after World War II in 1948. The community changes but the rituals remain... for nearly 100 years. 

 

 

 

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

Digital and Distanced

As the summer ends, Russell County Public Library is moving more programs to digital platforms like Facebook and Zoom. Storytime returned today, September 9, on Facebook. In the weeks after, watch for book groups and crochet groups to start ‘meeting’ online.

Newspaper clipping in the Lebanon PTA minutes

We have beefed up our collection of juvenile ebooks since the children will have limited access to their school libraries under the current hybrid schedule. We are also issuing each K-12 student a generic digital-access-only library card. The school librarians will distribute them in late September.

As the coronavirus continues through the population, everyone continues to adjust and become accustomed to the new normal. We will provide programs and suggest books and movies, allowing you to keep that safe distance of 6 feet.

We have loads of old, archival material coming available online this fall. School pictures from Castlewood (1940s-1970s), the Parent Teacher Association Minutes for Lebanon Elementary (1928-1950), business records for J.H. Lockhart, Dentist, of Honaker, and more will be linked from our Local History Page by October 1.

Family History Month will be celebrated in October. To introduce you to genealogy and recording your family history--while on a little screen--our plans include an ‘instructional’ video, a video chat/check-in, a webpage with links and downloadable pages, and a packet with forms and hints to help you each week of the month.

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

Remembering COVID-19

Remember?! This dangerous new virus is consuming some of us with worry now. But in March 2021? In 5 years? 25 years? There will come a day when all this worry, annoyance, and fear is both a memory and our history.

Experts suggest we write down our experiences, hopes, and fears during this pandemic. These writings help us work through our feelings and give us a record for the future. Some day a youngster may ask you what it was like not being able to go out to eat or work. We offer hints on writing below; don't be intimidated. Anything you write will be like gold to your grandchildren.

After you have vented or worried about COVID-19 on paper or a digital file (we discourage using social media), here's a suggestion. After writing, have a family history chat.

Talk about how this is different from crises/events important to other generations (9/11, Challenger, JFK assassination, etc.). Talk about how these events affect the economy (what industries falter, which ones thrive, and what does that mean locally). Take a look at the RCPL Local History page and click on Russell County Rootsweb. This website has many interesting historical documents (deeds and probate, church, and military records).

If you have kids at home, congratulations: You just completed a lesson including geography, history, economics, and a smattering of science (COVID-19, Challenger, 9/11). Not so bad, eh?

Writing daily in a journal has been a way to see our world for thousands of years. (Look at the Dickenson manuscript on the Local History page.) If you write daily, you may find you have established a new habit that soothes your soul.

Writing Hints

• Write for 30 minutes. It seems WAY too long, and your kids will whine about it (so will you), but do it. Set a timer, and everybody writes until it rings.
• It doesn't matter what you write - just put words on the page for thirty minutes.
• This is so stupid. I can't write for 30 minutes. I mean, I have nothing to say. If I could go see my hairdresser, now I could talk for an hour straight, but UGH. I hate this virus. I hate being stuck in the house. And honestly, I hate being responsible for my kids' education. See how easy that was? Keep going!
• It's okay to share writing "triggers" each day when you start. (Your child's teacher can offer some suggestions.)
• What do I miss most?
• If this time at home were a gift, how would I use it?
• If I could travel anywhere in the world, where would I go? Why choose that place?
• What do I want to be when I grow up?      
• Who do I most admire & why?
• What are my dreams? 
• List my favorite books/songs/movies
• The most disappointed I've ever been....
• The biggest lie I've ever told...
• My saddest memory....
• What would I do if I knew I could not fail?
• Three things I can't do without.

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

#RCPL60

Russell County Public Library celebrates 60 years of serving the community this month. Join us for cake at Honaker Community Library on October 7 and at Lebanon Library on October 22. You can take a picture to share with our selfie frame.

All month long we have Library BINGO. Treat our print calendar like a Bingo card: get a sticker when you attend a program (like the cake celebration!), check out material, or just show up in character costume. (Who will you come as? Joffrey from Game of Thrones? Harry Potter? Fancy Nancy? Jane Eyre or Mr. Darcy?)

Opening Day, Russell County Library

RCPL opened as a Demonstration Library in October 1959 on the second floor of the
Courthouse.  Library Director Kelly McBride Delph calls the picture on the right the "Founding Mothers" of RCPL. The Honaker Community Library opened more than 40 years later, also in October.

Now we are more than just books and magazines. Use your library card to download free ebooks, music, audiobooks, magazines, and music. Stop in and join our community.

Snapshots of History

Photography has been around since the early 1800s, but for the first 100 years, it was mainly used by professionals and the wealthy. Older techniques were labor-intensive, requiring specialized equipment and expert knowledge. Eastman Kodak released the first film camera in 1888, but at $25 (roughly $650 today) it remained prohibitively expensive.

Brownie 2 camera

Eastman Kodak finally brought photography to the masses with the introduction of the Brownie camera in 1900. Retailing for just $1, it was initially marketed to children but became popular with adults as well. By 1905 Kodak had sold 10 million Brownies.

This democratized photography. Now ordinary men and women could take photos of the people and places that mattered to them. These candid shots feel more real because we can see people going about their lives much like we do today - maybe even in the same places.

RCPL's digital photo archive preserves our history by showing where and how the people of Russell County lived, worked, played, and worshipped. And we want you to help! Saturday, August 24, is Photo Scan Day. Bring your old photographs in to be scanned. We'll add the digital photo to our archive, give you a digital copy and a new print copy as well. We're especially interested in places like churches, schools, and businesses.

We'll be open an extra two hours until 5 PM for Photo Scan Day, so please come and help us preserve our shared history!

Source:
https://daily.jstor.org/how-the-brownie-camera-made-everyone-a-photographer/


Contributed by Katie Gilmer

A Story Told in Maps

New road vs. old road on Rt. 80 at the Doubles,
between Honaker and Rosedale, 1945

The old road fascinates me. When you drive along, look off to the side of the road. You can often see the old roadbed snaking around the side of the hill. The new road is brazen by comparison, cutting through hills and straightening all those curves. The old road meanders by comparison, and now often has trees growing in it.

An exhibition of Russell County maps is on view June through August in the Cumbow Meeting Room of the Lebanon Library. Visit the exhibit to see those old roads and how the network grows. The exhibit may be viewed any time the library is open.

Early court records note that individuals charged with keeping the rudimentary roads open were sometimes fined for not doing their duty. The earliest roads can be found in the law books when acts of the assembly incorporate turnpike companies (upon subscription of the requisite number of shares!) The act noted the road must be at least 16 feet wide (exclusive of ditches) and not more than three (3) degrees of grade.

A nice table listing the roads existing before the establishment of the state highway system is found in A Social and Economic Survey of Russell County by Leland B. Tate. (it's available at the library and online.) Along with the state highway system came the railroads. Railroads helped communities grow, and then as the rail traffic dwindled, so did the communities.  Here in the mountains, new and improved roads resulted in changed communities.

Back to my fascination with old roads. I dreamed of having a plane follow the old road. Now I think using a drone would be even better. You can truly have a bird's eye view of the path trod 100 years ago. Remember in the old days, communities were about a day's walk--or a horseback ride--apart.

I always want to walk the old road. I want to see the view residents would have seen 100 years ago. I want to walk in the footsteps of our ancestors. The maps on exhibit are a little window into the world as our ancestors saw it. Come look through that window in time.

Contributed by Kelly McBride Delph

Reunion Season

The Long-Couch House in Dante

The Summer Reading Program is the library’s big focus in the summer, but family reunions are so prevalent that this library staffer also thinks of summer as reunion season. Family reunions bring back folks who have moved away. Summer also brings many visitors to the RCPL’s Local History Collection; people who are tracing their family history often find that the family came through Russell County in the past. Family reunions abound, but it’s not just family reunions. Many high school classes meet during the summer.  Old schoolhouses or churches are cleaned up and homecomings are held. 

This weekend, the Dante Reunion is taking center stage in Russell County. Turkey’s Foot was the original name of the community (because the hollows looked like a turkey’s foot when viewed on a map.) Once the largest community in Russell County, Dante thrived when the Clinchfield Coal Company was headquartered there.  Dante boasted a movie theatre, hospital, schools, stores, bank, hotel, and a beer garden. Much of this was owned by the company but it made for a thriving community.

Dante still has a post office, fire department, museum, and the will to live. One of the first communities in Russell County to try to revitalize itself, Dante continues to try to buck the trend of dying small towns.  Dante’s diverse history and culture make it unique in Russell County. Much of the diversity was due to the coal mines; immigrants working in the coal mine included people from what are now the Slavic republics. African-Americans worked in the mines in sufficient numbers the county provided a high school for their children during segregation. When the high school, called the Artie Lee School, closed the students began attending Castlewood High School.

Visit the Dante Coal Mining and Railroad Museum to learn more about Russell County's history. 

Posted by Kelly McBride Delph

Writing Our History

Women are half of the population; but if you read history, you hear mostly about the men who led society for years. The women were always there, but in the shadows. Come March, we encourage you to shine a light on women, specifically a Russell County woman.

In honor of Women's History Month, this March Russell County Public Library will again sponsor our Women's History Essay Contest. The purpose of the contest is to highlight women in Russell County history and to suggest women who might have a place in the Russell County Women's Hall of Fame.

The contest deadline is March 15 and the word limit is 500, so you must be brief and to the point. Click here for additional guidelines.  A panel of independent judges reads the essays and their decisions are final.

Join us at the Lebanon Library on March 29 at 5 pm for our Women's History Celebration. We will honor the winning authors and induct any nominees to the Hall of Fame.

March is only a few weeks away, so start thinking and making notes now. Create our history one word--and one woman--at a time.

Contributed by Kelly McBride Delph

Share the Memories and Save our History

Your memories ARE part of our history. The stories you've heard family tell, maybe about an old one-room or two-room schoolhouse that they attended? Please share those stories with the Russell County Public Library. This year the library is collecting history as part of the celebration of the Library’s 50th anniversary. (Your photographs are also welcome.) Later this year a library program will share the collected stories, history and photographs.

Church minutes, lists of school principals or preachers, sad or just plain funny stories are all welcome and may be added to the local history collection. Photos related to stories or photos of people and places in Russell County may also be added to the collection. Your stories and photos are wanted by the library because these stories make up our history--black history, women’s history, everyone’s history of Russell County. It’s been nearly half a century since a comprehensive book was written on Russell County and more than 20 years since the last Heritage book was published.

So if you still remember that story you heard in childhood that was told and retold around the counter of the country store, write it down and send it in. Set loose the Russell County history that’s trapped in your memory!

Send your stories and photos, memories and history to the attention of Jennifer Bundy at the Russell County Public Library (jbundy@russell.lib.va.us)