BBG Travel & Tourism Stop: “Ways of Caring” — The Charlene Marshall Mural

By Paula Kaufman

Black WV Arts Map Project
Location: Milan Puskar Health Right, 341 Spruce St., Morgantown
Artist: Eve Faulkes, with WVU students and community volunteers

If you’re traveling through Morgantown, make time to stop at Ways of Caring, a mural that tells a powerful West Virginia story in plain sight. Painted on the side of Milan Puskar Health Right, the mural honors Charlene Marshall, a trailblazer whose leadership reshaped the city and broke barriers statewide.

Charlene Marshall made history as the first African American mayor in West Virginia, serving Morgantown from 1991 to 1998, and remains the longest continuously serving mayor in the city’s history. During her tenure, she worked to eliminate segregation in public facilities and became widely known as a civil rights activist, labor advocate, and champion for public health issues, including Alzheimer’s awareness.

After serving as mayor, she continued public service in the West Virginia House of Delegates for 14 years, and later as House Chaplain. Now in her nineties, Charlene Marshall remains an enduring inspiration.

For BBG Travel & Tourism, murals like Ways of Caring are destinations—places where visitors can connect with Black Appalachian history beyond guidebooks and postcards. If you’re building a West Virginia itinerary that includes culture, context, and community, this stop belongs on your list.

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