Morgantown is a city in and the county seat of Monongalia County, West Virginia, United States, situated along the Monongahela River. The most populous city in North Central West Virginia and the fourth-most populous city in the state, Morgantown is best known as the home of West Virginia University. The population was 30,347 at the 2020 census. The city serves as the anchor of the Morgantown metropolitan area, which had a population of 138,176 in 2020.
West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College of West Virginia University in Keyser, and clinical campuses for the university's medical and school at Charleston Area Medical Center in Charleston and the Eastern Division at the WVU Medicine Berkeley and Jefferson Medical Centers. WVU Extension Service provides outreach with offices in all 55 West Virginia counties.
Concord University is a public university in Athens, West Virginia. It was founded on February 28, 1872, when the West Virginia Legislature passed "an Act to locate a Branch State Normal School, in the town of Concord Church, in the County of Mercer". This normal school was founded by veterans of both the Union and the Confederacy, Concord is named for the ideal of "harmony and sweet fellowship".
West Virginia University Institute of Technology is a public college in Beckley, West Virginia. It is a divisional campus of West Virginia University.
West Virginia University at Parkersburg is a public community college in Parkersburg, West Virginia. Although it was originally part of West Virginia University, it is now an independent public institution with its own board of governors and degree-granting authority. Conceived as a community college to serve seven counties in west central West Virginia, it now offers baccalaureate programs. It is the largest community college in West Virginia and the state's fifth largest public college with over 3,900 students.
The WVU Coliseum is a 14,000-seat multi-purpose arena located on the Evansdale campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The circular arena features a poured concrete roof. It was built with state funds and replaced the WVU Fieldhouse, which seated 6,000.
Louise McNeill, also known as Louse McNeil Pease, was an American poet, essayist, and historian of Appalachia. She began teaching in a one roomed schoolhouse in West Virginia and would eventually move on to teach at other universities. She would eventually become a professor of history and English at West Virginia University where her archives are held today.
The Mountainlair, commonly called "the Lair" by students, is the three-floor student union building at West Virginia University. The current building dates to 1968 and replaced an earlier structure built in 1948. The Mountainlair is also the site of American sculptor Donald De Lue's 1971 statue The Mountaineer, a bronze representation of West Virginia University's Mountaineer mascot.
The West Virginia & Regional History Center (WVRHC), is the largest archival collection housing documents and manuscripts involving West Virginia and the surrounding central Appalachian region. Because of name changes over the years, it is sometimes referred to as the "West Virginia Collection." The WVRHC is the Special Collections division of the WVU Libraries. According to the University, the Center holds over 36,000 linear feet of manuscripts, 100,000 books, 100,000 pamphlets, 1,200 newspaper titles, over 1 million photographs and prints, 5,000 maps, and 40,000 microfilms, as well as oral histories, films and folk music recordings. Through donations, the WVRHC provides access to and preserves information on the history and cultural aspects of West Virginia and the central Appalachian Region.
Stansbury Hall was a building on the Downtown Campus of West Virginia University. It was named after Harry Stansbury, a former WVU Athletic Director. Opened in 1929 as the WVU Field House, just to the southwest of "Old" Mountaineer Field, this was the home of WVU basketball until 1970, when the WVU Coliseum was opened. This was the home floor during the days of Hot Rod Hundley and Jerry West. It hosted the Southern Conference men's basketball tournament in 1953. While the home venue of WVU basketball, the team compiled a record of 370–81 (.820) when playing there. In October 1973, it was renamed to honor Stansbury.
The West Virginia University Health System, commonly branded as WVU Medicine is a nonprofit health enterprise affiliated with West Virginia University. It provides services throughout West Virginia and portions of the surrounding states of Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
West Virginia University Press is a university press and publisher in the state of West Virginia. A part of West Virginia University, the press publishes books and journals with a particular emphasis on Appalachian studies, history, higher education, the social sciences, and interdisciplinary books about energy, environment, and resources. The press also has a small but highly regarded program in fiction and creative nonfiction, including Deesha Philyaw's The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, winner of the 2021 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, winner of the 2020/21 Story Prize, winner of the Los Angeles Times Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction in 2020. John Warner wrote in the Chicago Tribune, "If you are wondering what the odds are of a university press book winning three major awards, being a finalist for a fourth, and going to a series on a premium network, please know that this is the only example." In 2021, another of WVU Press's works of fiction, Jim Lewis's Ghosts of New York, was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. WVU Press also collaborates on digital publications, notably West Virginia History: An Open Access Reader.
Oakland Drive Campus is a campus of Western Michigan University. It is the university's newest land acquisition. The campus, acquired in 1998, was originally state property used by the Kalamazoo Regional Psychiatric Hospital. The hospital is still leased to the state and remains in operation, although in a more limited role. Geographically, it is generally located between West Campus and East Campus, allowing for a natural accessibility. A focal point of the area is the Kalamazoo State Hospital Water Tower. Completed in 1895, this 175 feet (53 m) tall gothic-style construction can be seen from many areas on campus and in town. The newer Oakland Drive Campus buildings are located on Oakland Drive, north of the hospital and water tower.
The West Virginia Mountaineer is the official mascot of West Virginia University (WVU). Selected annually since the 1930s from the university’s student body, the mascot is a popular tradition at the school. The Mountaineer appears in a buckskin outfit at West Virginia Mountaineers football games, men's and women's basketball matches, and other University-sponsored events.
Mountain Line Transit Authority is the main provider of public transportation located in Morgantown, West Virginia and the surrounding area. It is also the provider of bus service on the campus of West Virginia University. Inter-city bus service to Fairmont, Clarksburg, Waynesburg, PA, Pittsburgh, PA, and the Pittsburgh International Airport is achieved with the Grey Line. Fare for all local routes is $0.75, while Grey Line can cost up to $20 for a single person to Pittsburgh International Airport from Clarksburg WV. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 554,100, or about per weekday as of the third quarter of 2023.
West Virginia University is a public research university in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Founded as an agricultural college, WVU has developed into a major research university with an emphasis in neurosciences, forensics, and biometrics.
The Homewood Campus is the main academic and administrative center of the Johns Hopkins University. It is located at 3400 North Charles Street in Baltimore, Maryland. It houses the two major undergraduate schools: the Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering.
The West Virginia University School of Medicine is the professional school for the study of medicine and other health professions at West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia. The medical school was established in 1902 as the first such institution in the state of West Virginia, and remains one of only three medical schools in the state.
The Royce J. and Caroline B. Watts Museum is located in the Mineral Resources Building on the Evansdale campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown, West Virginia, and is “dedicated to preserving and promoting the social, cultural, and technological history of West Virginia’s coal and petroleum industries through the collection, preservation, research, and exhibition of historical objects and archival materials.” Originally named the COMER Museum for WVU's College of Mineral and Energy Resources, the Watts Museum was renamed in 2005 at the request of the West Virginia Coal Mining Institute (WVCMI).
Ancella Radford Bickley is an American historian born in Huntington, West Virginia on July 4, 1930. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from West Virginia State College, now West Virginia State University in 1950, a master's degree in English from Marshall University in 1954, and an Ed.D. in English from West Virginia University in 1974. She is involved in the preservation of African American history in West Virginia.
