09/25/2024
More Bluefield History:
The McCoy-Dodd-Brown House
213 Park Street
Bluefield, WV
Bluefield West Virginia is filled with historic properties associated with residents who made important and noteworthy contributions to our city, state, and country. Some of these homes are grand estates designed by famous architects and lived in by the wealthiest residents of the city. But that is not always the case. The two-story McCoy-Dodd-Brown house standing on the North side, within a stone’s throw of the railroad tracks, has the distinction of being home to three unrelated people, from three different generations, who’s significant influence is recognized and celebrated today.
Albert Carl McCoy (4/5/1883 to 8/16/1957) was a brakeman on the Norfolk & Western Railroad when he moved into the house with his wife Mayme in 1933. Prior to this he and Mayme lived in Northfork, WV while he worked laying track throughout the coal fields. As a young man he learned the work songs and spirituals sung by the track crews to keep their minds occupied while their bodies were exerted in hard labor. Around 1949 Cortez D. Reese, a music professor at Bluefield State College, travelled through the coal fields looking for and recording old negro spirituals and work songs for posterity. He must have heard from someone at the college that there was a retired railroad worker living nearby who might be of assistance. Reese went to 213 Park Street where he found Albert McCoy. After a brief introduction McCoy agreed to sing several of the old songs, saying, “Now this is some of the songs we used to sing in 1900 when we was laying steel along the Elkhorn, down the Elkhorn, ‘specially around the Elkhorn station, up on a high bluff around there.” Reese recorded McCoy singing “Lining Track,” Ten Pound Hammer,” and “Laying Steel” which are now preserved on a CD titled “Work & Pray: Historic Negro Spirituals and Labor Songs from West Virginia published by West Virginia University Press in 2003.
Joseph Eldridge Dodd (6/11/1907 to 11/29/1945) rented a second-floor bedroom from Albert & Mayme McCoy during the 1930’s while he was an art professor at Bluefield State College. Dodd was a native of Parkersburg, WV and attended the West Virginia Collegiate Institute and the National Academy of Design. He furthered his studies at Yale University where he won several awards before moving to Bluefield in ????. In 1938 Dodd painted “View From My Room” an oil on canvas painting featuring his view of the large 5-story brick Beaver High School and the surrounding neighborhood as seen from his second story room at 213 Park Street. On June 29, 1942, Dodd and 12 others were honored guests for breakfast at the Travelers Hotel on Raleigh Street before departing for Huntington, WV for induction into the Army. Dodd was selected as the leader of the group. He went on to serve as a Technical Sergeant with the 1894th Aviation Engineer Battalion. Dodd was honorably discharged from the Army on November 12, 1945, after contracting Malaria. He arrived back in Bluefield, WV on November 26th and was at “home” under the McCoy roof when he died three days later. In his short lifetime Dodd created an impressive body of artistic work that included paintings, drawings, and magazine cover art. Much of Dodd’s work, including, "View From My Room," are housed at the WVU Art Museum. Professor Rhonda Reymond at WVU said, “he was awarded a Citation for Extraordinary Service in promoting high morale among the soldiers for a landscape of ‘tropical beauty’ decorating an outdoor battalion theatre, or perhaps for work that has not been recorded. Although Dodd’s division was charged with the grueling physical work of building airstrips in Saipan, while he was there, or possibly just after his return from the Pacific Theater, he made five small paintings and colored drawings of the tropical landscape that could almost be mistaken for paradisiacal sketches made during a vacation.” Prof. Reymond is working on a book titled “Richard Lonsdale Brown and Joseph E. Dodd: Two Black Appalachians and Paths to Artistic Professionalization in the Early Twentieth Century,” which describes Dodd’s life, influence, and artistic talents. The book is scheduled for publication in ????. One of Dodd’s students, Dr. James A. Broady Jr. said of him, he “was my art mentor and friend beloved by the entire student body.”
Effie M. Brown (4/8/1922 to 7/26/2017) moved to 213 Park Street during the early 1970’s and lived there for more than forty years. Brown “achieved the distinction of valedictorian in the final graduating class of the oldest Colored High School in McDowell County, Northfork, WV, in 1940. Throughout her high school years, she garnered numerous awards in subjects such as Math, English, and Essay Writing. Her academic journey continued as she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Bluefield State College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. Later, she earned a master's degree in early childhood education from Marshall University. Effie played a pivotal role as the selected teacher to pilot the inaugural Kindergarten program in the Bluefield area's public schools. Over her commendable career spanning more than 30 years in Mercer County Schools, she taught students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Notably, Effie became the first Black woman president of the Mercer County Education Association. She was an active member of the Mercer County Education Association, the West Virginia Education Association, and the National Education Association. Additionally, she held life membership status in the Bluefield State Alumni and the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority. Her contributions were further acknowledged as she found a place among the Outstanding Elementary Teachers of America in 1974 and in Who's Who Among Black Americans from 1974 to 1976. Notably, Effie's legacy continues with the "Effie M. Brown" Award presented annually at the Minority Affair Conference in Charleston, WV, recognizing outstanding contributions by a minority individual.” (source: City of Bluefield Black History Month Page)
