Community Note::To help organizations observe the 150th birthday of West Virginia in 2013 the West Virginia Humanities Council traveled its award-winning exhibit Born of Rebellion: West Virginia Statehood. The exhibit will end its sesquicentennial tour of the state in December at Philippi after being seen in 17 state communities. From Nov. 18 through Dec. 6, Born of Rebellion will be on display at The Market Place located at 309 South Main Street in Philippi. The exhibit is co-hosted in Philippi by The Market Place (Barbour County Community Garden Market) and the Blue & Gray Reunion, Inc. The exhibit can be viewed Tuesday-Friday 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays 7 a.m. to noon. It will be closed on Thanksgiving Day with special hours on Nov. 29-30 of 7 a.m. to noon and Dec. 6 from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information about the display schedule contact Debbie Schoonover at 304-457-5183. The circumstances of the creation of West Virginia remain unique in American history. Questions arose as to the constitutionality of the process and even as to whether the new state should be dissolved once Virginia was restored to the Union. The issues involved in West Virginias birth still engage people even far beyond our borders - providing material for a 2003 C-SPAN debate and lengthy article in the California Law Review. Born of Rebellion examines the constitutional questions surrounding the statehood process. Exhibit viewers are given an opportunity to cast their vote on the constitutionality of our state. The Humanities Council made the design phase of the exhibit an innovative educational project by working with graphic design students at West Virginia University. Sixteen students working in four teams designed the exhibit as a class project, as well as the accompanying brochure. The exhibit features several QR (quick response) codes. Visitors with smart phones can scan these codes and read related articles in e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at wvencyclopedia.org, also a program of the Humanities Council. Since becoming available again for display in December of 2012, Born of Rebellion has never been off the road having traveled to Oak Hill, Paden City, New Martinsville, Grantsville, Athens, Bluefield, Parkersburg, Elizabeth, Rowlesburg, Bridgeport, Alderson, Lewisburg, Berkeley Springs, Morgantown, New Cumberland, Wellsburg and, finally, Philippi. Consisting of three freestanding kiosks, the exhibit originally toured the state for two years starting in 2006, when it traveled to 23 locations and received a Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History. The exhibit was made possible in 2012 - 2013 with support from the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts.
Posted on: Wed, 27 Nov 2013 13:12:07 +0000