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CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Patricia McClure, along with seven students from George Washington High School, will present “Pearl Harbor Remembered: We Were There” in the Archives and History Library at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017. The program will begin at 6 p.m. and is free and open to the public. On December 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States, most notably striking the naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands. At approximately 7:45 a.m. (Hawaiian Time), the first group of Japanese planes arrived at Pearl Harbor, where seven U.S. battleships were moored. For an hour and a half, the Japanese bombed American airfields and ships, killing more than 2,400, damaging several hundred planes and more than a dozen ships, including the U.S.S. West Virginia. More than 25 West Virginians died because of the attack, most of them sailors. The 75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor initiated an investigation into West Virginians’ role in the attack. McClure, who coordinates work on the biographies of veterans listed on the West Virginia Veterans Memorial, will be joined by George Washington students in the 2017 Advanced Placement U.S. History class taught by Kathy Bush, and will discuss what they learned from writing a biography of a Pearl Harbor casualty. This is the fourth year of the student biography project and the first year to be focused on a specific World War II event. McClure also will briefly discuss the remaining West Virginia Pearl Harbor survivors. McClure is a graduate of Baldwin-Wallace College and has a master’s degree from Ohio University. After teaching for two decades at West Virginia State University, she has spent retirement writing about historical subjects, primarily veterans on the West Virginia Veterans Memorial. For additional information, contact the Archives and History Library at (304) 558-0230. Patrons may park behind the Culture Center after 5 p.m. on Dec. 7 and enter the building at the back loading dock area. The bus turnaround is open, and handicapped spots are available there. Visitors parking there should enter at the front of the building. The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is proud to be able to present its programs at no charge to the public but without a solution to the state’s budget situation, this could be the last year that programs of this type could be offered. The division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, is an agency within the Office of Secretary of Education and the Arts with Gayle Manchin, cabinet secretary. It brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. -30- |
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