TELLING WEST CHESTER'S STORIES

Continuing the Work of Local Historian Virginia Shewalter

Family stories are passed along from one generation to the next through stories shared. Capturing a community’s history requires all who have been a part of building community.

Virginia Shewalter was West Chester’s best-known community story teller, but she wasn’t the first. Virginia, author of “A History of Union Township, Butler County, Ohio” gathered her information from shared stories and from histories of the area published years before.

Born July 14, 1916, Virginia Shewalter grew up in Gano and graduated from Union Township High School. Virginia served in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps and the Women’s Army Corps for three years during World War II, rising to the rank of Captain, and later returned to teach English at Lakota High School.

Her book, “The History of Union Township, Butler County, Ohio,” was published posthumously in 1979, chronicling our community's beginnings. She compiled the book in celebration of our country’s bicentennial celebration in 1976.

Her inspiring life story and service to our nation is the subject of a “Local History” feature by the MidPointe Library System. The library collaborated with West Chester-Union Township Historical Society to present the “Virginia Shewalter Letters Collection,” an archive of letters sent home by Capt. Shewalter during her military service.

Today, the West Chester-Union Township Historical Society, MidPointe Library System and West Chester Township are working together to gather video stories from the community that pick up where Virginia left off.

Please subscribe to the digital Community Report or visit the Storyteller Playlist at www.westchesteroh.org to learn more. New storyteller videos will be released throughout the year. If you know of someone who has stories to share, please contact Barbara Wilson at bwilson@westchesteroh.org

Time Capsule

What will we leave behind to tell our story to future West Chester residents? A bicentennial time capsule will be assembled throughout the year to be buried sometime this fall.

Members of the volunteer bicentennial planning committee seek advice about what should be included in the time capsule. What items can we leave behind that reflect our community as it is today? Please share your ideas by filling in the form found at the QR code, or www. westchesteroh.org/200.

There is already one community time capsule buried in Keehner Park. It was buried in celebration of our nation’s bicentennial, but we’ll have to wait until 2076 to see what was left behind in that vault.