The following events are notable in West Virginia history. For more information, visit e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia at www.wvencyclopedia.org.
Former Governor Cecil Underwood passed away on November 24, 2008, in Charleston. He was West Virginia’s 25th and 32nd governor, known for being both the youngest and oldest to serve in this role.
On November 24, 2015, Katherine Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama for her contributions to mathematics and science. Johnson worked at NASA, calculating crucial trajectories for manned space flights.
Clinton Cyrus Thomas, an athlete born on November 25, 1896, in Greenup, Kentucky, excelled in the Negro Leagues during the segregation era of Major League Baseball. He later settled in Charleston and had a long career in West Virginia state government.
A significant fire occurred on November 26, 1952, at Huntington State Hospital, claiming the lives of 14 patients and injuring three more who later died, marking the deadliest fire in the state’s history. This facility is now known as the Mildred Mitchell-Bateman Hospital.
The Constitutional Convention of 1861-63 began on November 26, 1861, in Wheeling. This convention laid the groundwork for West Virginia’s state government in preparation for statehood.
Shelley Moore Capito, a prominent politician, was born on November 26, 1953, in Glen Dale. As the daughter of future congressman and governor Arch Moore, she became the second woman to represent West Virginia in Congress in 2001 and the first woman from the state to serve in the U.S. Senate in 2015.
William H. Davis, an African American educator, was born on November 27, 1848. Among his students in Malden was Booker T. Washington. In 1888, Davis was nominated as an independent gubernatorial candidate, the only Black person to receive this nomination in West Virginia’s history.
Daniel Boardman Purinton, a faculty member and president of West Virginia University, died on November 27, 1933. He was a significant advocate of co-education.
A skirmish north of Moorefield on November 28, 1864, saw Rosser’s Confederate cavalry and McNeill’s Rangers repel a raid by Union Col. R. E. Fleming, sparing the South Branch Valley from destruction. These battlefields are part of the Middle South Branch Valley rural historic district.
Actress Dagmar, born Virginia Ruth Egnor in Lincoln County on November 29, 1921, rose to fame in 1950 on NBC’s “Broadway Open House,” the network’s first late-night television show.
John Knowles, a writer born in Fairmont, died on November 29, 2001, in Florida. He achieved literary fame in 1959 with his novel, A Separate Peace.
Brooke County was established on November 30, 1796, under an act of the General Assembly of Virginia. It was formed from part of Ohio County and named after Robert Brooke, the governor of Virginia.
