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["Louis Lou Berry Birurakis (b. March 22, 1926) is a native of Liberty, West Virginia in Scotts Run. His parents were Greek immigrants from Crete. His father was a coal miner who was blackballed for his participation in the union and after he was fired, started a business in Scotts Run. Birurakis was a football player at WVU and is an amateur historian and a writer. In the interview, he speaks about his family, growing up in Scotts Run, and his experience on the WVU football team. He also tells a story about his mothers encounter with Eleanor Roosevelt when she visited Scotts Run.This interview is part of a collection of interviews conducted with Scotts Run natives/residents and/or members of the Scotts Run Museum."]%

1. Louis “Lou” Berry Birurakis at the Scotts Run Museum, holding an art book about him created by one of Eve Faulkes' students at WVU

Identifier:
4224.BirurakisBerryLouis.Photo.001.2.23.19
Title:
Louis “Lou” Berry Birurakis at the Scotts Run Museum, holding an art book about him created by one of Eve Faulkes' students at WVU
Date:
4224.BirurakisBerryLouis.Photo.001.2.23.19
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Artists' books, Scott's Run (W. Va.), Community museums, Football players, Greek Americans
Location:
Scott's Run (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

2. Folk art representations of the Flatwoods Monster on display at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 1 of 2

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.012.1.30.20
Title:
Folk art representations of the Flatwoods Monster on display at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 1 of 2
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Painted signs and signboards, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.), Monsters, Community museums, Folklore, Folk art
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

3. Folk art representations of the Flatwoods Monster on display at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 2 of 2

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.013.1.30.20
Title:
Folk art representations of the Flatwoods Monster on display at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 2 of 2
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Monsters, Community museums, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.), Painted signs and signboards, Folk art, Folklore
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

4. Homemade Flatwoods Monster children's costume displayed at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.014.1.30.20
Title:
Homemade Flatwoods Monster children's costume displayed at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk art, Monsters, Children's costumes, Folklore, Community museums, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.)
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

5. Homemade Flatwoods Monster costume used in a local theater production, on display at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.015.1.30.20
Title:
Homemade Flatwoods Monster costume used in a local theater production, on display at the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Community museums, Folklore, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.), Monsters, Children's costumes, Folk art
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

6. Flatwoods Monster Museum Executive Director Andrew Smith and West Virginia Humanities Council Director Eric Waggoner stand in front of a Flatwood Monster figure at the Flatwoods Monster Museum

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.016.1.30.20
Title:
Flatwoods Monster Museum Executive Director Andrew Smith and West Virginia Humanities Council Director Eric Waggoner stand in front of a Flatwood Monster figure at the Flatwoods Monster Museum
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Folk art, Community museums, Folklore, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.), Monsters
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

7. Storefront of the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 1 of 2

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.017.1.30.20
Title:
Storefront of the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 1 of 2
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Community museums, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.), Monsters, Folklore
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["The Flatwoods Monster Museum, which also serves as the Braxton County Visitors Center, is located in downtown Sutton in Braxton County, West Virginia. The Museum displays ephemera, folk art, videos, and souvenirs related to the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, which was first sighted in Flatwoods, West Virginia on September 12, 1952 by Kathleen May, Eugene Lemon, Teddy May, Ronald Shaver, Neal Nunley, Teddy Neal, and Tommy Hyer. West Virginia Humanities Council Executive Director Eric Waggoner and State Folklorist Emily Hilliard visited the museum and met with Andrew Smith, Executive Director of the Braxton County CVB and Flatwoods Monster Museum, on January 30, 2020.Visit the Flatwoods Museum website here: https://braxtonwv.org/the-flatwoods-monster/visit-the-museum/For more on the legend of the Flatwoods Monster, visit e-WV: https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2192"]%

8. Storefront of the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 2 of 2

Identifier:
4224.FlatwoodsMonsterMuseum.Photo.018.1.30.20
Title:
Storefront of the Flatwoods Monster Museum in Sutton, 2 of 2
Date:
2020-01-30
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Monsters, Folklore, Community museums, Flatwoods (Braxton County, W. Va.)
Location:
Braxton County (W. Va.)
["With his wife, Leonard Harris (b. Martinsburg, WV, 1936) is the co-founder of Sumner-Ramer School African American Museum and Archive in Martinsburg, West Virginia. He is an alumnus of Sumner-Ramer, which was the Black school in Berkeley County during segregation. The school closed in 1965, one year after schools in the county were integrated and 10 years after the Brown v. Board ruling. The Sumner-Ramer Museum and Archive is located in a ground-floor room of the school building and contains materials from the school and its alumni, including ephemera, photos, artifacts, portraits, and more."]%

9. Leonard Harris at the Sumner-Ramer School African American Museum and Archive in Martinsburg

Identifier:
4224.HarrisLeonard.Photo.001.7.20.16
Title:
Leonard Harris at the Sumner-Ramer School African American Museum and Archive in Martinsburg
Date:
2016-07-20
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Martinsburg (W. Va.), Community museums, Berkeley County (W. Va.), African Americans--Appalachian Region, School integration, African Americans--History, Segregation in education
Location:
Martinsburg (W. Va.), Berkeley County (W. Va.)
["The town of Helvetia, West Virginia, population 59, was founded by Swiss-German immigrants in 1869. In the late 60s, around Helvetias centennial, town matriarch Eleanor Mailloux worked to revive many of Helvetias Swiss traditions, co-founding the Hutte Swiss restaurant, collecting a cookbook of community recipes, and restoring the Fasnacht celebration as a public event. Helvetia also has a long-standing cheese making tradition, practiced in private homes, and in the semi-public Cheese Haus, which now is located in an old renovated mechanics garage. Documentation of foodways traditions in the community is part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/Also see Emily Hilliards piece on Helvetias seasonal celebrations via The Bitter Southerner: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginia Read her piece on the Hutte Restaurant, Something Good from Helvetia, for the Southern Foodways Alliance: https://www.southernfoodways.org/something-good-from-helvetia/ and NPR piece on Fasnachts foodways traditions: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/17/386970143/swiss-village-west-virginia-mardi-gras-feast-fasnachtLearn more about Helvetia via the website maintained by Helvetia resident Dave Whipp: http://www.helvetiawv.com/"]%

10. Helvetia Museum display, featuring the original Swiss flag brought to the area by the settlers of Helvetia, 1 of 3

Identifier:
4224.Helvetia.Photo.001.2.6.16
Title:
Helvetia Museum display, featuring the original Swiss flag brought to the area by the settlers of Helvetia, 1 of 3
Date:
2016-02-06
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Helvetia (W. Va.), Community museums, Swiss Americans
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["The town of Helvetia, West Virginia, population 59, was founded by Swiss-German immigrants in 1869. In the late 60s, around Helvetias centennial, town matriarch Eleanor Mailloux worked to revive many of Helvetias Swiss traditions, co-founding the Hutte Swiss restaurant, collecting a cookbook of community recipes, and restoring the Fasnacht celebration as a public event. Helvetia also has a long-standing cheese making tradition, practiced in private homes, and in the semi-public Cheese Haus, which now is located in an old renovated mechanics garage. Documentation of foodways traditions in the community is part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/Also see Emily Hilliards piece on Helvetias seasonal celebrations via The Bitter Southerner: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginia Read her piece on the Hutte Restaurant, Something Good from Helvetia, for the Southern Foodways Alliance: https://www.southernfoodways.org/something-good-from-helvetia/ and NPR piece on Fasnachts foodways traditions: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/17/386970143/swiss-village-west-virginia-mardi-gras-feast-fasnachtLearn more about Helvetia via the website maintained by Helvetia resident Dave Whipp: http://www.helvetiawv.com/"]%

11. Helvetia Museum display, featuring the original Swiss flag brought to the area by the settlers of Helvetia, 2 of 3

Identifier:
4224.Helvetia.Photo.002.2.6.16
Title:
Helvetia Museum display, featuring the original Swiss flag brought to the area by the settlers of Helvetia, 2 of 3
Date:
2016-02-06
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Helvetia (W. Va.), Swiss Americans, Community museums
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)
["The town of Helvetia, West Virginia, population 59, was founded by Swiss-German immigrants in 1869. In the late 60s, around Helvetias centennial, town matriarch Eleanor Mailloux worked to revive many of Helvetias Swiss traditions, co-founding the Hutte Swiss restaurant, collecting a cookbook of community recipes, and restoring the Fasnacht celebration as a public event. Helvetia also has a long-standing cheese making tradition, practiced in private homes, and in the semi-public Cheese Haus, which now is located in an old renovated mechanics garage. Documentation of foodways traditions in the community is part of the Helvetia Foodways Oral History Project in partnership with the Southern Foodways Alliance. Learn more: https://www.southernfoodways.org/oral-history/helvetia-west-virginia/Also see Emily Hilliards piece on Helvetias seasonal celebrations via The Bitter Southerner: https://bittersoutherner.com/my-year-in-helvetia-west-virginia Read her piece on the Hutte Restaurant, Something Good from Helvetia, for the Southern Foodways Alliance: https://www.southernfoodways.org/something-good-from-helvetia/ and NPR piece on Fasnachts foodways traditions: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/02/17/386970143/swiss-village-west-virginia-mardi-gras-feast-fasnachtLearn more about Helvetia via the website maintained by Helvetia resident Dave Whipp: http://www.helvetiawv.com/"]%

12. Helvetia Museum display, featuring the original Swiss flag brought to the area by the settlers of Helvetia, 3 of 3

Identifier:
4224.Helvetia.Photo.003.2.6.16
Title:
Helvetia Museum display, featuring the original Swiss flag brought to the area by the settlers of Helvetia, 3 of 3
Date:
2016-02-06
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Community museums, Helvetia (W. Va.), Swiss Americans
Location:
Helvetia (W. Va.)