about the collaborators

Glenna Harvey Saunders had the foresight to realize the importance of the photographs  in this book and to preserve them for almost a century.  Phyllis Campbell Whitley met Glenna in 2009 and became the work-horse to scan over 300 photographs, tweak them a bit and assemble them in the story presented herein. Please pass this book on to the next generation.

Author Phyllis Campbell Whitley worked for a national corporation before taking early retirement to pursue her passions as an artist, an author, and a photographer. 

A native of Summers County, West Virginia, she grew up in nearby Beckley, but her childhood summers were always at her grandparents' farms in the county.

Her passion to chronicle the history of country life that bespeaks the heritage, the culture, and more importantly, the people has produced treasures for future generations. 

Today, she and her husband, A.C. Whitley, live in Spotsylvania, Va. They enjoy traveling and relaxing at their cottage on the Greenbrier River in West Virginia.

Glenna Ruth Harvey Saunders was born at her home place at Buck W.Va. on October 21, 1919. Her parents were Clinton and Maymie (Huffman) Harvey.

Glenna says she had known her husband, Orville Hartwell Saunders, all her life.  Her earliest recollection of him was at the age of eight.  They were married August 14, 1936.  In 1946 they moved to Dayton, Ohio where he was employed by the Chrysler Corporation.  They had two sons, Darrell and Daymon, and Glenna worked in a flower shop and the Northridge Wesleyan Church.

After a heart attack in 1975,Orville retired and they moved back to the Wikel homeplace.  Orville and  Glenna later moved to Beckley, West Virginia. After Orville's death Glenna remained in Beckley until May 2015 when  she moved to Vandalia, Ohio to be near her son Daymon and family.