ISSUED: 2 November 2021
MEDIA CONTACT: Dana Costa
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Forty alumnae and community members attended the Women for Shepherd University (WSU) historic walking tour on Sunday, October 10, in downtown Shepherdstown. The tour was sponsored by the Shepherd University Foundation and was an official event for Shepherd University’s 150th celebration occurring during the 2021-22 academic year.
The walking tour, which was the 17th marquee event for WSU, featured Dr. Keith Alexander and Dr. Ben Bankhurst, both faculty of the Shepherd University history department. It also featured alumnus Patrick Fuller, who spoke about World War I as it related to Shepherd University, and current history student Julia Underkoffler, who shared her expertise on historic grave preservation.
Tour attendees began their journey at McMurran Hall, erected in 1859 by Rezin Davis Shepherd. Originally used as a town hall, McMurran paved the way for Shepherdstown to create a normal school to further higher education in the newly formed state of West Virginia.
“The town had a beautiful building that needed a purpose, and the residents needed a school,” Alexander said. “So McMurran Hall was an early example of adaptive use, a historic preservation technique commonly used today.”
Following McMurran Hall, attendees made their way to several significant buildings in Shepherd University history, including Knutti Hall, the main academic building in the early 1900s; the Catherine Weltzheimer House, one of the oldest buildings in Shepherdstown and currently a focal point in Shepherd’s historic preservation program; and the Little House, which was a brainchild of former Shepherd professor Florence Shaw to be used in the teaching-training program in the 1920s.
Other tour stops featured buildings and sites prevalent in both Shepherdstown and Shepherd’s history. One such building was the George Tyler Moore Center for the Study of Civil War, which was gifted to the University in 1993 by actress Mary Tyler Moore.
“As a lifelong resident of Shepherdstown, I have always been very familiar with the history of the town,” said Margaret Rose Peterson, who attended with her husband Steve Smith. “I found the tour to be very informative and well-organized. I appreciate that the Shepherd University Foundation offers so many activities to the community that appeal to a very broad range of interests.”
If you are interested in learning more about Women for Shepherd University or would like to help plan future events, contact Meg Peterson, with the Shepherd University Foundation at 304-876-5021 or mpeterso@shepherd.edu, or visit https://shepherduniversityfoundation.org.
— 30 —
