Congressional Papers
The Robert C. Byrd Congressional Papers Collection is the largest collection at the Center and spans Senator Byrd’s nearly 60 years of public service as a U.S. Representative of West Virginia’s 6th district and as a United States Senator. The collection contains a wide variety of records including textual documents, artifacts, audio-visual materials, monographs, and digital material.
The Center holds several other collections including the papers of Harley O. Staggers, Sr. and Harley O. Staggers, Jr., both of whom served West Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives. We also have the papers of the First Chief Administrative Officer of the U.S. House of Representatives, Scot Faulkner, who served in this capacity from 1995 to 1997.
Oral Histories
As a major component of the Robert C. Byrd Legacy Project, the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies launched an Oral History initiative in October 2011. Byrd Center staff members are interviewing people who interacted with Senator Byrd in a variety of contexts. Interviewees include former Senate staff, friends and neighbors, family members, fellow lawmakers, and West Virginians across the state who have stories to tell about Senator Byrd’s life and career. These interviews will provide insights not found in conventional written records. The oral history transcriptions will be placed online and in the archive of the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, forming an important supplement to the written archives, memorabilia, and photographs currently housed at the Center.
Currently all of the collections are being processed and are not open at this time. However, we will update this website as portions of the Center’s holdings become available for research.