JMHS Grad Will Speak About Marshall County’s Impact on U.S. History | News, Sports, Jobs

JOE GEIGER

A John Marshall High School graduate and former state archivist and historian will offer a look tonight at how Marshall County has made a major impact on American history.

Joe Geiger will be the guest speaker at the Marshall County Historical Society’s annual banquet tonight at 6 p.m. at the Strand Theatre in Moundsville. The topic of his address is “Small Yet Mighty: Marshall County’s Oversized Impact on American History.”

The discussion will review the many people, places, and events connected to Marshall County that have impacted our United States history, from Grave Creek Mound through country superstar Brad Paisley. Other topics to be covered include the settlement and Revolutionary War period, visits by two American presidents, transportation improvements, industrial development, court cases involving married women teachers and labor contracts, motion pictures in Marshall County, influential state leaders, heroes, a villain and more.

After graduating from JMHS, Geiger earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration with a major in marketing and a master’s degree in history from Marshall University. He has published numerous scholarly articles and three books, including “Holding the Line: The Battle of Allegheny Mountain and Confederate Defense of the Staunton-Parkersburg Turnpike, 1861-1862,” and “Disorder on the Border: Civil Warfare in Cabell and Wayne Counties, 1856-1870.”

He served as an adjunct professor in the history departments at Marshall University and West Virginia State University for nearly twenty years and taught West Virginia history to a number of John Marshall High School graduates. Since his retirement, Geiger has served as curator/archivist of the Rosanna A. Blake Collection at Marshall University.