Hey, Alex Trebek:  Here’s a good answer for Final Jeopardy:  The only state added to the Union during the Civil War, this is also the only state ever created by Presidential proclamation.”  Give up?  The question is, “What is West Virginia?”

On June 20, 1863, after President Lincoln’s declaration some 60 days before, the 35th state was officially born, with its first capitol in Wheeling.  Folks here had figured that if Virginia could secede from the Union, well, we could secede from Virginia, so in 1861, that’s just what we did.

As early as 1835, people in the northwestern part of the Old Dominion were showing their abolitionist side, going on trial for teaching blacks to read.  In 1859, abolitionist John Brown raided the Federal armory in what is now Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The first land battle of the Civil War was fought in Philippi.  And in July, 1863, in one of the very first acts of the new state government, Gov. Boreman signed a bill giving blacks the same rights as whites for criminal trials (but stopped short of allowing blacks to serve on juries).  Is it any wonder our state motto is “Mountaineers Are Always Free”?

So the next time you hear one of those tired old jokes about people from West Virginia not wearing shoes, having no teeth, or worse, think back to just how progressive this place has always been.  Astronaut Jon McBride, Olympic gold medalist Mary Lou Retton, and Alias star Jennifer Garner are all proud to call West Virginia home, and so am I.  Happy 144th, West Virginia.  Here’s to many more!