CHARLESTON, WV (LOOTPRESS) – First Lady Cathy Justice, in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Education, is inviting West Virginia students to participate in a Golden Horseshoe Sword Smithing Design Contest.
All high school students (grades 9-12) who are enrolled in a public, private, or home-school in West Virginia are urged to participate in this Student Artist Series.
Contest overview:
Use your creative talent to draw a design that will be used to forge the official sword for the ceremonial knighting of the top 8th grade West Virginia history students as they become Knights and Ladies of the Golden Horseshoe.
More info/submission instructions:
This will be the 10th installment of the First Lady’s Student Artist Series; an art program started to promote the importance of the arts in schools throughout West Virginia.
Students may submit their artwork/design via email to tbelliott@k12.wv.us or jcoble@k12.wv.us. With their submission, students MUST include their contact information (phone, email, school name, county, teacher name, and teacher email).
The designs must be received by Nov. 12, 2021.
The top five finalists will be named Jan. 12, 2022, and the grand prize winner will be named May 12, 2022.
The First Lady Student Artist Series started in May 2018 and was designed to encourage West Virginia students to participate in and explore different forms and disciplines of art. Each initiative is tailored to specific grade levels, so students of all ages get the opportunity to participate.
History of the Sword (courtesy of the WVDE):
The current West Virginia Golden Horseshoe sword is a replica of an 1840 model militia blade and Howard Chenoweth was most likely the weapon’s original owner. The manufacturer’s logo indicates the blade was manufactured between 1882 and 1925, making it 85 to 128 years old. After the Civil War, sword manufacturers realized a great business opportunity existed for these swords. They made thousands of different ones, and if one digs deep, these swords can be found all over the country.
A 1944 obituary from the Elkins Inter-Mountain newspaper reveals that Chenoweth, 60 years old when he died, was a member and former master of Elkins’ Masonic lodge. It’s likely this Chenoweth would have owned a ceremonial sword. It’s still unclear, however, how the sword made its way to the state superintendent’s office. Chenoweth has no apparent connections to the West Virginia Department of Education, and members of Elkins Lodge 108 say they don’t know anything about the sword or Chenoweth.
While there is a current competition for West Virginia high school students to design a new sword, the current sword will always be part of the annual ceremony and will now we able to be displayed at the state museum year-round for all former and future Golden Horseshoe recipients to view along with all the other thousands of other visitors to the museum.
Once the winning design is chosen, the newly designed sword will be commissioned out to one of the state’s Career Technical Education (CTE) programs to produce the actual metal work. It is exciting that a West Virginia student and CTE program will create an artifact, along with the current sword, that will be part of the annual Golden Horseshoe Ceremony for years to come.