Happy Fall from the West Virginia Humanities Council! In the spirit of the season, we have once again teamed up with Morgantown artist Liz Pavlovic to create this special edition enamel pin celebrating West Virginia’s cryptids and West Virginia Folklife.
You can get yours by becoming a GEM (Give Every Month) member of the West Virginia Humanities Council at only $5/month or more.
EXTRA SPOOKY DEAL:
GEMs who give $10 or more receive both our 2022 Flatwoods Monster pin and our 2021 Mothman pin. Your renewed support will be deeply appreciated and put to direct use. Every gift, in any amount, is meaningful and important to our work. Monthly giving is safe, secure, and automatic, and it allows us to put more of your contribution to work on programming. By making regular, manageable, monthly contributions you can help the Council enrich the Mountain State’s cultural life by providing top-quality humanities programming.

What does a GEM membership support?
- The preservation and documentation of West Virginia’s vibrant cultural heritage and living traditions through the West Virginia Folklife Program
- Educational projects and programs like the Smithsonian Institution exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America, which traveled to seven West Virginia communities from August 2021 to June 2022
- The Council’s expanded and upgraded e-WV, the West Virginia encyclopedia, which brings thousands of articles and multimedia assets on West Virginia people, places, and history to readers throughout the U.S. and in 192 countries
- Our popular History Alive! program, featuring scholars from around the state who portray historical figures at local venues including museums, schools, libraries, community centers, and fairs and festivals
- The Council’sWest Virginia National Cemeteries Project, with funding from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which supports West Virginia high school students in researching and writing biographies of veterans interred in the Mountain State’s two National Cemeteries
- The West Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship Program, which offers a stipend to West Virginia master traditional artists/practitioners working with newer practitioners to facilitate the transmission of their respective forms, traditions, and techniques
- and much more!
Sign up here to get your pin and help support Humanities Council grants and programs, serving tens of thousands of West Virginians in the state, every day of the year. Contact Victoria Paul at 304-346-8500 or v.paul@wvhumanities.org with any questions.
Read about the Humanities Council Executive Director’s family encounter with the Flatwoods Monster in the June 2022 edition of The Broad Side. Our bimonthly publication features historical curiosities, Appalachian book reviews, short dispatches from around the state, and think pieces for further exploration.