Reverend C. Shirley Donnelly Collection
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 4590
Reverend C. Shirley Donnelly, a Baptist minister and local historian, collected these materials for his own research and interest in West Virginia history. The collection contains various materials pertaining to coal mining and West Virginia history, especially in the New River area and Fayette County. It includes correspondence, land grant and deed records, pamphlets, journals, local histories, records, photographs, and art relating to mining and life in the New River area. One set of correspondence includes recollections, a yearbook, and newspaper clippings by a World War II sailor from the USS West Virginia. Another series of correspondence includes the antebellum, wartime, and postwar letters and personal receipts of Charles Dequasie, a Confederate soldier from Fayette County, West Virginia, and Robert Edward Dequasie’s personal and business correspondence. Other ephemera includes West Virginia and mining journals and certificates belonging to Donnelly and others. A scrapbook and notebook of newspaper clippings pertain to early court hangings and executions in West Virginia. Political posters include those for West Virginia Governor William C. Marland and West Virginia Senators Harley Kilgore and Robert Byrd.
No special access restriction applies.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Clarence Shirley Donnelly (1895-1982) was a Baptist minister who collected historical records relating to the history of West Virginia, especially Fayette County and the surrounding area. He was born in Rock Castle, Jackson County, West Virginia, but spent much of his life in Oak Hill and Beckley, where he served as minister to the Oak Hill Baptist Church and Crab Orchard Baptist Church, respectively. He also served as a chaplain during World War II and received the Bronze Star and other medals for his actions. He founded the Fayette County Historical Society and led other historical organizations and also wrote frequently for the Beckley Post-Herald on various historical and related topics.
2.34 Linear Feet (3 document cases, 5 in. each); (1 document case, 2.5 in.); (1 flat storage box, 3.5 in.); (2 flat storage boxes, 3 in. each); (1 flat storage box, 1 in.); (1 oversize folder, 0.1 in.)
English
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / Fax: 304-293-3981 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu/
Gift of the West Virginia Baptist Historical Society via archivist Gary Higginbotham, 2023 April 4 and September 21.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository