Housed in an award-winning repurposed historic barn building on the Fairmont State University campus, the Frank & Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center is home to the Ruth Ann Musick folklore archives, the Phyllis W. Moore West Virginia Authors archives, and the Patty Looman collection. These collections and additional archival materials can be made available for scholars and student researchers. The Center is part of the College of Liberal Arts and houses the University’s undergraduate programs in folklore and museum studies. The Center serves the University and the broader community through scholarship, publications, workshops, exhibitions, and outreach events.
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the campus of Fairmont State University 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.
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center is currently closed to the community. However, we are offering these online events which are free and open to the public.
The theme for the spring 2021 series is Labor Struggles and West Virginia’s Working Folk. You can join us on Cisco WebEx.
Tuesday, February 9, 7 p.m.
Fairmontstate.edu/GilliamWebEx
Tuesday, February 16, 7 p.m.
Fairmontstate.edu/MeredithWebEx
Tuesday, February 23, 7 p.m.
Fairmontstate.edu/NullWebEx
In addition to the author series, we will feature members of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild telling tales of courage on Tuesday, March 9 at 7 p.m. The link for this program is FairmontState.edu/TalesOfCourage
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center is pleased to announce the fall 2021 Phyllis W. Moore Authors Series. During the fall series, authors will continue to focus on labor in West Virginia while commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain. All events in the series are free and open to the public.
The Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center will begin work on an online curriculum and resource project, The Trunk of Traditional Tunes, funded by the West Virginia Humanities Council through a CARES Act Emergency Relief Grant.
The Fairmont State University Frank and Jane Gabor WV Folklife Center will host Dr. William Hal Gorby to commemorate an important time in West Virginia’s history through discussions around the labor struggles that led to the Battle of Blair Mountain, as the 100th anniversary of the battle approaches. The event is free and open to the public, and will take place on Monday, August 23 at 7 p.m. at the Folklife Center.