Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex Announces June Family Activities

 News…

MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. – Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville announces programs and events for June. Throughout the month, visitors can enjoy activities such as the Featured Artists of the Month exhibit, West Virginia Day activities, a book signing, planting native grass to take home at the museum’s Discovery Table and a film. All programs are free and open to the public.

Schedule of June Programs:

Saturday, June 9, 1 and 3 p.m. – Second Saturday Film, “John Brown’s Holy War.” From witnessing brutality against a slave boy as a child to his execution after raiding the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, this film takes a closer look at the man who was seen as a farmer, warrior, family man and inspiration to the Civil Rights Movement.
Wednesday, June 20, 2 – 4 p.m. – “West Virginia Day – Post Cards from the Mountain State,” Take home a vintage postcard, get a brand-new postcard made featuring your family or group and sign the giant birthday card!
Saturday, June 23, 2 – 4 p.m. – Gary L. Rider will be on hand to sign copies of his new book Marshall County, co-authored with Karen L. Grubber. The book is part of a postcard history series. Marshall County lies at the historic, cultural and economic crossroads of West Virginia. Find out about the rich history of the area within this book. Rider is a librarian, retired high school teacher and past president of the Marshall County Historical Society. He is the author of the popular series Marshall County Patriots and Heroes.
Discovery Table – “Plant Native Grass,” Find out more about native and invasive plants in West Virginia and plant native grass to grow at home. Available all month during museum hours.
Featured Artists of the Month – Hilda Steen and Ann Hendley. Steen discovered her love for art in high school in Chester, N.J. She spent two years at the School of Fine and Industrial Arts in Newark, N.J. and later studied at East Stroudsburg University in Pennsylvania and at The Orange Shop in Florida. She has shown works in Florida, New Jersey and West Virginia, and her paintings have ended up as far away as Oregon and England. She teaches private art lessons at her home in Middlebourne, Tyler County.
Hendley is a retired pulmonary specialist who has always loved art. She has been a member of the Society of Decorative Painters for 30 years and has taken many seminars during that time. Living only 10 miles apart, Hendley met Steen, who introduced her to pastels.

For more information about activities and programs at Grave Creek Mound, contact Andrea Keller, cultural program coordinator, at (304) 843-4128 or andrea.k.keller@wv.gov or visit www.facebook.com/gravecreekmound and www.twitter.com/gravecreekmound.

Visitors can also tour the complex’s many exhibits, including The Buried Past: Artifacts from West Virginia’s Wild, Wonderful History, which showcases a series of West Virginia archaeological sites selected from the curation facility, and Prehistoric West Virginia, which features casts of some of the large Ice Age animals that once roamed West Virginia and a cast of a skull of a stag moose.

Operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex features one of the largest conical burial mounds built by the Adena people between 250 – 150 B.C. and ranks as one of the largest earthen mortuary mounds anywhere in the world. Exhibits and displays in the Delf Norona Museum interpret what is known about the lives of these prehistoric people and the construction of the mound. The complex also houses the West Virginia Archaeological Research and Collections Management Facility.

Admission to Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex is free. The Delf Norona Museum, located at 801 Jefferson Avenue, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday. Outdoor access closes at 4:30 p.m. and availability is weather permitting.

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