Mr. Jay Chatman, President of the McDowell County Historical Society, will be the first presenter for the Appalachian Heritage Lecture Series sponsored by the J. Frank Marsh Library of Concord University. Chatman will tell the story of southern West Virginia during the 20th century coal rush. The program will be offered in the Library from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 5.
Born in a coal company house in Superior, WV, Chatman has spent his life collecting coalfield memorabilia. After graduating from Welch High School he served in the US Navy. When he returned home, he was employed by the Welch Daily News where he worked for 35 years. Now retired, Chatman works tirelessly to promote heritage tourism in the area. In 2014 he was awarded the Coal Heritage Achievement Award for Research and Documentation.
Chatman is president of the Kimball Rotary Club and a member of the Norfolk & Western Railroad Historical Society and the National Scrip Collectors Association. He is author of the book “McDowell County Coal and Rail”. He was also involved with the History Channel program “Hillbilly: The Real Story” hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus.
Chatman will display artifacts from his personal museum collection. Items will include, but are not limited to, company scrip (corporate issued money), postcards and a genuine Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency badge.
The general public is invited to join the Concord University community in attending this presentation at no charge. For additional information, please contact the Marsh Library at library@concord.edu or 304-384-5371.
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Exactly. There is no down side to switching to clean, alternative energy sources that are available now. Fossil fuels are finite and their replacement will be necessary at some point in the future. To replace them will create a healthier and better world and a more reliable source of energy that is not solely in the control of those countries with large oil reserves. Why wait? PS. There is no such thing as “clean coal. Visit your local coal powered plant and see for yourself the herculean efforts made to try to keep the waste products from crushing and burning coal out of the environment. Six months minimum to putting lining in a waste pond so that it will not leach into the ground water. And there is nothing that can keep the piles of crush coal waiting to be burned to spin the turbines from flying into the air as particular pollution. No such thing as “clean coal. Mercury, arsenic and coal dust. Wonderful stuff.