Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

An appointment for research is required. All materials in the collection are available for research. No interlibrary loan. A related collection is the William C. and Bill Blizzard When Miners March Collection which has been digitized.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], William C. Blizzard Photography Collection, Appalachian Collection, McConnell Library, Radford University, Radford, VA. William C. Blizzard Photography Collection , Accession # AC 015, University Archives, McConnell Library, Radford University

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Wess Harris in 2011.

Accruals

No additional accruals are expected.

Custodial History

The collection was purchased from Wess Harris in 2011 at the same time as the William C. and Bill Blizzard When Miners March Coal and Labor Collection.

Processing Information

Files were initially organized by Ashley Tussey, with additional processing by Gene Hyde and Wes Hess, 2012.

Biographical Information

William C. Blizzard (December 22, 1916- December 29, 2008) was a journalist, historian, and photographer. Over the course of his career he worked as a photographer and features writer for the Charleston Gazette, as well as publications such as The Nation and Labor's Daily. He also published articles and photographs in many magazines and newspapers. The narrative that would become When Miners March was originally published as a series of articles in Labor's Daily in the 1950s. Wess Harris worked with William C. Blizzard to publish When Miners March as a book in 2004.Blizzard was educated at West Virginia University and the Columbia School of Journalism. He served in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II where he was a photographer. He had a long career as a journalist and photographer, working for many papers and as a free lance writer.

Scope and Content

This collection contains approximately 10,000 photographic slides taken by William C. Blizzard. Blizzard was a photojournalist who documented many aspects of life in West Virginia and surrounding region. His subjects range from news photography depicting coal miners and the coal industry, to scenic nature photos, to regional arts and crafts. Blizzard used the following categories to arrange his slides: Animals, Auto, B.A.S.S., Birds, Children, Cities, Disaster Wrecks, Education, England, Fairfest, Family, Farm, Florida, Holidays, Industrial Business, Ireland, Kentucky, Medical, Miscellaneous, Mudrun, Ohio, Outdoor Recreation, Old File, People (odd folk), Plants, Plants and Animals - Zoobot, Poverty, Russia, Russia Winter, Scenic, Science, Senior Citizens, Social, Society SCA, Sports, Teenagers, Tennessee, U.S. History, Virginia, Workmen, West Virginia Arts and Crafts, West Virginia Historic, WV Homes, West Virginia, West Virginia Parks-Forests, West Virginia Schools, and Young People.

Arrangement

The William C. Blizzard Photography Collection consists of 512 hanging sleeves containing up to 20 slides each. This is the collection of a working freelance photographer who organized and labeled his slides by category, and the file numbers reflect Billizard's original file labels. Individual slides are typically labeled with Blizzard's name and contact information.