By Vicky Neal
Many people today don’t realize what our ancestors in West Virginia went through to create a life in our beautiful mountains. From the beginning of serving with the Greenbrier Historical Society, my goal has been to bring to light the hardworking people of western Greenbrier County and what their efforts have produced over the years. Becoming an AmeriCorps member through a lucky encounter with Janice Cooley, the GHS Board Member who started the Hidden History of Western Greenbrier County Project, I have felt blessed to help bring this project further towards fruition.
Participating in the first Juneteenth Celebration at Dorey Miller Park, the local park created for African Americans after World War II
From the beginning, the end goal has been to have a physical exhibit space in the Meadow River Valley, i.e. western Greenbrier County. As the AmeriCorps member for this project, I have the advantage of being born and raised in the area and marrying someone who also grew up in the Meadow River Valley. This has enabled the program to have someone who has many contacts, knows how the communities function and make the contacts for research and acquisition of artifacts and photographs. Coming into the project, I had oral histories from several former community members from an after-school project that my students and I had completed in 2009. All of those participants have since passed so we are fortunate to have that knowledge for this project.
Throughout my service, I have researched, gathered photos and artifacts and oral histories, stories and folklore too numerous to list. I have helped to acquire two historical buildings and the land to place them on that will be a permanent exhibit site for a museum about the Meadow River Valley and the people and industries of western Greenbrier County. Not only will this help to enhance tourism in the area and be an economic boost for the area, it will also help local citizens to have ‘pride of place’ about their communities.
All that being said, for me personally, my AmeriCorps service has been an amazing journey. The experience of serving the Greenbrier Historical Society and especially the communities of the Meadow River Valley in western Greenbrier Valley through the Hidden History Project has been an eye-opening adventure that will hopefully continue into my future as well as the people and visitors to Greenbrier County.
