History Alive! comes to the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — History came to life at the Youth Museum of West Virginia on Sunday, June 30, 2024 when guests were pulled back to the late 1700s to meet Thomas Ingles, son of Mary Draper Ingles.

History Alive! is a program sponsored by the West Virginia Humanities Council in order to provide living history performances throughout the state.

With a roster of more than 10 characters, the program allows a glimpse into the past with first-person character portrayals.

Thomas Ingles journeyed to the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia in order to tell his story, one often overshadowed by his famous mother, Mary Draper Ingles.

Becky Leach, Secretary of the Raleigh County Historical Society, said these presentations are important for everyone.

“It’s just encouragement to keep our history alive and that it is indeed something to look forward to and to retain for the future, for the future generations. We don’t need to lose all of our yesterdays simply because they are past,” said Leach.

Leslie Gray-Baker, Director of Parks and Recreation for the city of Beckley, said they try to do two presentations each summer.

“I think it’s so important because it’s such a unique way to get people involved and interested, and most of the time, the presentations we pick are of local interest to us,” explained Gray-Baker.

Presentations from days past have included Francis Pierpont, the “Father of West Virginia”; Nellie Bly, the journalist famous for infiltrating an insane asylum to show the deplorable conditions; and Walt Disney, pioneer of the American animated film industry and Mr. Mickey Mouse.

For this presentation, Doug Wood of Hurricane portrayed Thomas Ingles.

He said he wants people to see Thomas not as black-and-white, but a real person with conflicts of his own.

“Well, one of the key things I hope to portray is the conflict he had within, being raised as Shawnee. He was a Shawnee man when he came back to Virginia and he didn’t speak a lick of English when he came back to Virginia,” said Wood. “He had to transition to become a Virginia gentleman, and then when he gets out of school, learning how to be a Virginia gentleman, he immediately goes to war against the Shawnees that he had been raised by.”

The next History Alive! Presentation will feature Mary Harris “Mother” Jones at the Wildwood House on August 5th.

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