Mr. Everett Leggett and Mr. and Mrs. Perry Ferguson established the Doddridge County Promise Scholarship in memory of Mr. Leggett’s late wife, Hattie. The fund is part of the Foundation’s Doddridge County Community Foundation affiliate.

James Everett Leggett and Hattie Leggett were children of the Great Depression. They were born to parents who valued literacy and education as the means to prosper.

Hattie was born on October 14 1928 to Orville Brannon and Lola Sparks Brannon. Her father was the President of the Gilmer County Board of Education during the Great Depression. Hattie excelled scholastically and was awarded the WV Golden Horseshoe Award. She continued her education at Glenville State College - where she met Everett - and graduated in 1948 with a double education major in Chemistry and English. She was also a visiting graduate student at Latrobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and attended Italian classes with immigrant children.

After graduation, Hattie became a reading, English, and science teacher in Maryland. From 1965-1985, she was a counselor in Montgomery County, Maryland, and then in Lexington, Kentucky. Hattie also served as a college recruiter for Berea University, Berea, Kentucky from approximately 1988 to 1997.

Everett and Hattie returned to the family farm in Oxford, WV in 1986 where they raised Angus cattle. They remained very active in literacy and post-secondary education opportunities for area youth and focused on expanding the educational opportunities for underprivileged students. Hattie served on the Advisory Board of Read Aloud WV and coordinated the Read Aloud program in Doddridge County. She read each week to Head Start and the first, second, and third grades at West Union Grade School.

Her personal commitment to improving educational opportunities for the children of Doddridge County inspired Everett and the Fergusons to create this memorial fund to encourage Doddridge County students to complete a college education.