The Diamonds of West Virginia™ Project began following encouragement from Matthew Jordan Smith, who challenged me to embark on a deeply personal photographic initiative. Combining my passion for portrait photography, my interest in African-American history, and my pride in the state of West Virginia, I created a project dedicated to documenting African Americans whose roots trace back to the Mountain State and whose achievements have shaped communities, institutions, and the nation.
Through this work, I have had the privilege of documenting remarkable men and women across fields including entertainment, education, religion, law, journalism, military service, athletics, and public leadership. Their stories reveal an often-overlooked history of excellence, perseverance, and national contribution.
— Renee L. Ferguson
The Diamonds of West Virginia™ is being developed as a long-form documentary storytelling initiative expanding beyond photographic portraiture into a multi-episode documentary series. Each story-centered episode will explore the lives, leadership, and historical contributions of individuals whose connections to West Virginia have shaped communities, industries, and national history.
Through cinematic portraiture, archival research, and in-depth interviews, the project seeks to create a visually compelling and historically grounded docu-series that preserves these narratives for future generations while introducing wider audiences to stories that have remained largely undocumented.
The long-term vision for The Diamonds of West Virginia™ includes collaboration with production partners, cultural institutions, and major broadcast or streaming platforms to present the project as an episodic documentary series highlighting leaders across fields such as education, military service, athletics, the arts, science, and public leadership. By combining documentary filmmaking with historical storytelling, the series aims to contribute meaningfully to the preservation of American history through the lens of individuals whose stories deserve national visibility.
While many recognize figures such as Booker T. Washington or Katherine Johnson, countless influential leaders, military officers, educators, athletes, and innovators with West Virginia roots remain largely unknown. This project seeks to ensure that their contributions are documented, preserved, and shared.
Institutional partnerships, grant support, and production collaborations play an essential role in enabling the continued documentation, filming, and preservation of these stories.