Raymond W. Smock, Director

Ray Smock is the former Historian of the U. S. House of Representatives (1983-95). He is a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago and holds the Ph.D. in history from the University of Maryland at College Park. He was co-editor of the 14-volume documentary series The Booker T. Washington Papers. In his capacity as House Historian he was a key planner of the national commemorations of the bicentennial of the U. S. Constitution and the bicentennial of Congress. His office was responsible for numerous publications on the history of Congress, including the standard reference The Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-1989. Other publications of the Office of the Historian were Blacks in Congress, 1877-1989; Women in Congress, 1917-1990; A Guide to Research Collections of Former Members of the United States House of Representatives, 1789-1987; and The Origins of the U. S. House of Representatives: A Documentary Record. He served on the editorial board and was a contributor to the 4-volume Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, (1995). He was senior historical consultant to WGBH public television in Boston on their 26-part telecourse, A Biography of America, (2000). His most recent publications include Masters of the House: Congressional Leadership over Two Centuries, (1998) and Landmark Documents on the U. S. Congress (1999). Smock also served as a historical consultant to the National Constitution Center, the first museum dedicated to the U. S. Constitution located on Independence Mall in Philadelphia, which opened on July 4, 2003. He was a consultant, editor and writer for a new DVD called “Foundations of Freedom” which is designed to teach high school students about the Constitution. It was produced by Wheeling Jesuit University and distributed to 25,000 high schools in 2005. For his work on this project Wheeling Jesuit University presented him with the “Foundations of Freedom” award for educating Americans about the U.S. Constitution. Smock is a member of the adjunct history faculty at Shepherd University and teaches U. S. History and Public History. He is past president of the Association for Documentary Editing and the Society for History in the Federal Government. He is currently serving as president of the Association of Centers for the Study of Congress. In 2006 West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin III appointed Smock to the board of the West Virginia Humanities Council.

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