CHARLESTON (WVDN) – West Virginia Archives and History has announced that Kim Arbogast McBride and W. Stephen McBride of Lewisburg are among those who will be recognized as West Virginia History Heroes during a West Virginia History Day at the Legislature program and ceremony to be held at the Culture Center on the Capitol Complex in Charleston on Thursday, Feb. 23.
The McBrides were nominated as a team by the Greenbrier Historical Society
Archaeologists Kim Arbogast McBride and W. Stephen McBride have contributed significantly to the knowledge of frontier forts and other sites in West Virginia through their leadership of multiple archaeological excavations. They are longtime members of the Greenbrier Historical Society and donated their professional expertise for work at the Blue Sulphur Springs Pavilion, which the Society oversees. In addition, Kim McBride has been a member of the board of directors for five years, while Stephen McBride has been Society’s journal editor for two years. Kim McBride also serves on the membership committee and recently was a vital part of the planning committee for the Stellar Evening fundraiser.
West Virginia History Heroes are nominated by historical, genealogical, preservation, museum, patriotic or like organizations from across the state. The purpose of this annual award is to give state-level recognition to individuals chosen for dedicated service on behalf of an organization’s programs or for a recent significant contribution to state and local history through research, interpretation, publication or preservation. The West Virginia History Hero award is a onetime only recognition.
The 2023 History Hero awards program is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. in the State Theater at the Culture Center and will conclude before 11 a.m.
Honorees’ local legislators have been invited to participate in the ceremony at the Culture Center, time and legislative session permitting.
West Virginia History Day at the Legislature was begun by the West Virginia Archives and History Commission in 1997 and is officially designated by the Commission as a special day to recognize the state’s rich and varied history. This annual event, during which groups from around the state provide history displays in the Capitol, is now in its 27th year. This year more than two dozen groups have registered to have displays in the upper rotunda of the Capitol.
In addition to the Archives and History Commission, cosponsors of West Virginia History Day are the Mining Your History Foundation, Preservation Alliance of West Virginia Inc., West Virginia Association of Museums, West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History, West Virginia Historical Society and West Virginia Humanities Council.
