Archives and History traces its roots to the West Virginia Historical and Antiquarian Society, a quasi-public organization that maintained a library and museum in the state capitol and collected books, artifacts, and other materials for a 15-year period beginning in 1890.
Lewis, who headed Archives and History from 1905 until his death in 1912, was the most important state historian and archivist in the agency’s first seventy-five years.
Among the numerous items thus saved from future destruction were records of the antebellum sessions of the Virginia Court of Appeals at Lewisburg.
[3] In 1976, the agency moved once again, to the Culture Center, which had recently been constructed, in part, to alleviate the overcrowded quarters which Archives and History had available for its use in the capitol building.
Unclaimed West Virginia Union Civil War medals were part of the Adjutant General’s materials transferred to Archives and History, which distributes them to proven descendants.