LIBRARIES

BY ALEX LANG
The Dominion Post

A grainy black-and-white photo on the sixth floor of WVU’s downtown library shows a much different High Street than is seen today.

Rows of men, holding their guns, line up across the street from the courthouse.

They were Union recruits in 1861.

The photograph is one of dozens of Civil War-era artifacts on display at the West Virginia and Regional History Collection which opened Monday. Other items included weapons, letters and music.

The collection’s debut was part of WVU Library’s West Virginia Day celebration. It was one of several local events marking the state’s 148th anniversary.

Ron Rittenhouse/The Dominion Post
Nikki Cannon looks at an advertisement authorized by Gov. Pierpoint wanting 1,010 brave men. On the wall is a photograph of men ready to fight in the Civil War lined up on High Street.

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Broadsides tacked on buildings and telegraph poles spoke to the fierce debate swirling around western Virginia at the start of the Civil War in 1861. While one poster rallied citizens to follow their brothers in Richmond and join the Confederacy, another called for people to remain loyal to the United States and stand firm against their treasonous eastern brethren.

“When Virginia’s Richmond leaders decided to join the Confederacy, citizens who were loyal to the United States were faced with a dilemma,” said John Cuthbert, Curator of the West Virginia and Regional History Collection. “They didn’t want to be part of a Virginia that was not going to be part of the United States.”

A broadside posted in Morgantown by Gen. James Evans at the start of the Civil War.

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