Oli Pierce and Justin West, “The Gangster Buffs of Charleston: Jewish Safety in a Southern City”
Mentor: Rachel Buff, History, Letters & Science (College of)
Poster #20
This project revolves around understanding and closely examining the history of Jewish refugee trauma and immigrant search for safety and kinship within the racial and capitalistic community in Appalachia from the 1920s to the early 1940s. Our aim is to better understand how the Ashkenazi Jewish community came to the Appalachian region, specifically the small city of Charleston, West Virginia, USA, and how they adapted to life there. Our primary methods in doing so revolve around genealogical research pertaining to the family of Dr. Rachel Buff and exploring the history of West Virginia through various archival repositories such as microfilm and digital collections. Examining the history of West Virginia includes studying the Native tribes of the area and impactful events that would have affected the Buff family in this region, such as Coal Miners Unions, the KKK, and the Works Progress Administration.