There are many notable examples of recent or ongoing large-scale activities dealing with the industrial history of the United States. Arguably, the most noteworthy is the work of the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), a division of the National Park Service which for the past thirty-one years has been actively documenting historic industrial and engineering sites across the country. Other successful National Park Service initiatives include the efforts of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Heritage Preservation Commission (formerly America's Industrial Heritage Project), the revitalization of Lowell, Massachusetts, and preservation of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in the state of Illinois. Other federal agencies, like the Forest Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Office of Surface Mining are also concerned with the preservation and management of cultural resources affiliated with our industrial past.

The abilities required to document or preserve valuable cultural resources are wide-ranging and require the meeting of diverse fields of study. Traditionally, several distinguished universities have had an interest in this country's industrial heritage and associated studies in the history of technology: Brown University has a long-standing relationship with Slater's Mill, birthplace of the American textile industry; the University of Delaware maintains an industrial archive and history of technology exhibition at its Hagley Museum; Michigan Technological University is involved in studies of copper mining in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and has developed the first graduate degree in industrial archaeology.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s West Virginia University was extensively involved in teaching and research in the history of technology and the new field of industrial archaeology, utilizing a multidisciplinary approach to the preservation and interpretation of historic industrial and transportation sites.  WVU civil engineering and history professor Emory Kemp (who played a major role in bringing IA from Britain to the U.S., the formation of The Society for Industrial Archaeology (SIA), and the creation of HAER) led these efforts. During these years personnel from West Virginia University and HABS/HAER collaborated on numerous projects of mutual interest. The creation of The Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology in 1989, with Kemp as its first director, ensured WVU’s long-term relationship with HAER and has resulted in the documentation of dozens of IA sites in the United States while providing unique educational opportunities to WVU students.

In 1989, West Virginia University's mission was acknowledged by the 101st Congress, which provided $600,000 in support of the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology (IHTIA). In providing this appropriation, the House of Representatives Committee originating this funding stated:

"The Committee believes that the Institute can provide guidance to the National Park Service and the Congress as to which areas of our industrial heritage should be preserved and how best this can be accomplished. In addition, the Institute can work on development of techniques for recording industrial sites and in the preservation of engineering works."

The West Virginia University Research Corporation (WVURC), on behalf of West Virginia University and IHTIA, entered into a cooperative agreement with HABS/HAER subsequent to this appropriation for the study, interpretation, and preservation of historic technological and industrial sites and structures in West Virginia, the surrounding region, and United States. Legislative authority under which WVURC and HABS/HAER entered into this cooperative agreement include: Public Law 91-383 (amending NPS Organic Act), 16 U.S.C. Sec. 1a-2(g); Historic Sites Act, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 461-67; National Historic Preservation Act, 16 U.S.C. Sec. 470-470w-6; and Intergovernmental Cooperation Act of 1968 (P.L. 90-577; 82 Stat. 1102), Title III.

Since 1989, the Institute for the History of Technology and Industrial Archaeology (IHTIA) has operated as a unit of the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University through a combination of federal, state, and local funding. IHTIA's mission involves research, teaching, and service in the history of technology, industrial archaeology, and the history and preservation of historic engineering works. 

Housed in the historic 1854 Vance Farmhouse, IHTIA's facilities include research offices, a resource center, a publishing
center, and studios for the preparation of measured drawings. Expertise comes from a variety of disciplines. Its staff and
associates include structural engineers, historians, delineators, landscape architects, drafting specialists, architects, and publications specialists.  Graduate students from a variety of programs assist our professional staff as interns, while workstudy students (and sometimes even volunteers!) help keep things running. 

Together, professionals and students form the nucleus of an interdisciplinary approach to the scholarly study, documentation, and preservation of historic industries and engineering works. IHTIA's capabilities include preparation of measured drawings (both hand-drawn and CAD), large format archival photography to HABS/HAER standards, research and writing of historical narratives and/or technical reports, video documentation, cartography (hand-drawn and GIS), graphic design, desktop publishing, stereoscopic interpretation of aerial photographs, land surveying, and instruction in the techniques of industrial archaeology. 

Along with historical site documentation using IA techniques, IHTIA carries out the following activities: 

    1. Scholarly studies in the history of technology. 

    2. Professional consultations and sponsored research on America's industrial heritage for federal, state, and local agencies
        such as the National Park Service, Army Corps of Engineers, and State Historic Preservation Offices. 

    3. Aid in the preservation of engineering works and development of techniques for structural analysis of historic
        and obsolete structural materials in cooperation with WVU's College of Engineering. 

    4. Sponsorship and participation in seminars and conferences in the history of technology, industrial archaeology, and the
        history and preservation of engineering works. 

    5. Video productions and publications on subjects relevant to IHTIA's mission. 

    6. Student research assistantships and internships.