Eastern Regional Coal Archives
@ Craft Memorial Library
Bluefield, Mercer County, West Virginia
Craft Memorial Library Building in which the Eastern
Regional Coal Archives Exist in a Section of the Top Floor
(Photo retrieved from http://www.coalwoodwestvirginia.com/erca.htm )
Week 2:
8th, 9th & 13th of June 2015
8th: 7.5 hours
9th: 7.0 hours
13th: 5.5 hours
Week 2 Total Hours: 20.0
The second week of my Archival Practicum has continued to spur my imagination and build local history intrigue. Where do I begin explaining the exciting archival adventures? This is turning out to be an even richer experience than I had planned upon...and I was very excited to come here to begin with! The collection with which I'm working continues to fascinate me. When Alex Mahood, Jr. passed away, his work collection came to ERCA. This collection includes his architectural materials, but even more historically, the architectural plans and specifications of his father, Alexander Blount Mahood, Senior. Along with this seems to be a hodgepodge of Mahood Family documents, including correspondence, genealogical materials, work and recreational ephemera.
One of the major
realization I made this week, while Curator Becky George and I were
categorizing the blueprints of ABM, Sr.'s work, was how he truly
designed, what is now, Bluefield, West Virginia's historic district.
The nationwide 'urban renewal' programs of the early 1960s decimated
the historic streetscapes of the once thriving metropolis of
Bluefield, leaving primarily, a core of structures at the city's
core. The outlying areas seemed to be razed in order to encourage
'light industry' development of which I found mention of in certain
documents from the Mahood collection. Regardless, the contemporary
'Downtown Bluefield Historic District' contains prominent buildings
that were designed by ABM, Sr. in the heyday of southern West
Virginia's coal rush (19-teens – 1950s). Not only that, Commerce
Street, on which the modern day public library and archives resides,
was heavily augmented through Mahood plans, creating a deep cut and
retaining wall system. This tells me that Mahood, Sr. heavily
influenced the development of downtown Bluefield, in both its
buildings, its layout and design. To this current day, buildings
such as: The West Virginian Hotel (WV's tallest building south of
Charleston, the state capitol!); The Law and Commerce Building
(Mahood's architectural office and Bluefield's 'first modern office
building'); and, The Commerce Bank (Headquarters of Cole Realty Co.,
a business which helped propel the Cole Family into statewide
prominence.) just to name a few.
This week, Becky and
I got the bulk of the Mahood blueprints categorized and stored in
specific locations within the archives closed stacks. Patrons who
will like to examine certain blueprints will have them retrieved by a
staff member and then allowed to work with them in the archive's
public reading room. As we categorized the blueprints, we kept lists
on legal pad sheets of paper. Then, as we found correct storage
space for them, we would record that on our lists. I am in the
process of recording that information on a Microsoft Word document,
which had already been started by Becky, and our efforts are doubling
the amount of information, therefore, intellectual and physical
control, over these priceless schematics. Categorization is by
state, county, City of Bluefield, residential, educational, and
religious. The majority of the architectural works we processed were
commercial.
Becky and I proving that archiving can be a laughing matter, while discussing the possible identity of the mysterious photograph signed to Alex Mahood, Sr.)
(Photo taken by WVU student researcher, Brian Smith)
As for the Mahood
Family memorabilia, I'm following the same guidelines which have been
used to process other materials within the ERCA. Going through the
unprocessed acidic brown cardboard box which the items had been
donated in, I separated items into archival quality folders and then
placed them in acid free boxes, keeping the original order in which I
found them. On the top left of the folder, I place the related date
to the item; on the top center of the folder, I write the contents.
On the top right, I place the collection name, Mahood, and below
that, the acquisition number, 95-260. The Mahood Collection was
acquired in 1995, hence the first number and it was the 260th
donation to be received by the ERCA since its inception in the early
1980s. The top of each folder looks as thus:
Content
Date(s) Folder Contents Mahood
95-260
This was an extra
special, and busy week for me concerning historic preservation and
southern West Virginia Industrial Age architecture. On Wed., two
members of the McDowell County Historical Society and I spoke to the
McDowell County Commission during their bi-monthly public meeting.
It was really more of an educational session for the commissioners,
staff, and public attending. We spoke of the societal, cultural, and
identity importance of historic preservation, the stellar record of
coalfield architects Alex Mahood, Sr. and Hassel Hicks, and the
economic impact of cultural heritage tourism. I think we made a
fresh case that caused quite a buzz in the room! Then, on Thurs., my
Stepdad (an avid McDowell County historian) and I visited Hassel
Hicks's grandson. Hicks was Welch, WV (County Seat of McDowell
County)'s premier architect during the coal rush of the 20th
Century. We had an animated visit, with wonderful conversation,
information, pictures and food! We plan on getting an article out
about the visit.
Next week, Becky and I plan on finishing the processing of the Mahood box of memorabilia, as well as, continuing to add to the Mahood Architectural Master List Microsoft Word document.
For additional informational reading about downtown Bluefield, including all her buildings designed by Mahood, please download the following PDF of the State Historic Preservation Office's Bluefield Historic District Application. http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/nr/pdf/mercer/87000630.pdf
ERCA Trademark
(Retrived from http://craftmemorial.lib.wv.us/images/archivelogo001.jpg )
