Veteran West Virginia Archivist Fired

Fred Armstrong, West Virginia state archives director for 22 years, was dismissed on November 1 for no stated reason, and librarians, local history buffs, and one major elected official have stood up in his defense. Meanwhile, Armstrong has filed a grievance with the state personnel board. Armstrong's attorney, Jim Lees, told LJ that a hearing on the grievance will be held February 25. "Given [Armstrong's] decades of exemplary service, that the state decided to fire him all of a sudden certainly merits looking into," said Lees, who lost to Gov. Joe Manchin in a 2004 gubernatorial run.

Armstrong has said he believes he was fired because Manchin's administration expected him to oppose publicly plans to combine the Cultural Center's archives library with the lending library and to furnish the building with a café/gift shop. One other theory is that Armstrong lost his job owing to his recommendation that the Archives and History Commission deny a request for commemorative highway markers.