Greetings Friends, our team here at the WV Mine Wars Museum has been searching high and low for the perfect person to fill our part-time Communications and Outreach Coordinator position, and we are confident in saying that we have finally found her! Please join us in welcoming Mingo County native, Kirstyn Ooten, to our team!

Below is a message written by Kirstyn, to you!

      Hi Friend,

My name is Kirstyn Ooten, and I am very grateful and honored to work alongside you to do this amazing work. As the new Communications and Outreach Coordinator for the museum, I am extremely excited to connect with you to see what beauty you have created, as well as learn what we can curate together. 

 The WV Mine Wars Museum has been near and dear to me for a number of years now as I was born, raised, and still reside in Mingo County; the home place of the museum. I am a daughter, grand-daughter, and great grand-daughter to Mingo and Logan county coal miners. In addition, I am a house plant connoisseur, retired freelance makeup artist, and a fur-mom to four little babies named Pinto Bean, Baby Cat (no relation to Baby Dog), Avocado, and last but not least, my tripawd pictured below, famously known as Rowdy Man. 

I have spent the last three years serving as a VISTA (volunteer in service to America), serving in Logan County public schools. During my time there, I have developed a passion for youth advocacy and justice. I have learned that very few students in Logan and Mingo counties know of their history and how the union came to be. As per that discovery, one of my priorities in this role as Communications and Outreach Coordinator will be incorporating youth in every way possible in our projects and work at the museum. Youth are the future.  They will be the ones to tell our stories and carry on the legacy of our fight for labor justice.

Wishing you a prosperous and safe 2022,

Kirstyn 

🖤