Skip to main content
Eberly College of Arts & Sciences Department of History
Visit WVU Request Info Apply Now

A History of the Department at West Virginia University

The development of history as a field of study at our university reflects the department's contributions in understanding the past, shaping the present, and guiding the future.

  1. 1869 : Founding of West Virginia University

  2. Leadership in Women’s Rights: Dr. William P. Willey

    Dr. William P. Willey, Professor of History at WVU between 1883 and 1892, was an early champion of gender equality in education at the University. Despite censure from his Chairman of Faculty and an explicit prohibition on women’s participation in WVU classes by the state, he led a growing group of WVU faculty members in allowing women into his classes. After six years of Dr. Willey’s and others’ outspoken opposition to the exclusion of women at WVU, the university administration began to recommend that women be admitted to the university in 1889.

  3. 1889 : Masters in History Program Starts

  4. Black and white image of Martin Hall, an old building with a clock tower on top

    Martin Hall

    Home of the History Department, 1895-1926
    Image from West Virginia History OnView, identifier 018989

  5. West Virginia and Regional History Center

    After Dr. Charles Ambler became the head of the history department in 1929, he began the process of collecting papers, artifacts, and records of West Virginia history to be stored at the University Library. This collection, which began with the papers of West Virginia Senator Waitman T. Willey (father of the same Dr. Willey who championed women’s education at WwVU), formed the basis of the West Virginia and Regional History Center . Dr. Ambler, and his assistant and successor, Dr. Festus Summers, cited the foundation of this repository of “West Virginiana” as their proudest professional achievement.
    The archive has since expanded to include a large collection that includes records from West Virginia labor history, recordings of West Virginia musicians, and artifacts from various forms of activism around the state.

    WVU History Department students and faculty use this collection regularly in their classes and research, and continue to contribute to the expansion of its collections today. 

  6. 1933 : First Ph.D. in History Awarded

  7. Clark Hall

    Otherwise known as the Chemistry Building: Home of the History Department, 1926-1950
    Image from West Virginia History OnView, identifier 018826
    Photo of Clarke Hall, a 1950's style brick building with three trees and bushes in front.

  8. Woodburn Wisecracks

    In 1950, the History Department moved from the Chemistry Building (otherwise known as Clark Hall) to Woodburn Hall. While History faculty were pleased to “leave the fumes and inconvenience of the Chemistry Building…for somewhat better and more spacious quarters,” the move to this historic building prompted quips about “the tolling of the clock and the cracking of the walls.” A 1976 edition of the WVU History Department newsletter, Clio’s Courier, described the building as “Old Faithful,” comparing it to other lecture halls on campus with the remark that “Woodburn does have the largest classrooms--in volume, that is. We need not mention that they are twelve feet long, nine feet wide, and thirty feet high.”

  9. Black and white image of an old classroom with wood chair and tables

    Woodburn Hall

    Woodburn Hall classroom: Home of the History Department, 1950-2024
    Image from West Virginia History OnView, identifier #019969
  10. A sidewalk with a blooming rose bush leads to Chitwood Hall, an old brick building with arched entry way to double wood doors.

    Chitwood Hall

    Home of the History Department since January 2024
    Photo taken by Dr. Kate Staples, Department Chair

    In January of 2024, the History Department moved from Woodburn into the newly-renovated Chitwood Hall. The move allowed the department to expand its graduate-student offices and create more student-centric spaces such as a department-specific library, meeting spaces for on-campus clubs, and a conference room suitable for faculty meetings and dissertation defense presentations.

    The building, which was named Science Hall at its construction in 1893, was renamed in 1972 in honor of WVU History professor Oliver Chitwood. Because of this connection, current Department Chair Dr. Kate Kelsey Staples, who helped coordinate the move, described Chitwood Hall as “a perfect new home for the History Department.”

History In Photograph

Subhead goes here.