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Beginning Knitting
This is a beginning knitting class with a fun, relaxed atmosphere. Students will learn three basic stitches: cast-on, knitting, and binding-off and will have a finished project at the end of class...
$40
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In February we celebrate Groundhog Day and Valentines Day, but do you know how these Holidays came about? If you are interested in learning more the website below offers a guide to every months Folklore traditions and Holidays.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College is sponsoring a study and travel abroad program in the summer of 2012 called Roads to Appalachia through Northern Ireland.
The trip, planned for July 13-28, 2012, will explore Northern Ireland from the Scotch-Irish roots of the 17th century to the conflict of the 20th century through a short-term course and on-site visits. Multiple day trips are planned to explore a significant portion of the six countries of Ulster.
“We will concentrate on understanding the historical background of the early Lowland Scots to Ulster, whom we call the Scotch-Irish. It was this group that immigrated to the back country of Appalachia from the early to late 1700s. We will also study the conflict era of the 20th century in Northern Ireland, learning how the conflict arose and how reconciliation is coming about in recent times,” said Dr. Judy P. Byers, Director of the Folklife Center.
Anyone in the community in addition to FSU and Pierpont students, faculty and staff, may apply to attend. FSU and Pierpont students have the opportunity to apply for scholarships to help defray the costs of the trip. Students must apply by Feb. 1. Those who enroll in the course FOLK 3350 Roads to Appalachia Study Abroad will receive three hours of college credit.
Before the trip, there will be opportunities for the participants to receive background information on the places to be visited. For itinerary information or to apply for the trip, contact Dr. Judy P. Byers at (304) 367-4286 or jbyers@fairmontstate.edu or the Folklife Center at (304) 367-4403 or wvfolklife@fairmontstate.edu or wvfolklife@pierpont.edu. Following is a link to the Student Scholarship Application and Trip Application: http://www.fairmontstate.edu/folklife/photo-gallery/roads-appalachia-through-ireland.
Byers and Noel W. Tenney, Cultural Specialist for the Folklife Center, will lead and host the program. Rev. Richard Bowyer, Minister Emeritus of the Wesley Foundation, will lead orientation sessions and assist with local Belfast arrangements. Sessions will be instructed by Dr. Johnston McMaster of Trinity College, Dublin/Belfast and a minister in the Irish Methodist Church. The Rev. David Kerr, with the East Belfast Mission, has provided local arrangements and will also lecture, present and travel with the group.
The trip will be centered in Belfast, where educational sessions and presentations will be held. Visits to museums, historical and natural sites and research centers are planned. The group will be housed at Farset Conference Center in Belfast. Air and land/lodging in Dublin is arranged by National Travel, Inc.
Pre-travel study sessions and presentations will be available during the spring and summer. A list of selected readings is available. Reading sets will be located in the Fidura Special Collections Library at the Folklife Center and at the Musick Library
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the shared main campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College will host a birthday celebration in honor of Francis H. Pierpont, “The Father of West Virginia.” Students, faculty and staff are invited to the Folklife Center for birthday cake and coffee from 9:30-10:45 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 25.
Historian JoAnn Lough will make a special appearance as Julia Robertson Pierpont to wish her “husband” a happy birthday.
Francis H. Pierpont, who was born on January 25, 1814, was the Governor of Restored Virginia from 1862-1868. Under his administration, the northwestern counties of Restored Virginia requested statehood and West Virginia, the 35th state, was born. Pierpont and his wife, Julia Robertson Pierpont, lived in Fairmont. Julia Pierpont died in 1886, and Francis Pierpont died in 1899. They are buried in Woodlawn Cemetery in Fairmont. Pierpont Community & Technical College carries on the Pierpont name today.
January is a month of historic birthdays:
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The birthday of Boaz Fleming, the founder of Fairmont, was January 3, 1758.
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Marion County was established on January 14, 1842.
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Fairmont, originally called Middletown, was established as a town on January 19, 1820.
The Folklife Center Announces
Roads to
Appalachia
through
Northern Ireland
Exploring Northern Ireland from the Scotch-Irish roots of the
17th Century to the conflict of the 20th Century through a
short term course and onsite visits
July 13-28, 2012
Sponsored by the Frank & Jane Gabor WV Folklife Center
on the Campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College
Partial Arrangements by National Travel, Inc.
(air and the land/lodging in Dublin)
In the summer of 2012, the “Roads to Appalachia
through Study-Travel Abroad” will travel to Northern
Ireland. This experience will take the format of an
intensive short course with multiple day trips to explore
a significant portion of the six counties of Ulster
which is Northern Ireland. We will concentrate on
understanding the historical background of the early
Lowland Scots to Ulster, of whom we call the Scotch-
Irish. It was this group that immigrated to the back
country of Appalachia from the early to late 1700s. We
will also study the conflict era of the 20th Century in
Northern Ireland, called “The Troubles,” learning how
the conflict arose and how reconciliation is coming
about in recent times. Sessions will be instructed by
Johnston McMaster, PhD, Trinity College, Dublin/Belfast
and a minister in the Irish Methodist Church. The Rev.
David Kerr, with the East Belfast Mission, has provided
local arrangements and will also lecture, present, and
travel with our group.
We will be centered in Belfast, where educational
sessions and presentations will be held, and we’ll be
making multiple visits to museums, historical and
natural sites, and research centers throughout Northern
Ireland. The group will be housed at Farset Conference
Center in Belfast, and the morning sessions will be held
there as well. Meals (as indicated on the Itinerary) will
include hot breakfasts, most lunches, and dinners at
Farset. <www.farsetinternational.co.uk>.
This special “Study-Travel Abroad” program will be
led and hosted by Dr. Judy Prozzillo Byers, Director,
and Noel W. Tenney, Cultural Specialist, both of the
Folklife Center, with orientation sessions and local
Belfast arrangements made with the assistance of Rev.
Dr. Richard Bowyer, Minister Emeritus of the Wesley
Foundation, FSU/Pierpont.
Pre-travel study sessions and presentations will be
available during late spring and early summer. A list of
selected readings are available. Accessible reading sets
will be located in both the Fidura Special Collections
Library at the Folklife Center and at the Musick Library.
Three hours of college credit, FOLK 3350, Roads to
Appalachia Study Abroad, are available
For more information or to get a trip application contact
Dr. Judy Byers (304) 367-4286
jbyers@fairmontstate.edu
jbyers@pierpont.edu
or
The Folklife Center( 304) 367-4403
wvfolklife@fairmontstate.edu
wvfolklife@pierpont.edu
Link to Student Scholarship Application and Trip Application
http://www.fairmontstate.edu/folklife/photo-gallery/roads-appalachia-through-ireland
trim Coast
News for Wednesday, November 09, 2011
As part of the Grand Opening Year events at the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College, a book signing is offered on Sunday, Nov. 13.
Authors Victor A. Basile and Dr. Judy Prozzillo Byers will discuss and sign copies of their new book “Italians in West Virginia” from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Folklife Center. The reception is sponsored by Rocco Muriale of Muriale’s Restaurant. To RSVP for the event, call (304) 367-4403 or (304) 367-4286 by Friday, Nov. 11.
“During our Grand Opening Year for the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center, we are striving to offer a variety of events that will bring town and gown to the Center. Mr. Basile and I hope that sales of our book will fund the start of a Folk Cultural Presentation Series that the Folklife Center will develop as part of its programming. The series would include such venues as lectures, workshops, instrumental and vocal concerts, exhibits, demonstrations and displays,” said Byers, who serves as Director of the Folklife Center.
The book, the newest local history in Arcadia Publishing’s Image of America Series, offers a new understanding of how immigrant laborers and their communities shaped the state’s regional history. This volume has more than 200 vintage photographs that have been collected from the West Virginia archival collections and Italian families, illustrating aspects of the immigrant experience. The photographs highlight the regional origin of the Italians, their work, communities, leisure time, ethnicity, family life and religion.
Basile, a native of Clarksburg, has served as the archivist of the American Italian Historical Association since 2004 and has been named Italian Man of the Year by the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival. On his retirement from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2001, he was named university librarian emeritus.
Byers, a native of Fairmont, is Director of the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center and the Abelina Suarez Senior Professor of English and Folklore Studies at FSU. As a folklorist she has been instrumental in establishing a cultural and student exchange program between the University of Calabria and FSU and is a founding member of the Calabria-West Virginia Italian Heritage Association. She has been named Italian Woman of the Year by the West Virginia Italian Heritage Festival.
Also on display will be an exhibition of photographs by Robin Belmear called “Images of Calabria, 2009-2011.
“Robin’s beautiful photography captures the essence of the region of Calabria in southern Italy from where many Italians migrated to form new lives in Central Appalachia of West Virginia,” Byers said.
Born and raised in Harrison County, Robin (Cleghorn) Belmear began taking pictures at the age of 8 when she received a Kodak “Brownie” camera for Christmas. She has been working as a freelance photographer since 1980, shooting weddings and portraits. After attending Fairmont State College in the 1990s, she received a B.A. in Education focusing in the fields of English and Library Science. Currently she is employed at Morgantown High School as a 10th grade English teacher and Media Specialist. In addition, Belmear teaches digital photography classes to adults through Pierpont Community & Technical College and the Monongalia County Technical School. She lives in Morgantown with her husband Michael and is the mother of four children.
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center is dedicated to the identification, preservation and perpetuation of our region’s rich cultural heritage through academic studies; educational programs, festivals and performances; and publications.
Grand Opening
The Frank & Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center
October 27, 2011 - 3 p.m. - Sqibb Wilson Blvd. Entrance
For more information or to register, click here
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GRAND OPENING CELEBRATION PLANNED
FOR THE FRANK AND JANE GABOR WEST VIRGINIA FOLKLIFE CENTER
A Grand Opening Celebration is planned for the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College.
As part of a week of events planned for Homecoming 2011, the Grand Opening Celebration will take place at 3 p.m. at the Folklife Center, which is located near the Squibb Wilson Boulevard entrance to the main campus.
Guests can sample traditional, old-time cookies, wassail and hot chocolate in the hospitality tent. Enjoy folk music selections, tour the Center and listen to an exhibit gallery talk in The Great Room of Cultures on the second floor. The Great Room of Cultures will be featured, showcasing the potential of the permanent exhibit, “A People Upon the Land.” A gallery talk will salute the first exhibit panel, “The Story of Coal.”
“The Grand Opening is really a ‘kick off’ of a year of celebration and events at the Foklife Center. Our Homecoming 2011 theme, ‘Let Your Dreams Become Your Reality,’ is perfect, for our dream of a folklife center has become a reality and a resource gift to our students, community and region,” said Dr. Judy P. Byers, Director of the Folklife Center.
The Folklife Center will be open to the public for an Open House during the weekend of Homecoming 2011. The Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 29.
As part of the celebration on Oct. 27, J. Davitt McAteer will be honored with the B.B. Maurer Folklife Scholar Award. The Traditions Salute Award will be presented to the Historic German Swiss Village of Helvetia, West Virginia.
 
The B.B. Maurer Folklife Scholar Award annually honors a person who has made an outstanding contribution to the preservation and perpetuation of our Appalachian cultural heritage. The award is named for Dr. B.B. Maurer (1920-2003), considered the “Father of Cultural Studies in West Virginia.” McAteer is an attorney, educator and author internationally recognized as an expert on mine health and safety issues in West Virginia and across the nation. McAteer will be available for book signings of his book, “Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster.”
McAteer worked with consumer and environmental advocate Ralph Nader to enact the landmark 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Acts. During the 1970s, he led the safety and health programs of the United Mine Workers and founded the Occupational Safety and Health Law Center. He was Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health at the United States Department of Labor under President Bill Clinton, the Acting Solicitor for the Department of Labor and an advisor to the recovery efforts at Ground Zero following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. As personal counsel for the State of West Virginia, he conducted independent investigations into the causes of mining disasters at Sago and Aracoma Alma No.1 which resulted in the passage of the 2006 U.S. Miners Act . In December 2007, he published “Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster” (West Virginia University Press) to commemorate the centennial anniversary of the worst industrial accident in United States history. The text was awarded the 2008 Bronze Prize for history in the Independent Publishers Book Awards.
The Traditions Salute Award annually honors a person or group that has demonstrated a passion and commitment toward the enhancement of West Virginia folk culture through education and public resources. The Historic German Swiss Village of Helvetia is a small village in the hills of Randolph County dedicated to maintaining its German Swiss traditions, food and folk ways. Helvetia Village gifts will be on sale at the event.
A group of FSU students representing the Folklife Center in the 2011 Appalachian Teaching Project Grant, sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission, have been analyzing the cultural and economic sustainability of the Helvetia Historic Village concept. Besides visiting Helvetia as part of their study, the students also journeyed to parts of Germany and Switzerland during the 2011 summer term to study the community’s origins through “The Roads to Appalachia Study Abroad Program,” directed by the Folklife Center.
Helvetia began in 1869 when a group of Swiss- and German-speaking immigrants calling themselves the Gruetli Verein settled in a mountain valley that they named “Helvetia,” in memory of their homeland, The Confederation of Helvetica (Switzerland), because many of them had originated from the Aargau Region. In addition to farmers and herdsmen, many craftsmen and professionals were among the settlers: stonemasons; carpenters; painters; wagon, shoe, watch, hat and cheese makers; musicians; teachers; ministers; and doctors. The community continued to thrive and even weathered The Great Depression to become a group of modern day folks who value education and a love for cultural heritage. In 1978, the Helvetia Village Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Many community organizations have kept the village life alive through traditional activities and events. Most festivities are annual celebrations, such as Fasnacht, The Helvetia Ramp Supper, Swiss National Holiday, Go Tell It On the Mountain Gospel Weekend, Helvetia Community Fair and Helvetia Day. The Star Band, which was one of the original organizations, still exists and has changed forms from a marching band to a dance band. The Folk Dance group that was formed in 1938 has evolved into a folklore group of singers, dancers, fanenschwengers (flag swingers), alphorn players and yodelers. Present businesses, such as The Hutte’ Restaurant, The Helvetia Shepherds, The Gift Shop and The Honey Shop have evolved over the many years into tourist oriented enterprises. The Helvetia Restoration and Development Archives Organization is growing into a Historical Society, providing a repository of Helvetia photographs and history and maintaining the Museum in one of the original cabins.
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center is dedicated to the identification, preservation and perpetuation of our region’s rich cultural heritage through academic studies; educational programs, festivals and performances; and publications.
A generous gift from Frank and Jane Gabor was applied to the adaptive reuse of the historic properties on the west side of campus, formerly known as The Colonial Apartments (c. 1941) and The Kennedy Barn site (c. 1903) on the original location of the Michael Kennedy Dairy Farm.
To RSVP for the Grand Opening Celebration, please contact Beth Martin at (304) 367-4009.
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New Traditions Vol.12 Out Now
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Moore West Virginia Literary Collection Donated to
Fairmont State University
Thursday, June 09, 2011
Through a donation by a couple with many ties to Fairmont State University, future scholars and students of West Virginia and Appalachian literature and history will have a new tool to aid their research.
On Thursday, June 9, James Howard Moore and Phyllis Wilson Moore of Clarksburg signed an agreement to contribute the Moore West Virginia Literary Collection to the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center and Fairmont State University.
“With all of the effort we put into this collection over the years, Jim and I really wanted to find it a suitable home. We just clicked with Dr. Judy Byers. Establishing that relationship made us realize the stewardship that Fairmont State University could provide, and we decided that FSU would be the ideal place for our collection,” Phyllis Moore said.
In recognition of its importance to the preservation and perpetuation of West Virginia literature, history and culture, the collection will be protected and catalogued.
“Fairmont State is honored to accept and maintain this important collection of West Virginia literature, research and archives. We appreciate the Moores for their diligence and dedication to preserve and promote this part of West Virginia’s culture and heritage, and we are glad to have them as part of the Fairmont State family,” said Dr. Maria Rose, FSU Interim President.
The Folklife Center and the Ruth Ann Musick Library will assist in the endeavor to prepare the collection for public use, and it will be housed in the Folklife Center on the main campus of FSU and Pierpont Community & Technical College.
“The Moore West Virginia Literary Collection is a valuable gift that will aid future literary scholarship. We thank them for being the caretakers of West Virginia literature for so many years and to now share their collection with a wider audience,” said Dr. Judy P. Byers, Director of the Folklife Center.
The Moores have ties to Fairmont State dating to 1881, when James Moore’s grandfather, Ira Corwin Moore, enrolled in Fairmont State Normal School. James Moore’s father, Lloyd Everett Moore, received his Fairmont Normal School certificate in 1912 and spent his life as a teacher and principal in Mannington. James Moore’s mother, Hazel Pearl Spring Moore, received her Fairmont Normal School certificate in 1916 and earned a bachelor’s degree from Fairmont State College; she spent her life teaching and as a principal in Mannington. Many members of the Moore and Wilson families either attended or graduated from Fairmont State.
A native of Pennsylvania, Phyllis Wilson Moore met James Moore at Fairmont State while she was taking first-year nursing classes through Fairmont General Hospital on the college campus and Jim was a Fairmont State student. She became a registered nurse in 1956.
In 1985, Phyllis Moore began to study the multicultural history of West Virginia as a hobby, which mushroomed into a major research project and inspired her to return to Fairmont State to study literature. Moore said she learned a great deal from faculty members, Dr. Jack Wills, Dr. George Byers and Dr. Judy P. Byers. In fact, Dr. Judy P. Byers’ support of the research project led to an informal collaboration between them. Phyllis Moore graduated from Fairmont State with a Regent Bachelor of Arts degree in 1990.
The Moores continued work on the project. Phyllis Moore identified and reviewed the literature, surveyed and interviewed authors, obtained materials and memorabilia, visited sites and developed programs. James Moore served as computer specialist and creator of PowerPoint presentations, created posters and bookmarks, was a photographer and a chauffeur. Phyllis Moore served as project director for the first West Virginia Literary Map, which was released in 2005 and illustrates West Virginia’s literary mile markers and related sites. Copies of the map are available today through the Folklife Center at http://www.fairmontstate.edu/folklife/.
The donated collection focuses on the literature included on the literary map, but it also features poetry and a broad range of nonfiction related to the history of the state and the Civil War. The collection includes books, archives, photographs, personal interviews with authors, correspondence and other related research and scholarship.
“Our research has always focused on the diversity of West Virginia with special emphasis on ethnicity, race, class and gender,” Phyllis Moore said.
Following are just a few of the items included in the collection:
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An autographed copy of “The Good Earth” by Pearl S. Buck, who was born in Pocahontas County.
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“Jamie Lemme See” (1975) by Juliette Ann Holley of Bramwell, which is considered the state’s first published children’s book with an African-American protagonist in a coal mining family.
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An undated copy of Morgantown High School’s Journalism Department’s “Peacepipe Passages,” including an essay by (then) student Lawrence “Larry” Kasden, who graduated in 1966. His career led him to Hollywood fame related to writing and directing some of the “Star Wars” series and much more.
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“A Vein of Riches” by Fairmont’s John Knowles, which is set in Fairmont and Marion County and is a first edition.
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center, which houses programs for Fairmont State University and Pierpont Community & Technical College, is dedicated to the identification, preservation and perpetuation of our region’s rich cultural heritage, through academic studies, educational programs, festivals and performances and publications.
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