The West
Virginians
Princess Aracoma
Chief Cornstalks
daughter
Mad Anne Bailey
Became an Indian
fighter after the death
of her husband,
dressed like a man
Chief Cornstalk
Led the Indians at the
Battle of Point Pleasant,
Shawnee Chief, was
murdered with his son at
Fort Randolph
Carter G. Woodson
widely regarded as the leading
writer on black history of his
time. His founding of the
American Association for the
Study of Negro Life and
History in 1915 has been
called the start of the black
history movement.
John Henry
Legendary black,
“steel driving man”
that raced the steam
hammer until he died
Mary Draper Ingles
Frontier woman who
was captured by the
Indians, escaped, and
returned home
Martin R. Delany
At the start of the Civil War
he was assigned to recruit
blacks for the Union
army and became the first
black major in the U. S.
Army. He was born in
Charles Town
Stonewall Jackson
Confederate
General, born in
Clarksburg, shot by
one of his own men
Booker T. Washington
Son of a slave, came to
Malden to work in the
salt works, became West
Virginia’s greatest
educator
Minnie Buckingham Harper
First Black State
Legislator in the
United States
Cyrus Vance
Secretary of State
during the Jimmy
Carter administration
John McBride
Astronaut, piloted
the space shuttle
Challenger
Chuck Yeager
First person to fly
faster than the speed
of sound, from
Lincoln County
Dr. Caleen Jackson
Cook
Her research led to
breakthroughs in
the field of genetics
John Forbes Nash
Mathematician,
awarded the 1994
Nobel Prize in
Economics
Arnold Miller
Labor leader, First West
Virginian to become the
President of the United
Mine Workers (UMW)
Cecil Roberts
Labor leader,
United Mine
Workers President,
from East Bank
Robert C. Byrd
United States Senator,
former Majority
Leader and Minority
Leader
Lawrence Kasdan
Movie director, directed
“Body Heat”“The Big Chill”
Wrote the screenplay for “The
Empire Strikes Back”
David Hunter Strother
Correspondent for
“Harper’s Weekly,
covered John Brown’s
Raid, used the pen name
Port Crayon
Jim Comstock
Editor of the “West
Virginia Hillbilly”and
the “West Virginia
Encyclopedia”
Charles Peters
Editor in-chief of
the “Washington
Monthly”
Pare Lorentz
Motion picture producer
and director, Directed the
documentary “The Plow
That Broke the Plains”
and “The River”
Clyde Ware
Writer - director, directed
“No Drums No Bugles”
about Civil War
conscientious objectors
John Hendricks
Founder of the
Discovery
Channel
Faith Daniels
Newscaster, NBC
News, The Today
Show
Ed Rabel
NBC Pentagon
corespondent,
reported for CBS,
from St. Albans
Tony Brown
Public TV
show host
Rae Ellen McKee
National Teacher
of the Year
William Leigh
Artist, painter, known as
the Sage Brush Rembrant
for his painting of western
America
“Custer’s Last Stand” by William Robinson Leigh
Blanch Lazell
Artist
Justin Hart
Artist
Franses Johnson
Artist,
photographer,
photo journalist
Ann Magnuson
Actress, singer, appeared
in “Clear and Present
Danger” from Charleston
Conchata Ferrell
Actress, appeared in the
TV series “The Townies”
an “LA Law” born in
Charleston
Peter Marshall
Host of the original
“Hollywood
Squares”
David Selby
Actor, played roles in
“Dark Shadows”,”Falcon
Crest” and “The Mighty
Ducks”from Morgantown
Don Knots
TV and movie actor,
played the role of
Barney Fife an “The
Andy Griffith Show”
Soupy Sales
TV and radio
entertainer , the
leading authority in
throwing pies
Chris Sarandon
Nominated for Best
Supporting Actor in
“Dog Day Afternoon”,
from Beckley
George Crum
Composer, 1967
Pulitzer Prize in
Music
Phyllis Curtin
Opera singer,
from Clarksburg
Little Jimmy Dicken
Grand Ole Opry performer
from Bolt, hit song “May
the Bird of Paradise Fly Up
Your Nose”
Harold “Hawkshaw” Hawkins
Country Western singer,
killed in the plane crash
that also killed Patsy
Cline, born in
Huntington
Charlie McCoy
Famous
harmonica player
from Fayetteville
Ada “Bricktop” Smith
Jazz singer, in
1920’s mover to
Paris
Red Sovine
Country singer with
deep baritone voice,
hit song “Teddy Bear”
Eleanor Steber
Opera singer
from Wheeling
Pearl S. Buck
Novelist from Hillsboro,
Pulitzer and Nobel Prize
winner, among her works
include “The Good Earth”
and “ China as I see it”
Mary Lee Settle
Novelist who won the
National Book Award for
“Blood Ties”, born in
Charleston and grew up in
Cedar Grove
John Knowles
Author of “A Separate
Peace” from Fairmont
Steven Coonts
Author of “Flight of
the Intruder” a
Vietnam War novel
Eugenia Price
Author of
romantic novels
Denise Giardina
Author of “The
Unquiet Earth” and
“Storming Heaven”
from Bluefield
Ran for Governor
Homer H. Hickam Jr.
Author, one of the
subjects of the 1999
movie October Sky
based on his book
Rocket Boys. Also
Coalwood Way, Sky of
Stone
Homer
Hickam
Pinkney Benedict
Publisher, published two
collections of short
fiction “Town Smokes”
and “The Wreking Yard”
Muriel Dressler
Poet
Louis McNeil Pease
West Virginia’s Poet
laureate, works include
“Elderberry Flood” and
“Gauley Mountain”, grew
up in Pocahontas County
Jerry West
One of the NBA’s greatest,
played for WVU an the LA
Lakers, Coach and General
Manager of the Lakers, Olympic
Gold Medal, from East Bank
Rodney "Hot Rod" Hundley
played for the Los Angeles Lakers but
is now a broadcaster for the Utah
Jazz. He was a three-year AllAmerican at West Virginia, and the
first pick of the 1957 NBA College
draft by Cincinnati. His flamboyant
playing style earned him the name
Hot Rod while at West Virginia.
Rod Thorn
has been a player, assistant coach,
head coach, general manager, and
league official in professional
basketball. He played professional
basketball for Baltimore, Detroit, St.
Louis, and Seattle. He grew up in
Princeton, the son of the Princeton
police chief. Thorn was an allAmericna guard at WVU.
Jack Fleming
formerly the voice of the West
Virginia University
Mountaineers, is famous for his
dramatic call of the
"Immaculate Reception," Franco
Harris' miraculous TD catch in a
1972 Steelers-Raiders playoff
game
Randy Barnes
Olympic Gold Medal
and World Record in
the Shot Put, from St.
Albans
Clair Bee
Innovative basketball coach at
Long Island, invented the 1-31 defense, and advocate of the
3 second and 24 second rules.
Jesse “The Crab” Burcett
First West Virginian
elected to the Baseball
Hall of Fame
Ed Etzel
Olympic Gold
Medal in rifle
Frank Gatski
Pro Football Hall of Fame,
offensive lineman for
Detroit and Cleveland,
never missed a practice or
game
Earl “Greasy” Neal
Pro Football Hall of
Fame, played for the
Philadelphia Eagles,
from Parkersburg
Mary Lou Reton
Gold Medal winner
in gymnastics, from
Fairmont
Sam Huff
College and Pro Football
Hall of Fame, played for
WVU, New York Giants,
and the Washington
Redskins, from Farmington
George Marshall
Owner of the Boston
Braves and the
Washington Redskins
Michael Benedum
The “Great Wildcatter”
made fortune in oil and
gas, established the
Benedum Foundation
Lyell Clay
Made fortune in
communications,
established the Clay
Foundation
Lawson Hamilton
Coal industrialist
and civic leader
James “Buck” Harless
Made fortune in the
timber industry,
from Gilbert
Henry Louis Gates
Afro-American
studies professor
at Harvard
Kathy Mattea
Country singer
from Cross Lanes
Anna Jarvis
Founder of
Mother’s Day,
from Grafton
Wayne Smith
Nobel Peace nominee,
established the Peace
Force
Leon Sullivan
Reverend, established a
self help organization.
Created “The Sullivan
Principles” to put an end to
apartheid in South Africa
George Howard Brett
played for the Kansas City
Royals from 1973 to 1993. He
was elected to the Hall of Fame
in his first year of eligibility and
was inducted in July 1999. He
was born in Glen Dale, although
he grew up in southern
California.
Cecil Underwood
became West Virginia's youngest
Governor when he was elected in
1956. He was re-elected in
1996 at age 74, becoming West
Virginia's oldest Governor. He
was born at Josephs Mills.
John D. Rockefeller, IV
former Governor of West
Virginia, is currently a U. S.
Senator from West Virginia. He
was born in New York, N. Y. His
wife Sharon Rockefeller has been
a member of the Board of
Directors of PBS.
William Casey Marland
was Governor of West
Virginia from 1953 to 1957.
Marland attracted nationwide
attention in 1965 when a
reporter found him working as
a cab driver in Chicago.
Randy Moss
a receiver for the Minnesota Vikings,
was selected as one of the NFC's two
starting wide receivers
and was the only rookie to be selected
for the 1998 Pro Bowl. He was also
selected to the 1998 Associated Press
All-Pro team. Moss played two years
at Marshall University. He is a
graduate of DuPont High School