Growing up in Wyoming County’s Cub Creek holler (a place with no Walmart, no stoplight), Kenzie learned early that if you needed something done, you did it yourself. That scrappiness, inherited from her grandfather who built houses by hand after teaching all day, now powers her work preserving the stories of West Virginia’s labor movement.
Featured Leader: Kenzie New-Walker
Director, West Virginia Mine Wars Museum | 2024 GWV Fellow
As director of the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, Kenzie leads a people’s history museum focused on the lives and struggles of working people. Her father, grandfather, and three great-grandfathers were union coal miners who helped power the American labor movement during critical moments in our nation’s history.
“Working in such a niche space, I often find myself surrounded by people with similar backgrounds,” Kenzie reflects. “The fellowship has been refreshing—connecting with young professionals in different sectors, expanding my perspective.”
A standout moment came from meeting National Park Service and WV Tourism Office representatives. The museum’s long-term vision includes creating one of the country’s largest labor history trails, and these connections are already shaping how that dream becomes reality.
Kenzie’s work does more than preserve history. It builds tourism infrastructure, creates educational opportunities, and demonstrates to young West Virginians that staying home doesn’t mean abandoning ambition. Through the fellowship, she’s building the statewide network necessary to transform a local museum into a regional economic asset.