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["W.I. Bill Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor (Westminster Presbyterian Church) living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia in 1960 when he was 11. Through his storytelling, Hairston, as he says in the interview, combines the Appalachian culture that he was exposed to on the Coal River, to the African-American culture that he is a part of. For 35 years, he served as music coordinator at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee, and is currently the coordinator of the Vandalia Gatherings West Virginia Liars Contest. Hairston is an active member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, the Kentucky Storytelling Association, and the Ohio Storytelling Network, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and serves as the West Virginia liaison to the National Storytelling Network. He has performed in concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings, conventions and schools throughout the region and the country. This interview is a follow-up to Emily Hilliards September 10, 2019 interview with Hairston. In this interview, Hairston discusses his participation in the last segregated Black 4-H Camp at Camp Washington-Carver, and the first integrated 4-H Camp at Jacksons Mill. He also speaks about his summer job with the Department of Natural Resources and his involvement in the United Methodist Youth Fellowship when he was young."]%

1. Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston

Identifier:
4224.HairstonBill.AudioInt.12.15.20
Title:
Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston
Date:
2020-12-15
Creator:
Hairston, Bill
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
4-H clubs, Racism, Storytelling, Segregation in education, School integration, African Americans--Appalachian Region, Folklore
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["W.I. Bill Hairston, 71, is a storyteller, old-time musician, and pastor (Westminster Presbyterian Church) living in Charleston, West Virginia. He was born in Phenix City, Alabama, and his family moved to Saint Albans, West Virginia in 1960 when he was 11. Through his storytelling, Hairston, as he says in the interview, combines the Appalachian culture that he was exposed to on the Coal River, to the African-American culture that he is a part of. For 35 years, he served as music coordinator at the Stonewall Jackson Jubilee, and is currently the coordinator of the Vandalia Gatherings West Virginia Liars Contest. Hairston is an active member of the West Virginia Storytelling Guild, the Kentucky Storytelling Association, and the Ohio Storytelling Network, the National Association of Black Storytellers, and serves as the West Virginia liaison to the National Storytelling Network. He has performed in concerts, festivals, libraries, corporate meetings, conventions and schools throughout the region and the country. In this interview, Hairston speaks about growing up in one of three Black families in the Lick Skillet area of Saint Albans along the Coal River, his interest in and work with rural West Virginia old-time musicians and 4-H camps, his friendship with Frank and Jane George, experiences with racism in West Virginia, and his work and mission as an Appalachian storyteller."]%

2. Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston

Identifier:
4224.HairstonBillIntTranscript9.10.19
Title:
Transcript of oral history of W.I. Bill Hairston
Date:
2019-09-10
Creator:
Hairston, Bill
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Storytelling, African Americans--Appalachian Region, School integration, 4-H clubs, Old-time music, Folk music--West Virginia, Hairston, Bill, Appalachian dulcimer and autoharp music, Racism, Walker, John Homer, Folklore
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["With his wife, Leonard Harris (b. Martinsburg, WV, October 30, 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."]%

3. Transcript of oral history of Leonard Harris

Identifier:
4224.HarrisLeonard.IntTranscript.7.20.16
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Leonard Harris
Date:
2016-07-20
Creator:
Harris, Leonard
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Martinsburg (W. Va.), Berkeley County (W. Va.), African Americans--History, Segregation in education, African Americans--Appalachian Region, Community museums, School integration
Location:
Martinsburg (W. Va.), Berkeley County (W. Va.)
["Charlene (Jennings) Marshall Charlene (Jennings) Marshall (b. September 17, 1949) is a native of Osage, West Virginia in Scotts Run. She was the first African American woman mayor in Morgantown and all of West Virginia, serving from 1991-1998. She was a Democratic member of the West Virginia House of Delegates, representing the 44th District from 1998-2002 and 2004 until 2014. In this interview she speaks about growing up in Osage, her term as mayor, and experiences as an activist in the civil rights movement in Morgantown. She also showed pictures of an exhibit she has been working on, The African American Experience in Morgantown. This interview is part of a collection of interviews conducted with Scotts Run natives/residents and/or members of the Scotts Run Museum."]%

4. Transcript of oral history of Charlene Marshall

Identifier:
4224.MarshallCharlene.IntTranscript.3.23.19
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Charlene Marshall
Date:
2019-03-23
Creator:
Marshall, Charlene
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Morgantown (W. Va.), Knitters (Persons), School integration, African Americans--Appalachian Region, Civil rights movements, Racism, African American women politicians, Scott's Run (W. Va.)
Location:
Scott's Run (W. Va.), Morgantown (W. Va.)
["Levi Phillips, 68 at the time of the interview, is a former basketball player from Charleston, West Virginia. He grew up in public housing in the Triangle District neighborhood and currently lives on Charlestons West Side. Levi was on the first all-Black integrated basketball team at West Virginia University, and played professional basketball with the Baltimore Bullets and the Philadelphia 76ers (his teammates were Wes Unseld and Julius Erving).Justin Phillips, 39, is Levis son, who was also a high school basketball player in West Virginia. He owns Fun Fitness and lives in the South Hills neighborhood of Charleston, WV. Justins son was a high school state champion West Virginia basketball player like his grandfather.Levi and Justin Phillips were interviewed by producer Aaron Henkin with Emily Hilliard as part of the Out of the Blocks podcasts two episodes on Charlestons West Side. Learn more: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/01/17/out-of-the-blocks-podcast-highlights-charlestons-west-side-west-virginia-folklife-hosts-listening-party-february-12/Learn more about Levi Phillips career at WVU:https://wvusports.com/news/2020/12/1/mens-basketball-phillips-basket-a-part-of-wvu-coliseums-golden-history.aspxhttps://wvusports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/levi-phillips/12290"]%

5. Transcript of oral history of Levi Phillips and Justin Phillips

Identifier:
4224.PhillipsJustinPhillipsLevi.IntTranscript.11.22.19
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Levi Phillips and Justin Phillips
Date:
2019-11-22
Creator:
Phillips, Justin, Phillips, Levi
Contributor:
Henkin, Aaron, Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
African American basketball players, Charleston (W. Va.), African Americans--Appalachian Region, Basketball, School integration, Urban renewal, Interracial friendship
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)
["Rev. Matthew J. Watts is the Senior Pastor of Grace Bible Church on Charlestons West Side. He was born outside of Mt. Hope, West Virginia in Fayette County and is an alumni of West Virginia Institute of Technology. In this interview he speaks about the West Sides history as the former site of five slave plantations, his congregation and church neighborhood, the West Side Community Development Plan and Charleston Urban Renewals plans for the West Side, police brutality in Charleston, and the dismantling and destruction of the Triangle District in Charleston. Rev. Watts was interviewed by producer Aaron Henkin with Emily Hilliard and Wendel Patrick as part of the Out of the Blocks podcasts two episodes on Charlestons West Side. Learn more: https://wvfolklife.org/2020/01/17/out-of-the-blocks-podcast-highlights-charlestons-west-side-west-virginia-folklife-hosts-listening-party-february-12/"]%

6. Transcript of oral history of Rev. Matthew J. Watts

Identifier:
4224.WattsMatthew.IntTranscript.11.22.19
Title:
Transcript of oral history of Rev. Matthew J. Watts
Date:
2019-11-22
Creator:
Watts, Matthew J.
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily, Patrick, Wendel, Henkin, Aaron
Subject:
Urban renewal, African American religious leaders, School integration, Charleston (W. Va.), African Americans--Appalachian Region, Segregation in education, African Americans--History, Racism, Police brutality--United States
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.)