The Firing of Fred Armstrong

Last Friday, I was stunned when I saw in the online Charleston Gazette that Frederick Armstrong, the longtime state archives & history director, had been fired the day before - by the commissioner, Mr. Reid-Smith.

Sure, Fred served at the pleasure of the state administration and never had "job security" - but it is shocking that after nearly thirty years of dedicated service, he was dropped faster than Governor Joe Manchin can say "Open For Business."

Is that what is happening? Is the West Virginia government heading toward a "profits not people" philosophy, that is all about business and not about the hearts of the people?

I'll admit that I cringed when I first heard that Manchin wanted to change West Virginia's slogan from "Wild, Wonderful West Virginia" to "Open For Business," but the firing of Fred Armstrong has caused me to wonder if that slogan-change idea is actually a statement about the true objectives of the Manchin administration.

Charleston Gazette reporter, Dawn Miller, wrote a nice story about Fred's achievements and I wrote to her. My reply might appear in Letters to the Editor.

This is what I wrote:

I just read your article about Fred Armstrong... Very much needed and appreciated.

Since I live in Louisiana, I am out of the loop of politics, but I am very involved in West Virginia and I have done lots to preserve the history. I do many free websites - genealogy, history, Civil War - and I contribute Civil War materials and make other occasional donations to the Archives.

In 2005, I was a "History Hero" and I visited the Archives. It was very important to me that I meet Fred Armstrong, as well as some of the other people I have communicated with over the years. I have a pretty jaded view of most institutions, especially affiliated with government, but I found the Archives to be quite exceptional.

Although the pay is probably low, I have to say that the personnel I know there are the most sincere and dedicated employees I have encountered anywhere. They seem to have a passion for their work and they are not simply going to work to collect a paycheck.

I know exactly nothing about what caused the firing of Fred Armstrong but, regardless of the circumstances, his termination was not handled in a professional and dignified manner. The idea that security guards were called in to remove him from the premises is unseemly, to say the very least, given his decades of service.

In my view, the Archives has lost a caring and loyal servant. That position requires someone who can communicate effectively with the public and I think Fred's shoes will be hard to fill in that regard.

Thank you for presenting the story about the achievements of Fred Armstrong; he will certainly be missed by many because he made people feel that he truly cared about them, their families and their research projects.

I'm sure Fred's heart is broken and he will never get over this, particularly the cruel and uncivilized manner in which his termination was handled.

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I thought about the subject today and I have to say that the manner in which Fred was fired speaks volumes about the Commissioner of Archives & History, Mr. Reid-Smith. - [Did I read that the guy is a singer?] - In any case, it takes a certain type of personality disorder to be able to cold-bloodedly fire an employee of such long duration and then call security guards - as if Fred was an axe-murderer!

That was a power play, plain and simple, and it reveals an insecure man, who probably has feelings of inadequacy and felt threatened by Fred's knowledge and expertise, not to mention his popularity.

Anyone who could be that insensitive and cruel, when Fred was probably in a traumatized state, is not someone who should be in charge of anything. - In fact, he sounds like the "Michael Vick" of the archives.

It is a sad day for West Virginia if this is the new standard for the treatment of state employees.