CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The Summer 2020 issue of GOLDENSEAL magazine is now available for purchase at select retailers or by calling the GOLDENSEAL office. GOLDENESEAL, West Virginia’s magazine of traditional life since 1975, is published quarterly by the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Attached is a list of retailers where GOLDENSEAL magazine is available.
The cover story for the latest issue focuses on the pivotal 1960 Democratic presidential primary in West Virginia between U.S. Senators John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey. Kennedy’s victory in that contest proved that a Catholic could win in a predominately Protestant state and helped catapult him to the presidency. GOLDENSEAL examines that primary through the eyes of Humphrey volunteer Carol Sue O’Neal Haid and the day Huntington’s Matt Reese had to step in to speak on behalf of JFK.
The Summer issue looks at an enigmatic relationship between slave owner Sam Cabell and his slave Mary Barnes, fond memories of grandmother Farris Bird from Duhring (Mercer County), the Today Show’s 1965 broadcast of that year’s July 4 celebration in Ripley, an oral history of Elkins railroad worker and musician Philmore Kelley, a cherished plot of 55 acres of farmland near Walker (Wood County), a mountaintop wedding during World War II near Iaeger (McDowell County), the struggle to integrate African-American teachers into traditionally white schools in Summers County, the devastating 1977 flood in Mingo County, the lives of a farm family in Pocahontas County, and a tribute to the late Joe DePollo and his twin brother, John, beloved accordionists in Thomas (Tucker County).
The issue also highlights the 2020-21 West Virginia Folklife Program’s Master Artists and Apprentices—a project of the West Virginia Humanities Council—and remembers some great friends of West Virginia history and culture who have passed this year.