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W.Va. History Hero awards

W.Va. History Hero awards

PARKERSBURG – Three people from the area will be recognized as a West Virginia History Hero on Feb. 22 during West Virginia History Day at the Legislature.

Receiving the award are Kathy Eckert of New Matamoras, Ohio, Janet Hodge of Smithville, W.Va., and John Huffman of Parkersburg.

The 2018 History Hero Awards program will begin 9:30 a.m. in the State Theater at the Culture Center. It will conclude at 11 a.m.

Jon Parrish Peede, senior deputy chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, will speak at 9 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Culture Center prior to the award program. A writer and publisher, Peede worked for the National Endowment for the Arts and was editor at Mercer University Press.

He will tour the state museum with participants in the program.

Huffman was nominated by the Wood County Historical and Preservation Society. He was a member of the board of directors of the historical society from 2012-2017 and is chairman of the committee overseeing the restoration of the Phelps-Tavenner Research Center on Camden Avenue, which was purchased by the society in 2015.

He has scraped, painted, hung drywall and performed electrical and plumbing work on the facility. Huffman has created fireplace inserts, built or rebuilt mantels, installed safety railings and a handicap ramp.

Huffman, who also has raised funds through raffles and yard sales and is active in all events held by the society, said he was appreciative of the award.

“Very much so,” said Huffman.

Huffman will attend the ceremonies in Charleston.

The program recognizes people who “go above and beyond in preservation work,” Bob Enoch, president of the historical society, said.

“It’s a good thing,” he said.

Hodge was nominated by the Ritchie County Historical Society.

She has been a friend and supporter of the historical society for more than 20 years and helped compile the society’s 900-page book on cemeteries, of which she typed and indexed the publication.

After producing a book on Irish immigration into the county, Hodge donated the proceeds of the sales to the society and gave the society permission to reprint it for fundraising purposes.

Hodge also created the society’s website, which she maintains.

Eckert, a retired teacher, was nominated by the Ohio Valley Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. She has been a member of the society for two years, and in that short time has presented three programs on Native Americans to the chapter. She also is a docent at three museums in Ohio, including a museum which displays her collection of Native American dolls. Eckert works with students from Ohio and West Virginia at the Campus Martius Museum in Marietta in classes on Native American history, writing with quills and wildlife.

West Virginia History Day at the Legislature was begun by the West Virginia Archives and History Commission in 1997 to recognize West Virginia history. Other co-sponsors of West Virginia History Day are Mining Your History Foundation, Preservation Alliance of West Virginia, West Virginia Association of Museums, the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, the West Virginia Historical Society and the W.Va. Humanities Council.

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