CELEBRATING MUSEUM OF AMERICAN GLASS IN WEST VIRGINIA
A Timeline
1990

Dean Six, glass researcher and author, in partnership with Merle Moore, the Director of the Lewis County Chamber of Commerce, formed a local glass study group. A grant was received to fund a one-day meeting with local and state officials that resulted in plans being drawn up to create a glass museum and research facility.
1992
The first regional glass history conference was held – now known as the Glass Gathering, held every year since except for the Covid-19 Pandemic year 2020. See our Calendar for this year’s location.
1993
The West Virginia Museum of American Glass, Ltd., was incorporated.
1994
July 24, 1994
501(c)(3) non-profit tax-exempt status was granted.
1995
October 13-14, 1995
1996
Spring 1996
The initial issue of The Glory Hole, MAG’s first newsletter, was published. It continued to be printed until 2003, at which time it was absorbed as a feature in All About Glass.
October 1, 1996
$35,000 was received from the State of West Virginia in recognition of the museum’s efforts on behalf of preservation.
October 1996
Winter 1996
With newly purchased oak cabinets, MAG opened a display of museum-owned glass in the Penny Saved Antique Mall on Main Avenue in Weston, expanding our display from three cases previously housed in a room apart from the antique mall. Little was it known at the time that 10 years later we would own the entire building!
1997
November 7-8, 1997
1998

April 25, 1998
We celebrated the grand opening of our first building on Main Avenue, with 800 square feet of public display area, 1,500 square feet including the cramped upper floors.
October 23-24, 1998
1999

Our first monograph – C. E. Borchert Glass Co., Weston, West Virginia – was published. Our monograph series now includes hundreds of titles.
October 8-9, 1999
The 8th Glass Gathering was back in Weston.
2000
October 2000
The 9th Glass Gathering was again held in Weston.
2001
October 26-27, 2001
The 10th Glass Gathering was held in Washington, PA.
2002
Fall 2002
Owens-Illinois donated some 3,000 O-I bottles and 31 show cases from their headquarters in Toledo, OH. Those show cases now fill one entire wall in MAG’s current building.
October 25-26, 2002
The 11th Glass Gathering was held in Cambridge, OH.
December 1-2, 2003
The 12th Glass Gathering was held in Weston.
2004
October 15-16, 2004
August 20, 2005
MAG held its first annual bottle show
October 15-16, 2005
The 14th Glass Gathering was held in Halton Hills, Canada.
2006

August 18, 2006
October 13-14, 2006
The 15th Glass Gathering was held in Tiffin and Toledo, OH
2007
January 25-29, 2007
The move from the old building to our new one began, with all display cases and glass moved over one long weekend!
March 2007
The Ancient and Honorable Order of Glass Flakes was established, an informal group of glass researchers and authors, meeting annually at MAG by invitation only.
July 14, 2007
The West Virginia Commission on the Arts approved a grant for $9,000 to match funds already raised to renovate the restrooms to meet ADA requirements. This work was completed October 18, 2007.
September 22, 2007
Our name was changed to the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia, to prevent confusion on the part of the public who thought that we only had glass from West Virginia. Our legal name did not change.
October 19-20, 2007
The 16th Glass Gathering was held in Weston, WV.
2008
October 24-25, 2008
The 17th Glass Gathering was held in Corning, NY.
2009
Late Summer 2009
The Karl H. Koepke Trust Collection was donated to MAG, becoming the nucleus of one of the largest collections anywhere of flint glass, early American pattern glass, and early lighting.
August 28, 2009
The Fred Hopper Collection of Black Glass was donated to MAG.
October 25, 2009
We inaugurated a campaign to “Match the Money – and the Museum is Ours!” An anonymous donor matched $45,000. The six month campaign raised $60,803.10, allowing us to retire our mortgage early and to own the building free and clear. The mortgage was ceremonially burned at the 2011 Gathering.
December 3, 2009
Ed and Virginia Perva donated a collection of nearly 500 carnival glass tumblers.
2010

January 2010
MAG set up our Facebook page.
September 27, 2010
The West Virginia Commission on the Arts approved a matching grant in the amount of $22,900 to enclose and climate control a room on the second floor of the building for archival storage. Work began on this project in February 2011 and was completed later that year.
October 13, 2010
Craig Schenning donated over 650 pieces from the Indiana Glass Company.
October 22-23, 2010
The 19th Glass Gathering was held in Noblesville, IN.
2011
April 2011
The Degenhart dining room was installed at MAG, gift of the Degenhart Glass Museum.
May 24, 2011
A collection of 907 sherbets was donated by Kay Reiber.
July 22-23, 2011
The Open Salt Collectors, Central Atlantic Salt Collectors, and New England Society of Open Salt Collectors met at MAG to dedicate the display case that they funded and filled with donated salts.
October 7, 2011
We received a large part of the Degenhart Museum’s holdings, following its closing. This comprised not only Degenhart glass, but also an extensive collection of paperweights. When combined with our own holdings, this gave us one of the four or five largest paperweight collections in the United States.
October 21-22, 2011
The 20th Glass Gathering was held in Weston.
October 22, 2011
We began a six-month campaign, “Give Birth to a Dream: MAG’s new addition in nine months!” With a matching grant for $50,000 from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, the campaign successfully raised funds to construct a two-story addition to the museum to house a glass studio, kitchen, and storage facility on the first floor, and room for accessioning and photography on the second.
2012
September 28-29, 2012
The first American Mid-Century Modern Glass Symposium was held at MAG. This has now become an annual event.
October 19-29, 2012
The 21st Glass Gathering was held in Cumberland, MD.
2013
October 18-19, 2013
The 22nd Glass Gathering was held in Weston, WV.
2014
July 27, 2014
We received a donation of 690 spooners from Don and Peggy Wilkinson, to add to the already large collection of spooners donated by Conrad Bergo in 2012-2013. We now have close to 900 spooners!

September 29, 2014
The United States of American Glass Collection was inaugurated, with the aim of ultimately having at least one piece of studio art glass from every state represented. It continues to grow, but we are still missing some states.
October 10-12, 2014
The “Weekend of 1,000 Lamps” was held at MAG, with volunteers from around the country assisting in unpacking the John and Peggy Craven Lamp Collection, an exceptional donation that turned out to be over 2,167 pieces. With the collection of over 200 Aladdin lamps donated by the Mystic Knights, MAG’s collection of 19th and 20th century lighting has grown to be one of the largest anywhere.
October 24-25, 2014
The 23rd Glass Gathering was held in Pittsburgh, PA.
2015
April 2015
MAG launched our virtual museum, http://magwv.pastperfectonline.com.
May 20, 2015
The Alliance of Glass Museums of America held its first meeting at MAG
July 15, 2015
Our “Face the Future” campaign was announced. Initial emphasis was on creating a streetscape exterior for the museum, which was not received with great enthusiasm. A much less expensive faux front was installed instead and the thrust of the campaign became that of making necessary improvements to the building, including installing a new HVAC system and many other upgrades.
October 23-24, 2015
The 24th Glass Gathering was held in Weston, WV.
March 10, 2016
MAG was honored to receive the Governor’s Award for the Arts for excellence in support of the arts in WV.
October 21-22, 2016
The 25th Glass Gathering was held in Cleveland, OH.
2017
April 14, 2017
MAG was given several hundred pieces of L. E. Smith, Bryce, and Lenox from the collection of the Mount Pleasant Glass Museum, after its closing.
July 13, 2017
MAG received over 500 pieces from Verle and Nancy Davison. About half the collection is rich cut glass, the remainder vaseline.
July 17, 2017
Mary Ann Fitz donated nearly 400 pieces of Morgantown glass
July 21, 2017
Nancy Minahan donated over 500 creams and sugars.
July 31, 2017
Phyllis Petcoff donated over 5,000 pieces of flint glass and early pattern glass.
October 20-21, 2017
The 26th Glass Gathering was held in White Mills, PA.
2018
October 25-27, 2018
2019
October 25-26, 2019
The 28th Glass Gathering was held in Newark, OH
2020
April – May 2020
The Museum was closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All events for the remainder of the year, including the Gathering, were canceled.