Preserving Pocahontas

Presentation of the West Virginia State Flag during Opening Day Ceremony at the National Youth Science Camp held at Camp Pocahontas in Thornwood, W.Va.

The three-week camp was created as a part of West Virginia’s centennial celebration in 1963 and was originally intended as a one-time celebration of youth and science hosting two high school graduates, free of charge, from each state and Washington, D.C. In 1964, Neil Armstrong presented at the camp, and gave a lecture to the delegates describing NASA’s plans to put a man on the moon. Five years later, just days before he was due to launch on Apollo 11, he sent a telegram to the camp expressing his commendation. From 1963 to 1974, all of the delegates were male, but beginning in 1975, it accepted both male and female delegates. As of 2020, the NYSCamp Program also accepts two delegates to represent Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago. A video of the History of the NYSCamp can be viewed on-line at https://www.nysf. com/w/programs/nyscamp/nyscamp-history/ (Photograph by William P. McNeel, Pocahontas County Historical Society Collection; ID: PHS004636)

Access the “Preserving Pocahontas” Digital Library at www.pocahontaspreservation.org or www.preservingpocahontas.org

If you have historical records or photographs to be scanned for the county Historical Archive contact Preservation Officer B.J. Gudmundsson at 304-799-3989 or email info@pocahontaspreservation.org Prints of photographs are available.