Robert F. Kidd Library

08/20/2026

What do you know about our first Principal?

Thomas Marcellus Marshall was a very eccentric character who has many positive and not-so positive stories about his life. While he is known to have initially volunteered his services to help start the Glenville Normal School and also dug coal by hand to help keep the students warm during winter months, he was also documented as being extremely stubborn and potentially abusive to his animals and family.

His ability to become a stowaway on trains and ships to travel the world was discussed thoroughly.

He also supposedly purchased the first car in Gilmer County, only to refuse operational instructions and end up wrecking it on his farm that day after not being able to figure out how to stop it properly.

He became a missionary in the western regions of the US, and it is said that he botched a eulogy with the end result being an entire tribe holding him down and plucking out every whisker in his beard.

It is said he got caught trying to climb one of the pyramids in Egypt, and when the guards reached the top to catch him, he, somehow, ended up playing a game of tennis there with them.

And... these outrageous stories continue. One story that is definitely true is that he had a 20 foot monument constructed along the river at his burial site. He believed that students would always arrive by Riverboat and thought that his grave would be pointed out. However, roads were constructed shortly after his death, and his rarely-seen monument now stands in a brushy area, over the bank, near Sand Fork.

08/19/2026

Early Glenville Normal School Diplomas and Certificates of Proficiency were very extravagant in nature. These were 16” by 20” documents that included validation that the student had completed a specifically designed course of study. These also included the actual signatures of every faculty member and administrator of the institution with additional signatures of every member of the current governing board. Over our history, the governing board has been a statewide Board of Regents, the statewide Board of Education, and, currently, an institutional Board of Governors.

The archives only has a few of these large format diplomas in our collections. Does anyone recognize who this 1909 diploma was awarded to?

08/17/2026

As public schools in the area start back up, you may want to see how the day played out at the campus' elementary school during a fall day in 1950. The College's Training School provided an elementary school experience for local Glenville children while also serving as a convenient place to provide teacher training experiences at that time.

The Library is thrilled that our Facebook surpassed 1300 followers this past month, with over 63,000 views. If any new followers do not know, this link will also take you to the RFK Library's YouTube account that holds 243 individual videos on numerous subjects.

If clicking the preview does not work on your device, another link is provided in the comments.

This video displays class activities around 1950 associated wi...

08/11/2026

The 2026 Football season is not very far away. Did anyone ever watch or play a game at Rohrbough Field? Glenville State utilized this field for baseball and football from 1921 until 1977.

08/07/2026

As students arrive to campus, we are always reminded of the way people used to primarily travel in and out of town. Today's image is another riverboat that was used for this purpose. This photo specifically shows World War 1 soldiers leaving Glenville to begin their deployment.

This boat was known as the Glenville 1. It was built and operated by the U.S. Army Engineer Department which later became the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was used for transportation in and out of Glenville from 1912-1917.

08/03/2026

The 2026 Convocation is a little over a week away. Convocation at GSU is more than a ceremony. This activity provides an opportunity to welcome new students to our campus and includes valuable interactions with faculty and staff. Past Convocations show many familiar faces and how important these interactions can be.

07/31/2026

The RFK Library is excited to see our newest freshmen arriving to campus soon. Around 60 years ago, campus beanies would be handed out around this time and made a required part of freshmen orientation during their first semester. Some years, this would also include marching in the Homecoming parade in October while carrying your favorite stuffed animal and wearing pajamas with your beanie.

07/29/2026

Sadly, some of the counties in our service district experienced the tragedy of monumental flooding last week. Glenville has had 4 extreme floods that crested above 32 feet in the past 100 years. The town saw 33.6 ft in November of 1926, 33.22 ft in April of 1939, 34.5 ft in March of 1967, and 36.5 ft in November of 1985.

Pictured is the 1939, 1967 and 1985 floods near the same location in Glenville. Does anyone have any photographs of the 1926 Glenville flood?

07/13/2026

This don't look good.

Several of our historical negative collections are of images from neighboring counties and beyond. This image is believed to be from the Rosedale area in Braxton and Gilmer County during logging/train activities at some point in the early 20th century.

Does anyone know more specifics about this train incident from our past?

07/08/2026

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Patrick Gainer and others published the WV Folklore Society Newsletter, and the Summer 1960 issue featured stories, songs, superstitions, and remedies from Gilmer County.

Does anyone remember any of these superstitions or remedies listed in the photographs from this issue?

Is it really bad luck for a baby to see their reflection before a year old?

Will killing a blacksnake and hanging it upside down really bring rain?

If you or someone you know has additional issues of the WV Folklore Newsletter, we would love to scan them for our collection!