Historic Shepherdstown newsletter – August 2022

Dear Historic Shepherdstown Commission Members and Supporters,

It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks, September will be here. It’s been a busy summer at Historic Shepherdstown Commission and Museum, and we have a lot to share with you.

Our annual meeting and Speaker Series talk will be held the first Wednesday in September. We will be voting on nominees for the Board of Directors and a bylaw change. We have received a donation of an S. Howell Brown 1883 map from the Jefferson County Historical Society, which will be part of a new map exhibit opening this fall; we have begun a new monthly exhibit, the Shepherdstown Antique Display; reenactors will be at the Museum on Saturday, Sept. 17, to commemorate the anniversary of the Battle of Antietam; this month we are saying goodbye to our summer intern Jessie Ramcharran; and finally, we are among the finalists for “Best Museum” in The Journal’s annual Best of the Best Reader’s Choice Award.

Annual Meeting and Speaker Series

The annual meeting of Historic Shepherdstown Commission will be held on Wednesday, September 7, 2022 at 6:45 p.m. The meeting will be held in the auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education at Shepherd University. It will be followed by the September Speaker Series talk, given by Dr. Keith Alexander, associate professor of history at Shepherd University. To facilitate voting, the meeting will be in-person only. However, the Speaker Series talk will be available on Zoom. To request a Zoom link, please email us at [email protected], or call the office at 304-876-0910.

Board Nominees

The HSC Board of Directors has nominated four well-qualified people to join our board. In addition, three current members have agreed to serve a second three-year term. Board members will be officially approved at the meeting.

The new nominees, in alphabetical order, are:

Dr. Jim Broomall: Dr. Broomall is the director of the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of the Civil War at Shepherd University, where he also serves as an associate professor of history. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Florida in Jacksonville in 2011, where he worked under Prof. William A. Link, whose family is from the Shepherdstown area. Dr. Broomall has developed courses, conferences, and programs of interpretation focusing on the experiences of civilians, soldiers, and slaves during the mid-Nineteenth Century. His scholarship is dedicated to the Civil War-era. He most recently published Private Confederacies: The Emotional Worlds of Southern Men as Citizens and Soldiers as part of the University of North Carolina Press’s Civil War America series.

Yocencia Deal: Ms. Deal has been the Associate Vice President for Document Services at the American Public University System since 2018. She has a strong background in admissions administration, data analysis, and personnel management. In her current position at APUS, she has overall responsibility for providing leadership, management, and supervision for student record processes, systems, personnel, student needs, and for fostering institutional development. Prior to taking on that role, she was the Associate Vice President for International and Graduate Admissions, where she enabled the university to increase its graduate, international and corporate student populations, while ensuring student satisfaction and a smooth enrollment process. She holds a Master’s in Management from APUS and a Bachelor’s in Early Childhood Education from James Madison University.

Claudia Dressler: Ms. Dressler currently works with Fellowship Square Foundation. She is the liaison for board members, donors and volunteers; creates the budget for the administration department; organizes board and committee meetings; oversees events for the organization, and manages relationships with vendors, volunteers and other partners. She has more than 10 years of experience working in advancement. She is experienced with organizing annual campaigns and writing grants. She holds a Master’s in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University and Bachelor’s degrees in Art History and in Religious Studies from the University of California, Riverside.

Stephanie Unger: Ms. Unger is a sixth-grade social studies teacher at Shepherdstown Middle School. She joined the Jefferson County school system in 2000 as a fifth-grade teacher at Shepherdstown Elementary School, but her love for teaching history prompted her to move to the middle school, where she has taught for the past 13 years. In addition to teaching, she and her husband and another partner own the production company Earth Vibe Production and Events. For 10 years, they produced the Panhandle Earth Day Celebration at Morgan’s Grove Park. Now they focus primarily on local musical events, providing stage, sound and lighting. She holds a Bachelor’s in Elementary Education from Shepherd University, and she is looking forward to connecting the middle school with The Historic Shepherdstown Museum.

In addition, three current board members have agreed to serve a second three-year term. They are current treasurer Wendy Beckner, current secretary Anne D’Alauro, and Al Levitan, the co-chair of the Building Committee.

Bylaw change

The HSC Board of Directors has approved the following change to the organization’s bylaws. It would amend Article II Section B to reduce the required number of HSC Board of Directors members from between 13 and 17 to between 11 and 17. The change must now be approved by the membership of HSC.

Current Bylaw:

Article II
B. The Board of Directors shall be comprised of no less than thirteen (13) and no more than 17 voting members (current 2009 board composition is grandfathered in). The regular term of office of members shall be three (3) years, beginning immediately following the Annual Meeting in September and shall continue until September 30 of the third year following. The election of Board members shall be such that the terms of not more than five (5) members shall expire in any year. (As amended 9/16/2009)

Proposed bylaw change:

Article II
B. The Board of Directors shall be comprised of no less than eleven (11) and no more than 17 voting members. The regular term of office of members shall be three (3) years, beginning immediately following the Annual Meeting in September and shall continue until September 30 of the third year following. The election of Board members shall be such that the terms of not more than five (5) members shall expire in any year.

Speaker Series Talk

Immediately after the annual meeting, Dr. Keith Alexander will give the September Speaker Series talk. It is entitled Living Libraries: Using Oral History to Preserve the Past. Dr. Alexander’s talk is being given in association with The Historic Shepherdstown Museum’s new exhibit: Educational Opportunities for Black Jefferson County Resident Before and After Brown v. Board of Education.

Dr. Alexander will discuss the importance of oral history as a means to learn about and understand significant historical events. According to the Oral History Association, “Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events.” It provides a different perspective on history from what is found in traditional print sources, and it is often used with marginalized communities.

Dr. Alexander’s students conducted the interviews that are featured in the new Museum exhibit. The people interviewed were suggested by HSC and Jefferson County’s Black History Preservation Society. Copies of the recordings and transcripts, which the students transcribed themselves, are housed in the HSC archives. The exhibit and talk are being presented with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations do not necessarily represent those of the West Virginia Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Map donation and exhibit

The Jefferson County Historic Society has donated a copy of S. Howell Brown’s 1883 Map of Jefferson County West Virginia to The Historic Shepherdstown Museum. In addition, the Jefferson County Landmarks Commission has provided us with a reproduction of the 1809 Charles Varle map of Frederick, Berkeley & Jefferson Counties in the State of Virginia. We want to thank both organizations for their generous donations. Both maps will be part of a new exhibit featuring maps of Shepherdstown and Jefferson County, which will open in the Museum this fall. The impetus for the new exhibit was the restoration of the Museum’s S. Howell Brown 1852 Map of Jefferson County Virginia. HSC received a grant from Americana Corner this winter to restore and conserve the map.

The exhibit will include maps in the Museum’s collection as well as maps made available by The Library of Congress, the American Battlefield Trust, the Jefferson County Assessor’s Office and the Jefferson County GIS/Addressing Office. The exhibit is expected to open in September, and remain in place through 2023. Stay tuned for more information about the exhibit and the exact opening date.

Shepherdstown Antique Exhibit

The Shepherdstown Antique Exhibit by The Historic Shepherdstown Museum is an opportunity for local residents to display their artifacts in the Museum. We will have a rotation of displayers each month depending on the number of volunteers. A table will be set up in the Museum for participants to display items during regular Museum hours. Some of the artifacts you display must have a direct connection to Shepherdstown. Items that may be of interest include old objects found around the house or yard, family heirlooms, family letters, historic documents, books, pottery, everyday household tools, etc.

The inspiration for The Shepherdstown Antique Exhibit is an article in the Shepherdstown Register in 1922 that described local residents getting together to show others their antiques. The Museum is seeking volunteers who are willing to display and talk about their items of interest to Museum visitors. If you are interested, please contact HSC at 304-876-0910 or by email at [email protected].

Reenactors at the Museum

Saturday, September 17, marks the 160^th anniversary of the Battle of Antietam. To commemorate the anniversary, The Historic Shepherdstown Museum will host reenactors that day. The reenactors will be both in front of and in the garden of the Museum. Stop by and ask questions about what life was like as a soldier. And when you’re done, head inside and check out the Museum’s exhibit about the Civil War, “Voices from the Storm: The War as Shepherdstown Saw It”. The exhibit tells the story of the Civil War as it was experienced by residents and soldiers from the area. The Museum is open Saturdays from noon to 4 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m.

Good luck, Jessie

HSC’s Board of Directors wants to wish our summer intern Jessie Ramcharran the best of luck as she returns for her senior year at Hood College. Jessie is a Communication Arts major, and she put her talent to work this summer on several projects. She wrote blog posts about the conservation and restoration of the S. Howell Brown 1852 Map of Jefferson County Virginia, and two new Museum acquisitions, a doll from 1832 that belonged to Virginia Blackford Engle, and a quilt made by Sarah Moler for her son Raleigh when he married Virginia Engle’s daughter Alice. She handled our social media this summer, posting regularly to Facebook and Instagram. And finally, she filmed a three-part virtual video tour of the Historic Museum. The blog posts can be found on our website, www.historicsheperdstown.com, and the videos will be available soon on HSC’s YouTube channel. To find the tour and HSC Speaker Series videos, search Historic Shepherdstown Museum on the YouTube website, www.youtube.com.

Vote for Us!

Finally, The Historic Shepherdstown Museum is one of five finalists for the title “Best Museum” in The Journal’s annual Best of the Best Reader’s Choice Awards. The next step is the final round of voting to determine the winner and two finalists in each category. Voting will be done online, on a specially dedicated website, from September 18-26. Keep an eye on our Facebook page, Historic Shepherdstown & Museum, for exact information about how to show your support for the Museum by voting for us. You can vote daily during the contest.

Enjoy what remains of the summer. We hope to see you either in person or online at our annual meeting and Speaker Series talk in September.

Donna Bertazzoni
President, Historic Shepherdstown Commission Board of Directors