The
Digital Writing Heritage II Project is the
third year of a Kellogg-funded partnership
between the Scott’s Run community
and the West Virginia University English
Department.
The rich and varied history of the Scott’s
Run community is a kind of mirror on America’s
economic and social history in the last
century. In the 1930’s, Scott’s
Run became America’s symbol of the
Great Depression in the coalfields, attracting
the attention of Eleanor Roosevelt and the
national media. Today, the general Scott's
Run area has a population of about 3,000.
The Scott's Run community consists largely
of former coal miners and their families;
the majority of people are unemployed or
subsist on temporary low-wage jobs. The
community has been hit hard by the closing
of several coalmines in the last several
years. As one general indication of the
poverty level in the area, 60% of the children
who go to Cass Elementary School (which
serves the Scott's Run area) qualify for
free and reduced cost lunches. In 1995,
12% of the population of the western part
of Monongalia County, where Scott's Run
is located, were on Temporary Aid to the
Needy.
There is no better resource for this history
than the Scott’s Run Museum. The Museum
began as one of many projects sponsored
by the United Communities of Scott’s
Run, Inc. The Museum’s mission is
helping the community to celebrate and preserve
its heritage. The English Department's partnership
helps to achieve these goals.
To learn more about the Project Mission
click here.
To learn about the Scotts’ Run Museum
Mission click here.
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