Local History & Essays

This section focuses on nonfiction and essays on or containing excerpts with Black History in West Virginia in the WVRHC Rare Book Room. The extended collection includes six books.

Title: Is the Negro a Beast?
Creator: William Gallio Schell
Date Created: 1901
Abstract: Born in North Star, Ohio, Reverend William Gallio Schell wrote lyrics and created melodies for hymns and wrote “The Better Testament” in 1899 on Christian theology. He wrote and published this book in reply to the 1900 book The Negro a Beast, or, In the Image of God by Professor Charles Carroll. Schell’s response uses Christianity and scientific reasoning—also Carroll’s preferred methods-- to debunk Carroll’s theories of enslaved Black Americans being equivalent to animals made by God to be enslaved by white people. His book was published by Gospel Trumpet publishing company, a publisher that started in Michigan and relocated to Moundsville, WV in 1898. This source would be useful for research on Black Theory during Reconstruction.
Source: WorldCat

Title: Documentary History of Reconstruction, Political, Military, Social, Religious, Educational & Industrial, 1865 to the Present Time
Creator: Walter L. Fleming
Date Created: 1907
Abstract: From 1903 to 1907 Walter L. Fleming was a professor teaching history at West Virginia University, his focus as a historian being to document the era of Reconstruction in the South. In these two volumes Fleming documented the economic and social condition of the South after the Civil War, the treatment of Black Americans after the war and emancipation, and the steps taken by the U.S. Congress to achieve Reconstruction in America. The events he documented ranged from 1865 to 1906 and his tone in the book is very matter-of-fact, described by W.E.B. Du Bois as having “a certain fairness and sense of historic honesty”. This book would be a highly useful resource for research on Reconstruction in the South, Black History, and Southern History.
Source: WorldCat

Title: History of the Making of Morgantown, West Virginia
Creator: James Morton Callahan
Date Created: 1926
Abstract: Dr. James Morton Callahan served as a chair of Department of History and Political Science from 1902 to 1929 at West Virginia University and has a documented “Callahan Lecture Series” at WVU to celebrate his history at the university as a historian. In this book he documented the beginnings of Morgantown being established as a city, documenting the geographical history, sketching prominent families, the civic affairs, and the evolution of churches, bars, and schools. From pages 124-125 Callahan documented the abolition of a whipping post that was near Court Alley, which was near the famous Old Stone House. This source would be useful for research on the History of Morgantown, Black History in Morgantown, and Reconstruction in Morgantown.
Source: WorldCat

Title: The Negro and The Sunny South: A Lecture
Creator: Samuel Creed Cross
Date Created: 1899
Abstract: Samuel Creed Cross was a white America born in Morgan County, WV who documented the state of racial relations during the reconstruction era in the South. During his life he witnessed how Black Americans were spoken about and treated in the South, specifically recounting his interactions with freed Black Americans and their thoughts on slavery and reconstruction. In this book he disputes the common rhetoric perpetuated by white people at the time of Black people being “happier” in slavery, defending Black Americans on their character, spirit, and culture. This book has gained popularity since its publishing and has been seen as an iconic American reconstruction source. This is a good source for research on Black life in the South, Black History, Southern History, and West Virginian History.
Source: WorldCat

For all Local History & Essays Citations, see the following page: