West Virginia
WV Folklife Program preserves and presents the art of West Virginia’s everyday traditions – Dominion Post
Your father’s peanut brittle recipe that you bring into the office every holiday.
The slightly lopsided sweater that keeps you warm on chilly winter mornings, knit with the skills learned from your aunt.
Spring days spent teaching your children the same morel foraging tips your grandfather shared with you when he was your age.
Traditions are a focal part of our everyday lives as West Virginans, as Appalachians and as Americans — whether it’s something we’re conscious of or simply carry out instinctively. The state Humanities Council’s West Virginia Folklife Program is just one way the vibrant arts and traditions of the Mountain State are being kept alive and shared with the next generation, fellow West Virginians of all backgrounds and non-West Virginians alike.
The council biennially invites specialists of Appalachian traditions and their apprentices to apply to its West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program. The program seeks renowned masters of their art to impart their expertise on an enthusiastic mentee. Selected pairs receive approximately $3,800 to be used for a year of one-on-one, personalized guidance in their chosen tradition.
The program has seen a variety of arts and traditions since its start in 2015. Last year’s seven mentor-apprentice pairs’ specialties included mushroom foraging, soul food cooking, Appalachian storytelling, clawhammer banjo, old-time fiddling, fiddle repair and fiber arts.
“We’re facilitating this opportunity to pass on traditional knowledge, and we’re also offering an opportunity for people who live [in West Virginia] to learn about, get excited about and to celebrate the traditional practices that are existing and carrying on here,” said state folklorist and program director Jennie Williams. “[It’s also] something to be proud of and something to let people know about in other states. This is a chance for us to show what we do, what we’re proud of and the things that are meaningful to us.”
This is accomplished not only through the mentorships themselves, but also the ways the experience is shared beyond apprentice and mentor. Throughout their time in the program, participants are asked to share their art with their community, whether it be through a public demonstration or performance, a workshop or other form of public event. At the end of the apprenticeships, a series of public showcases present the ways each pair honed their skills in the year spent learning together.
The techniques learned, art created and experiences shared don’t end with the mentorships, either — through its public access online archive, the ever-growing WV Folklife Program Collection, the WV Folklife Program also documents photos, interviews, creative works, music and more that reflect the cultural value and significant figures of West Virginia folklife.
Although preservation of cultural practices is vital, Williams emphasizes that traditions are not only meant to be passed along, but to grow and find new form.
“Tradition as a concept isn’t static. It needs to adapt in order to carry on,” said Williams. “It’s important to see how the apprentice and teaching artists are keeping their tradition relevant in a contemporary context, so that they may be adding their own creativity to it. If they don’t do that, then it can be really hard to carry on a traditional practice. You want to be able to associate your own meaning and memories to it. You want to be able to see yourself in it.”
Program alumni James Froemel of Maidsville and his mentor, Bil Lepp, worked to strengthen this very skill, among others, during the 2022–23 session of the program. The pair focused on the age-old art of Appalachian storytelling, a timeless way to bring community together.
“There’s this interactive element to storytelling. It’s alive. One of the biggest elements is that you have this shared light; you can see your audience, they can see you and it becomes this great reciprocity of storytelling,” said Froemel. “It reminds people that there are ways to engage with stories differently, and that they can not only hear the story but they have the opportunity to then retell the story. They’re part of this tradition of keeping the story going and passing it along.”
Storytelling has been a vital part of Froemel’s life for well over a decade, but his apprenticeship with Lepp broadened his knowledge of the art, mastery he himself passed along at storytelling camps during his apprenticeship.
An unexpected lesson of the program, however, was not of his own skill but the passions of his peers.
“When you apply for the apprenticeship, you’re kind of in your artistic bubble. Then you get into it, and you realize just how eclectic the idea of folklife is,” said Froemel. “It was really inspiring to see the support that existed for all of these different artistic mediums, some of them I was familiar with, some I was not. It was really just an inspiring environment to be in.”
This same discovery and inspiration is part of what Williams hopes the WV Folklife Program can bring to life for West Virginians of all backgrounds. Here in the Mountain State and across the country where similar projects have been founded, the program has proven to do just that: get people excited about and engaged with the creative practices of their families and communities.
Applications for the 2024–25 WV Folklife Apprenticeship program conclude Aug. 26 and will reopen in 2026. For more information, visit https://WVFolklife.org. Reach out to Williams at williams@wvhumanities.org with questions. Visit the WV Folklife Program Collection at WVFolklife.lib.wvu.edu.
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The following events happened on these dates in West Virginia history, compiled by the West Virginia Humanities Council from its online encyclopedia, e-WV.
April 19, 1896: Writer Melville Davisson Post was born in Harrison County. His best-known works are the Randolph Mason series, published in three volumes, and the more successful collection Uncle Abner: Master of Mysteries.
April 19, 1902: Author Jean Lee Latham was born in Buckhannon. She wrote a number of children’s books, including Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, which won the 1956 Newbery Award.
April 20, 1823: Gen. Jesse Lee Reno was born in Wheeling. He graduated from West Point in 1846 with another cadet from western Virginia, Thomas J. Jackson, later known as “Stonewall.” Reno was the highest-ranking officer from present West Virginia killed in the Civil War.
April 20, 1863: President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation that in 60 days, West Virginia would become a state. The occasion was marked 100 years later during the state’s Centennial celebration with a special ceremonial session of the West Virginia Legislature on April 20, 1963, in Wheeling.
April 20, 1909: Fiddler Melvin Wine was born near Burnsville in Braxton County. A favorite of old-time music enthusiasts nationally, he was chosen as a National Heritage Fellow in 1991 by the National Endowment for the Arts — the highest recognition given to a folk artist in the United States.
April 20, 1939: Poet Irene McKinney was born in Belington, Barbour County. Gov. Gaston Caperton appointed her state poet laureate in 1993, and she served in that capacity until her death in 2012.
April 21, 1908: Musician Phoeba Cottrell Parsons was born in Calhoun County. Parsons’ traditional clawhammer banjo style, unaccompanied ballad singing, riddles and storytelling have influenced countless younger musicians.
April 21, 1936: President Franklin Roosevelt established the Jefferson National Forest. The West Virginia portion of the forest includes about 19,000 acres in Monroe County.
April 22, 1908: Marshall “Little Sleepy” Glenn was born in Elkins. Glenn coached basketball at West Virginia University from 1934 to 1938 and football from 1937 to 1940. He was inducted into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
April 22, 1948: Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and musician Larry Groce was born in Dallas, Texas. He is best known as the longtime host and artistic director of the Mountain Stage radio program.
April 22, 2003: Activist Judy Bonds, a Raleigh County native, received the Goldman Environmental Prize for her fight against mountaintop removal mining. Her efforts inspired thousands and turned a local West Virginia issue into a national cause.
April 23, 1857: Andrew S. Rowan was born in Gap Mills, Monroe County. Rowan, a military officer, was chosen as the messenger when President William McKinley wanted to send a message to Cuban Gen. Calixto Garcia during the Spanish-American War. The 1899 pamphlet A Message to Garcia made the incident famous.
April 24, 1865: McNeill’s Rangers surrendered to Union troops at New Creek — now Keyser. The Confederate guerrilla force probably never numbered more than 100 men at any time but managed to inflict regular damage on Union operations.
April 25, 1863: In what became known as the Jones-Imboden Raid, about 1,500 Confederate soldiers under Gen. William “Grumble” Jones advanced through Greenland Gap, a deep pass through New Creek Mountain in present Grant County. The Confederates encountered 87 Union soldiers who held off several assaults before finally surrendering.
April 25, 1923: Union leader Arnold Ray Miller was born at Leewood on Cabin Creek in Kanawha County. In December 1972, he defeated Tony Boyle to become president of the United Mine Workers and served until 1979.
e-WV is a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council. For more information, contact the council at 1310 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, WV 25301, call 304-346-8500 or visit wvencyclopedia.org.
During the Gold-Blue spring game on Saturday, the West Virginia coaching staff named wide receiver Cyrus Traught the recipient of the 2026 Tommy Nikolich Award.
The award, which is always given out at the end of spring ball, recognizes a walk-on team member who has distinguished himself through his attitude and work ethic. The award is presented in memory of Tommy Nickolich, a former WVU player (1980-82) who passed away from cancer in 1983.
Traugh is a Parkersburg native and graduate of Parkersburg South High School. He began his career at Youngstown State before transferring back home to play for the Mountaineers last season. In his final year with the Penguins, he logged 36 receptions, 409 yards, and a team-leading five touchdowns, two of which came against Pitt.
During the 2025 campaign with the Mountaineers, he saw action against Robert Morris and Kansas, playing 10 snaps against the Jayhawks, but did not record any stats.
Head coach Rich Rodriguez has mentioned him twice this spring as someone who has been doing some good things and making progress. Wide receivers coach Ryan Garrett also showed him some love during his press conference last week.
The Mountaineers completely revamped the wide receiver room this offseason, upping the level of talent at both inside and outside receiver spots, but perhaps Traugh can work his way into the mix if he puts together a strong summer and fall camp. If he’s not a regular in the rotation, he’ll serve as a quality depth piece who can play special teams.
Past Nickolich Award winners:
2025: Clay Ash, RB
2024: Avery Wilcox, S
2023: C.J. Cole, WR
2022: Nick Malone, OL
2021: Graeson Malashevich, WR/H
2020: Osman Kamara, S
2019: Jake Abbott, LB
2018: Evan Staley, K
2017: Nick Meadows, LS
2016: Jon Lewis, DL
2015: Justin Arndt, LB
2014: Michael Calicchio, OL
2013: Connor Arlia, WR
2012: Tyler Anderson, DE
2011: Ryan Nehlen, WR
2010: Matt Lindamood, FB
2009: Josh Taylor, DL
2008: Adam Hughes, LS
2007: Andy Emery, LB
2006: Tim Lindsey, LS
2005: George Shehl, H/DB
2004: Jeff Noechel, LB
2003: John Pennington, WR
2002: Moe Fofana, RB
2001: Jeremy Knapp, TE
2000: Ben Collins, LB
1999: Bryan Lorenz, LB
1998: Mark Corman, TE
1997: David Lightcap, DB
1996: Matt Ceresa, OL
1995: Rob Keys, DB
1994: Randy Fulmore, DB
1993: Matt McCulty, WR
1992: Brett Parise, WR, Ray Wilcox, LB
1991: Keith Taparausky, RB
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