We offer you the opportunity to purchase publications of and memberships in the Society through our online store using PayPal, which accepts credit card purchases. A special visitor's page informs tourists and new residents about historic sites throughout the county and various cultural and historic events being held in the County in the coming year. We encourage you to learn about some of our collaborator's efforts through a series of links to their web sites.

We hope you enjoy your visit to the Society's web site and that you find our information useful. Please address any inquiries regarding this site to our communications coordinator at cmasonwhf@aol.com. See "Contact Us" for a list of other Society members who may be able to provide you with additional information about the Society.

Note:  We have added a new feature to the web site which provides the reader with links to 181 historical markers in Jefferson County. Please click here to go to our historic marker data base section.

JEFFERSON COUNTY HISTORY EVENTS SCHEDULE
The Society is working with several other historical and historic preservation organizations in the county to provide readers with a single calendar describing the schedule of events being hosted by these organizations in 2011. CLICK HERE to view the events.

Announcing the Charles and Wilhelmina O’Connor Author Competition Criteria - 12/01/2011

Competition is open to anyone who:
1. Resides in Jefferson County, WV or is a member in good standing of the Jefferson County (WV) Historical Society. A non-member can join the society by filling out an application and submitting a check for the membership.
2. Has written a book or is in the final stages of writing a book or screen-play about the history of Jefferson County, WV (fiction or non-fiction). Proposals may be for a children’s or for an adult book.
3. Has not published a book previously.

Proposals must be submitted as follows:
1. Author’s name, address, e-mail and telephone number must appear on the first page of the proposal, but not on any other page. The first page will be removed from the proposal so that it can be judged without bias as to who submitted the proposal.
2. Proposals must be postmarked by December 31, 2011. The must be mailed to Bob O’Connor, 119 N. Church Street, Charles Town, West Virginia. The outside of the package should clearly be marked on the lower left hand corner of the envelope as an entry for “The Charles and Wilhelmina O’Connor Author Competition”.
3. Proposals must include a book/screenplay idea of at least twenty-five pages. Information concerning the bio of the author, samples of his/her work, historical background of the author, educational background and work history should be included in the submission.
4. The author will be judged on professional merit, grammar, writing style, subject, and scholarship. Decisions by the committee will be final.

The program will be administered by Charles and Wilhelmina O’Connor’s son, Bob O’Connor, published author, in conjunction with Infinity Publishing, and the Jefferson County (WV) Historical Society. A committee from the O’Connor family, along with a representative from the historical society will comprise the administrators and judges for this competition.

One winner will be chosen per year, based on the evaluation of the proposals submitted. The committee may decide that there is no book worthy of winning the competition for any given year.

Winner will receive a professionally published 8 ½ by 5 ½ book published by Infinity Publishing, a maximum of twenty-five copies of that book, 1000 business cards, 1000 book marks, and 100 posters. The book will also be transcribed into an e-book format. The book will be listed on websites for internet sales including on www.amazon.com and www.bbotw.com and provided for e-book sales. The book will also be offered for sale on the JCHS website.

Winners will be notified by March 1, 2012. The winner will have 12 months from their notification to complete their book for submission to the publisher. At least twice during the process (at the six month and nine month time frame), Bob O’Connor will meet with the winning author to make sure the proposal is in line with the proposal that was submitted. If a winner does not complete their book within the guidelines of the award during that time period, the award will be rescinded.

All attempts will be made by the committee to insure that the winning book will represent the history of Jefferson County.

If you have any additional questions, please contact Bob O'COnnor via e-mail at author@boboconnorbooks.com.