National Council on Public History

My name is Ian Gray, a MA Public History student at WVU. After receiving my BA in History at Clarion University of Pennsylvania (CUP), I came to WVU where my area of focus has become railroad history. This past summer I interned with the interpretive staff of Manassas National Battlefield Park (MANA), am currently volunteering regularly at the West Virginia Regional History center (WVRC), and will be joining the staff, via the AmeriCorps program, of the Old Hemlock Foundation, a small historic site in northern WV, come late January. What follows is a brief summary of the railroad history project(s) I have been working on over the past semesters and what they bring to the working group.

“There’s model trains…and then there’s everything else” was often jokingly said between fellow members of a small model railroad club in Clarion. I’ve always been a train nut and joined the local model railroad club upon coming to Morgantown. When joining, I simply thought I had a place to relax for a few hours during the week and never dreamed this one decision would launch a series of projects that have been occupying my time for the past year and a half. The process started with an Oral History class last spring. When thinking of a topic, I thought back to, of all things, a model train show.

Rowlesburg WV was once a booming railroad town along the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio that is now a shadow of its former self. Each September, the club puts up a small display as part of the Labor Day festival and memories of that weekend instantly sprang to mind when I thought Oral History project. During the spring 2015 semester, I journeyed back to the Preston County area to interview former railroad workers and their relatives, collecting over 6 hours of audio/visual recordings which now sit safely archived in the WVRC. The key to success was that I went to the interviews not as a grad student, but as a member of the club and an avid train nerd. The club’s relationship with the local historical society that opened the door and the local “gatekeeper” swung it wide open. After talking to the head of the historical society, and showing my genuine enthusiasm, names and contact information for other individuals were provided that I talked to over the next few weeks. Between being a member of the club and the common bond of being from a railroading family, trust was established easily and the resulting interviews proved to be enjoyable for all involved and a valuable academic exercise for me. Soon, a chance to build on this presented itself.

During the same semester, a historic sites class offered the opportunity to design an interpretative display about another local rail line (a B&O branch running from Rowlesburg to Morgantown) as a final project. Again, the club provided the spark for the idea and invaluable help in the research process. For starters, the local historian who had spent over a decade researching the line was a member of the club. I had years of research and knowledge at my fingertips from the start. Rare ICC valuation maps, obscure sources, and guided tours along the rail trail allowed me to become intimately familiar with the history fast. Additionally, and more importantly, I had access to collections of photographs that had been painstakingly put together by several local historians. Between the club contact and individuals I had found over local social media groups, I had unlimited access to historical photos that I could never have found otherwise. Once again, the club had made a project possible. With the design completed, the next challenge was to actually get the research out to the public. For that to happen, I needed local groups to get behind the idea and funding.

The most obvious source was a WV humanities grant, however, I needed to find a 501c(3) to sponsor it and gather matching funds. Yet again, the railroad club lended invaluable help. In the process of presenting before various local groups (the park authority, local history museum, etc) the suggestion of going to the club as a possible resource always came up. Most everyone knew the club from its open houses and being a member was a welcome fact that helped the process along. In the end, the local history museum agreed to sponsor the grant and even host an exhibit in conjunction with the club on the rail line. Meanwhile, the club, park authority, and history department provided additional matching funds to make the grant feasible. At the time of this writing, everything is moving on schedule to unveil the display and exhibit (and an Omeka site I’ve been working on) come late spring and see the past several semesters work all come together. Simply actively getting involved in local organizations has not only lead to a life outside of grad school, but sparked project ideas for classes, allowed me to see the vast majority of my work venture outside the classroom and into the public’s eye, and tell history that would have otherwise remained largely untold.

For the working group the most valuable lesson is the following. Be a part of the community and go where the support/interest already is. If I never made the simple decision to join the club and be a part of the community none of this could ever happen. Because of that decision, I’ve been able to collect the memories of a town’s past (Rowlesburg) that is disappearing as railroaders pass away and the railroad itself is set to abandon the line while bringing together individuals and institutions in Morgantown to highlight the railroad past of a town that is being swallowed by the university and urban sprawl. While the underlying interest was always there, I’ve been able to get the various groups talking and get projects off the ground by remembering one simple piece of advice. “There’s model trains….and there’s everything else.”

~ Ian Gray, West Virginia University

Discussion