Dr. Joshua Piker was the keynote speaker at the WVU History Department’s annual Holt Lecture on October 23. His talk, “Telling Stories in Early America, or, The Indian Who Went to London with an Eagle and Came Home with a Lion,” focused on the 1734 London visit of a Creek headman, Tomochichi, and how it opened a unique window onto the place of London within a Native world.

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Alex Jebbia, a master's student concentrating in public history, won a 2014 History Heroes award from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History for her work with Arthurdale Heritage, Inc.

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Three history majors — Joshua Childs, Montana Goehring and Michael Urban — have been named Eberly scholars for the 2014–15 academic year.

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Hilary Woodrum, a History and French studies major from Winfield, WV, has earned a prestigious Gilman Scholarship for study abroad. She is among six West Virginia University students to receive the national award, the most the University has ever received in a cycle.

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“During my years at WVU, the best part was working with students in American History courses while I was a teaching assistant,” recalls Jim Watson, ’73, ’75, ’80.

Remembering those days, Jim decided to help the Department of History through his estate plan. He has made the WVU Foundation the beneficiary of a life insurance policy to provide for student travel awards. Others choose to include the Dept. in their will or make the Foundation the beneficiary of a retirement account or annuity policy to benefit the Dept. or even set up a gift that pays retirement income to them.

Jim received the 2014 History Department Alumni Recognition Award, reflecting his connections to and interest in the department’s future. “My life insurance gift will provide resources for a graduate student in history to travel abroad for research because when I did that 36 years ago to work on my dissertation, there were no departmental funds available,” said Jim.

“It was expensive paying for everything while I was living in London,” said Jim. “If you’re a history major, you need to live in the area you are studying, wherever it is, to understand the history and the cultural, social and artistic life. Hopefully, future students will be able to enjoy similar experiences to mine.”

Jim’s career has involved fundraising for many years, but his history roots remain strong. His baseball memorabilia collection shows only one of his ongoing interests. Proudly, helping future WVU history students is another one.