Frederick H. Armstrong, long time director of
the West Virginia Archives and History will speak
at the Vaughan Preservation Dinner on May 5.
As Director of Archives and History. Mr. Armstrong
and his staff were responsible for acquiring,
preserving and classifying books, documents and
other memorabilia of historical interest and importance.
The West Virginia Bluebook states that in
general, the purpose of the Division of Culture and
History, of which Archives and History is a part, is
to "do all things necessary or convenient to preserve
and advance the culture of West Virginia."
In 1980, with only short notice, the Parkersburg
City Building began to be stripped in preparation
for razing. Hearing of the impending destruction,
Mr. Armstrong, quickly came from Charleston and
salvaged invaluable early Parkersburg records.
Though the records were always available for public
viewing, it wasn't until very recently that their
indexing and cataloging was complete. Today,
thanks to the efforts of Fred Armstrong and his
staff, the City of Parkersburg Collection contains
nearly 50 boxes of our past history.
In what many feel was a politically motivated
action, Mr. Armstrong was "let go" as Director of
the Division of Archives and History in 2007.
This year was the earliest Easter any of us will
ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most
elderly (those 95 or older) have ever seen it this
early (that was on March 23, 1913!)
I did some research about this— here are some
of the details about Easter:
The Jewish calendar (used at the time of Jesus)
is a lunar one, whereas our calendars today are solar
ones. Thus, the lunar year is twelve orbits of
the moon around the earth (about 354 days); the
solar year is one orbit of the earth around the sun
(about 365 days). Therefore, the two calendars are
not synchronized.
In the early church, some Christians celebrated
Easter on the Sunday after Passover. However,
others celebrated Easter on the day of Passover
itself. This meant that Easter not only fell on a
date that was different each year, but also on a different
day of the week each year.
The Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) decided that
Easter was to be celebrated on the first Sunday following
the first full moon following the spring
equinox (usually March 20). Thus, Easter can be
as early as March 22 and as late as April 25. The
next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will
be the year 2228 (220 years from now)!
ARMSTRONG TO SPEAK AT VAUGHAN DINNER
H & P Page 11
Wood County Historical and Preservation Society
OF WEST VIRGINIA
Why Was Easter So Early This Year!
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