Skip to main content

Rainelle COVID Community Documentation Project Photographs

 Collection
Collection Number: A&M 4740

Scope and Contents

30 digital photographs created by participants in a project to capture life in Rainelle, WV during the COVID-19 pandemic and display how the 2016 flood recovery efforts intesected with the COVID-19 pandemic. Project was organized by Jamie Shinn, an Assistant Professor of Geography in the Department of Geology & Geography at West Virginia University. The .docx file includes captions/titles and photographer information for the 30 .jpg files.

Dates

  • Creation: circa 2020-2021

Conditions Governing Access

Researchers may access born-digital materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department.

Conditions Governing Use

The donor of this collection has given license to the intellectual property they created to WVU Libraries. This license allows WVU Libraries to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format for educational/noncommercial purposes only, and only so long as attribution is given to the creator. WVU Libraries makes the property available under the same terms. If you have questions, please contact the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department.

Biographical / Historical

This project was designed to capture life in rural West Virginia during the COVID‑19 pandemic. It centered on the town of Rainelle, located in Greenbrier County in southeastern West Virginia. The photographs depict how the global COVID‑19 pandemic, together with a devastating flood in 2016, shaped everyday life in Rainelle. They illustrate the ways the pandemic intersected with ongoing flood‑recovery efforts. Images were sourced from several members of the Rainelle community. The photographs were exhibited from August through December 2022. The exhibit was titled A “Double Whammy” of Disasters: Flooding and COVID‑19 in Rural West Virginia, and was displated at the Health Sciences Center Pylons at West Virginia University. The project was compiled by Jamie Shinn, an Assistant Professor of Geography in the Department of Geology & Geography at West Virginia University. Shinn wrote a paper about the project: Jamie E. Shinn. “Storytelling in Precarious Landscapes: Insights from a Photovoice Project in Rural Appalachia.” Journal of Political Ecology, vol. 31, no. 1, 2024, https://doi.org/10.2458/jpe.5290.

Extent

0.235 Gigabytes (31 files, formats include .jpg and .doc)

Language

English

Physical Location

West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: https://wvrhc.lib.wvu.edu

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Shinn, Jamie, 2022 October 12

Existence and Location of Copies

The digital exhibit of these images, A “Double Whammy” of Disasters: Flooding and COVID-19 in rural West Virginia, is available online.

Title
Rainelle COVID Community Documentation Project Photographs
Author
Meredith L. Ahmed
Date
2026/03/18
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository

Contact:
1549 University Ave.
P.O. Box 6069
Morgantown WV 26506-6069 US
304-293-3536