Senator Robert C. Byrd's new book of advice to the next president of the United States is now available in bookstores. Letter to a New President: Common sense Lessons for Our Next Leader, written with Steve Kettmann, is published by Thomas Dunne Books, a division of St. Martin’s Press.

The book was written before the current nominees were selected and its advice applies equally to both parties. Senator Byrd urges the next president to pay attention to the U.S. Constitution and to be a leader in teaching its principles. He urges our new leader to be open and accountable to the American people and to restore diplomacy rather than war as our first and best tool of international relations. Above all, the next president must tell the American people the truth about what the administration is doing. He urges the next president to bring back the Fireside Chat that Franklin Roosevelt used to great effect in explaining government policy to the people.

In an opening letter "Dear New President," to be read on Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009, Senator Byrd writes:

“I do not know how many years I have left, or even if I will still be among the living as you read these words I’ve labored over here in my ninetieth year, for my state and my country, but I will say this: If you are looking for partners in an effort to help us build a new era of national healing, I am ready to join you, and to enlist the help of a few friends here in the United States Senate and many more back home in West Virginia, too. We need to put our people back to work on the job of rebuilding the faith of the citizenry in their government. This is what they want to do. They want their belief restored. They are weary of doubting their leaders. The people want to be inspired, not whipsawed by fear and manipulation. They want to be able to hope again.”

Donald A. Ritchie, associate historian of the United States Senate, will deliver a Constitution Day lecture titled: "If Not Perfect, At Least Excellent: The Constitution and Elections" at 7 pm on September 17 in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies Auditorium. Ritchie's talk, the fourth annual Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture on the U.S. Constitution, is part of the observance of Constitution Day 2008 at Shepherd University. A discussion, reception and book signing will follow.

Dr. Donald A. Ritchie is a prominent historian of Congress who edited the closed hearing transcripts of Senator Joseph McCarthy’s investigations. Ritchie has authored a number of books including his latest work, Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 1932. His book, Press Gallery: Congress and the Washington Correspondents won the Richard W. Leopold Prize from the Organization of American Historians. Ritchie has served as president of the Oral History Association and on the councils of the American Historical Association, the International Oral History Association, and the Society for History in the Federal Government. Ritchie graduated from the City College of New York (1967) and earned a Master's Degree (1969) and Ph.D. (1975) from the University of Maryland, College Park. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps, 1969-1971.

Constitution Day was established in 2005 through the leadership of Senator Robert C. Byrd. It is celebrated on or near September 17 each year because it was on that date in 1787 that delegates meeting in Philadelphia in the Federal Convention approved the U.S. Constitution. Events are planned at educational institutions and government facilities across the country.

Held each year at Shepherd University in conjunction with Constitution Day, the Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture on the U.S. Constitution is named for the late Tom E. Moses. Moses was a committed defender of the Bill of Rights who founded the Eastern Panhandle branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and served on the board of the ACLU-WV. The Moses Memorial Lecture brings distinguished speakers to Shepherd University each September to discuss major issues related to the US Constitution and civil liberties. The lecture series was established by his three daughters, Lynn Moses Yellott, Merle Crawford, and Jeri Moses-Eichler.

The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

Tinker v. Des Moines School District Plaintiff
To Speak About Students Rights
Mary Beth Tinker, a plaintiff in the landmark Supreme Court case Tinker v. Des Moines School District, will speak about the struggle for student rights at 7 pm on Friday, June 27 at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies Auditorium on the campus of Shepherd University. The event is co-sponsored by the Byrd Center and the Children's Rights Coalition. A reception will follow. Tinker, daughter of a Methodist minister, grew up in Des Moines, Iowa. In 1965 Tinker, who was then 13, her siblings and several fellow students wore black armbands to school to protest the war in Vietnam. The Des Moines School Board suspended most of the student protesters. The Supreme Court in 1969 ruled in favor of Tinker and fellow plaintiffs, stating that neither teachers nor student "shed their Constitutional rights at the schoolhouse gate." Today Ms. Tinker, a Registered Nurse who has earned masters degrees in nursing and public health continues to speak out for peace and the rights of students. Ms. Tinker’s appearance at the Byrd Center takes place in conjunction with Summer Human Rights Camp organized by the Children’s Rights Coalition. The camp, which is in its fourth year, combines human rights education with traditional summer camp activities for middle school students. The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

George Washington as Surveyor and Planter Lecture

The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies will host a lecture by Dr. Philander Chase, editor of the Colonial Series of the Papers of George Washington, on Saturday, April 19 at 2 pm. Dr. Chase's lecture is sponsored by The Jefferson County (WV) Historical Society, Friends of Happy Retreat, and the George Washington Institute of Living Ethics. The lecture will be will be held in the Center's auditorium on the campus of Shepherd University at 213 North King Street, Shepherdstown, WV. The event is free and open to the public. Dr. Chase will discuss George Washington's experiences as a Shenandoah Valley surveyor and landowner in what is now Jefferson County, West Virginia, and how those experiences fostered his commitment to western development and American nationalism. Prior to his recent retirement, Philander Chase was a senior editor of the Papers of George Washington at the University of Virginia, a project to which he contributed for 35 years. He earned his Ph.D. in early American history from Duke University and has written numerous articles and reviews.

Nursing and Feminism Author Susan Gelfand Malka will speak about her new book Daring to Care: American Nursing and Second Wave Feminism on Tuesday, March 25 at 7 pm at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies on the campus of Shepherd University. A book-signing and reception will follow Malka’s talk. The event, in celebration of Women’s History Month, is co-sponsored with the Shepherd University Department of Nursing Education. The lecture and reception are free and open to the public. Malka’s book Daring to Care examines the impact of feminism on the nursing field since the 1960s. The author, a former nurse and nursing instructor who teaches history at the University of Maryland College Park, discusses two eras in nursing history. The first extended from the mid-1960s to the mid-1980s, when second wave feminism seemed to disparage nursing while also fueling a drive for greater authority and independence for nurses. The second era began in the mid-1980s, when feminism grounded in the ethics of care began to be incorporated into nursing education. While nurses accepted aspects of feminism, they did not necessarily identify as feminists. Nonetheless, they used, passed on, and developed feminist ideas, which is evident in nursing school curricula changes and the increase in self-directed, specialized roles available to twenty-first-century expert caregivers. The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

The Robert C. Byrd Center will show the documentary film Have You Heard From Johannesburg?: Apartheid and the Club of the West on Thursday, February 28 at 6 pm. David Hostetter, Byrd Center Director of Programs and Research and author of Movement Matters: American Antiapartheid Activism and the Rise of Multicultural Politics, will introduce the film and lead a discussion afterward. A reception will follow the film and discussion. The event is free and open to the public.

Have You Heard From Johannesburg?: Apartheid and the Club of the West is a documentary produced and directed by award winning film maker Connie Field. Have You Heard shows how a nation-wide campaign of civil disobedience and student protest led to legislative action to end apartheid in South Africa. Led by African American activists inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, the grassroots campaign placed racism in South Africa on the agenda in the US, drew mainstream media coverage, and persuaded corporations, universities, municipalities, and the federal government to end support for the apartheid regime. The film won Best Documentary Feature at the 2006 Vancouver Film Festival and the 2007 Pan African Film Festival. More information is available at www.clarityfilms.org.

David Hostetter is Director of Programs and Research for the Byrd Center and adjunct professor of history at Shepherd University. His book, Movement Matters: American Antiapartheid Activism and the Rise of Multicultural Politics evaluates the political and cultural impact of the campaign to change American policy toward South Africa. David earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of Maryland College Park and has held teaching positions at the College of Southern Maryland and Goshen College. The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

Scot M. Faulkner, former chief administrative officer of the U.S. House of Representatives, will speak about his new book Naked Emperors: The Failure of the Republican Revolution on Wednesday, March 5 at 7 pm at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies on the campus of Shepherd University. A book-signing and reception will follow Faulkner's talk. The event is free and open to the public. Naked Emperors is Faulkner’s eyewitness account of the Republican Party’s unsuccessful attempt to make Congress of the United States more open and accountable. The historic elections of 1994 raised hopes that the new Republican majority would end corruption while updating the administration of the business of Congress. Naked Emperors recounts how Faulkner’s team of change management experts battled both Democrats and Republicans. Faulkner contends that the recent wave of Congressional scandals arose from a deeply-rooted system that resisted fundamental change. He concludes with proposals for addressing the challenges faced by government and democracy in the twenty-first century. Ray Smock, Director of the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies and former Historian of the House of Representatives describes Naked Emperors as "an absolutely fascinating eyewitness account of the clash of ideas and personalities during the first Republican takeover of the House of Representatives in forty years." Scot M. Faulkner served as the first chief administrative officer of the U.S. House of Representatives. The business reforms he and his team introduced into the U.S. House saved $148 million, became a model for the operation of forty-four national parliaments worldwide, and were named among the "Top 100 Innovations in American Government" by Harvard University and the Ford Foundation. He is currently senior partner for global operations with Phoenix Consulting Associates. More information on Faulkner can be found at his own web site at www.scotfaulkner.com. The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

Environmental experts Allan Tweddle and Joel Katzin will debate the causes of global warming on Thursday, February 7, at 7 pm in the auditorium of Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies. The debate is co-sponsored by the Institute for Environmental Studies and the Byrd Center. There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion. A reception will follow the debate. The event is free and open to the public.

The fact that the planet's atmospheric temperature is rising often prevents further discussion of the causes of global warming. The Tweddle - Katzin debate will address this problem by concentrating on two opposing propositions: global warming is a result of human carbon production versus global warming is an outcome of environmental cycles in which human activity plays a minor role.

Allan Tweddle, who will argue for the human causation position, has long been active with the West Virginia Environmental Council. Mr. Tweddle received training from Nashville-based Climate Project, the group that provided much of the data behind Al Gore's film An Inconvenient Truth. Tweddle has been instrumental in raising awareness on key environmental issues such as the use of overweight coal trucks, the long-term idling of diesel school buses, and the vulnerability of West Virginia's water resources.

Dr. Joel Katzin, who will represent the environmental cycles point of view, earned his PhD in physics from the University of Maryland, and has served as physics teacher and researcher. As a defense scientist he developed algorithms and conceptual designs that solved seemingly intractable strategic and tactical military problems. He brings his physics credentials directly to bear on the science behind global warming and the alternatives explanations to the single cause scenario.

The Institute for Environmental Studies is a multidisciplinary teaching and research institute located at Shepherd University. The Institute includes faculty and students in Environmental Studies, Astronomy, Physics, Physical Science, and Science Education. The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

Mine safety expert Davitt McAteer will speak about his new book Monongah: The Tragic Story of the 1907 Monongah Mine Disaster, the Worst Industrial Accident in American History on Wednesday, February 6 at 7 pm at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, 213 North King Street in Shepherdstown. A book-signing and reception will follow McAteer's talk.

The Monongah catastrophe occurred December 6, 1907, when runaway coal cars plunged into the mine sparking huge explosions. Rescuers worked for six days but found few survivors. McAteer shows that nearly 500 miners, rather than the official count of 362, lost their lives at Monongah, leaving behind hundreds of widows and over 1,000 orphans. Monongah examines the tragedy in the context of the history of the coal mining industry in Appalachia as well as the political and social atmosphere of the era. The author also describes the mine conditions at the time of the disaster. McAteer's book is the product of more than thirty years of research and includes interviews with victims, survivors and descendants.

Davitt McAteer is currently Vice President of Sponsored Programs at Wheeling Jesuit University. He served as Assistant Secretary for Mine Safety and Health in the U.S. Department of Labor during the Clinton administration. He worked with consumer advocate Ralph Nader to help enact the landmark 1969 Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act. During the 1970s, he led the safety and health programs of the United Mine Workers of America and founded the Occupational Safety and Health Law Center. In January of 2006, West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin asked McAteer to conduct an independent investigation into the cause of the Sago Mine Disaster and the Aracoma Alma No. 1 mine fire. His testimony before the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives on the need for improvements in mine safety helped to facilitate the passage of the Miner Act of 2006. The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

On Tuesday, November 6 at 6 pm the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies will host a panel discussion on the politics of mountaintop removal. Penny Loeb, author of Moving Mountains: How One Woman And Her Community Won Justice From Big Coal, top state official Arley Johnson, and Terry Sammons, chairman of the Mingo County Redevelopment Authority, will discuss the potential impact of the buffer zone rule change, as well as the politics and economic future of the coalfields. The panel will be moderated by Edward Snyder, professor and chairperson of the Shepherd University Department of Environmental Studies. The discussion will take place in the Byrd Center Auditorium. A book-signing and reception will follow the discussion.

On September 25, 2007, in the historic Old Senate Chamber, the Leadership Portrait of Senator Robert C. Byrd was unveiled. The ceremony featured reminiscences from current and former Senators from both parties, who praised Senator Byrd's tenure as the longest serving Senator in U. S. history and as the man who has held more Senate leadership positions, in the majority and the minority, than any other Senator. On June 21, 2007 Senator Byrd became the first Senator to cast 18,000 votes.

From left to right: Senators John Warner, Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Edward M. Kennedy, Majority Leader Harry Reid, Daniel Inouye, Robert C. Byrd (seated), Paul S. Sarbanes, and Howard H. Baker, Jr. Photo courtesy of the Office of the Secretary of the Senate.

On Tuesday, September 11, 2007, at 7:00 PM, The League of Women Voters of Jefferson County will hold a public forum addressing the issue of affordable health care in West Virginia at the Robert Byrd Center for Legislative Studies. Invited speakers include Perry Bryant, Executive Director of West Virginians for Affordable Health Care, and Carl Callison, Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield's Director of Communications and Corporate Planning, and our local State Delegates. Health care is a major national issue; this forum will focus on what West Virginia can do for its citizens.

This event is free and open to the public.

Anthony Williams

On Monday, September 17, at 7 pm, Anthony R. Williams will present a lecture titled "Human Rights in the Struggle against International Terrorism." Williams talk, the third annual Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture on the U.S. Constitution, will be presented at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies as part of the observance of Constitution Day at Shepherd University. A discussion and reception will follow.

Anthony Williams is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Officer. He served for over three decades in a wide range of national security-related positions in which he worked with the White House, Pentagon, and Congress. Mr. Williams is a graduate of Old Dominion University and earned his masters and PhD certificate from the University of Virginia. Currently Mr. Williams teaches at the Army War College and Dickinson College. 

Constitution Day was established in 2005 through the leadership of Senator Robert C. Byrd. It is celebrated on or near September 17 each year because it was on September 17, 1787 delegates meeting in Philadelphia in the Federal Convention approved the U.S. Constitution. Events are planned at educational institutions and government facilities all across the country.

Held each year at Shepherd University in conjunction with Constitution Day, The Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture on the U.S. Constitution is named for the late Tom E. Moses, long-time civil libertarian and defender of the Bill of Rights. Moses founded the Eastern Panhandle branch of the American Civil Liberties Union and served on the board of directors of the ACLU-WV. The Moses Memorial Lecture brings distinguished speakers to Shepherd University each September to discuss major issues related to the constitution and civil liberties. The lecture series was established by his three daughters, Lynn Moses Yellott, Merle Crawford, and Jeri Moses-Eichler.

The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

Georgetown University Professor of History Michael Kazin will discuss his book A Godly Hero: The Life of William Jennings Bryan Tuesday May 1, 7pm in the Auditorium of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies. The event is free and open to the public. A book signing and reception will follow the talk.

For three decades William Jennings Bryan loomed large on the American political landscape. Bryan served as a congressman, three-time Democratic presidential nominee, and Woodrow Wilson's secretary of state. He was an advocate for women's suffrage and the prohibition of alcohol as well as a determined opponent of American imperialism and the teaching of evolution. Bryan's career spanned the rise of the populist movement, the era of progressive reform, and the divisions wrought by World War I.

In A Godly Hero author Michael Kazin has re-evaluated the contributions of "The Great Commoner" to American politics, arguing that Bryan's faith-based liberalism provided the foundation for Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal. In Kazin's appraisal the key to Bryan's mass appeal was his ability to speak to "the yearning for a society run by and for ordinary people who lead virtuous lives." Dr. Kazin is also the author of The Populist Persuasion: An American History and Barons of Labor: The San Francisco Building Trades and Union Power in the Progressive Era.

CONTACT: David Hostetter 304-876-5701 dhostett@shepherd.edu

APRIL 25 EARTH DAY COLLOQUIUM ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION FEATURES DR. MARK MADISON AND SHEPHERD UNIVERSITY HISTORIC PRESERVATION STUDENTS
Preservation Now and Then is the theme of the Earth Day Colloquium to be held at the Byrd Center for Legislative Studies Auditorium April 25 at 6:30 PM. Speakers will explore topics linking natural and historic preservation. Dr. Mark Madison, historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, will provide the keynote address. Nicholas Redding and Barbara Fisher, both students in Shepherd University's Historic Preservation program, will present their original research on local and regional historic preservation efforts. The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Institute for Environmental Studies and the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies. A reception will follow the lectures.

The featured speakers will lecture on the following topics:

Dr. Mark Madison, Historian for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: What Do We Owe The Future? The Ethics Of Historic And Natural Preservation

Nicholas Redding, Shepherd University student: A Historic Opportunity: Preserving Shepherd University's Endangered Past

Barbara Fisher, Shepherd University student: The Association of Education Levels and Per Capita Income with the Location of National Register Sites in Maryland

The Institute for Environmental Studies is a multidisciplinary teaching and research institute located at Shepherd University. The Institute houses faculty and students in Environmental Studies, Astronomy, Physics, Physical Science, and Science Education.

The Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies is a private, nonpartisan, and nonprofit educational organization administered by the Congressional Education Foundation with facilities on the campus of Shepherd University. The mission of the Center is to help foster better public understanding of the United States Congress, the Constitution, and representative democracy both historically and in a contemporary setting.

CONTACTS: David Hostetter, 304-876-5701, dhostett@shepherd.edu Keith Alexander, 304-876-5053, kalexand@shepherd.edu

Editor in Chief Matthew Wasniewski at a reception for the publication of Women in Congress held in the Cannon Caucus Room on March 28, 2007.

The Committee on House Administration of the U.S. House of Representatives has released a new publication, prepared by the Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, entitled Women in Congress 1917-2006. This impressive volume of 1008 pages is a major revision and expansion of the previous edition issued in 1990.

The volume contains introductory essays providing historical context and photographs and biographical sketches of all 229 women who have served in the House and Senate since the first woman, Jeanette Rankin of Montana, was elected in 1916. The volume also contains statistical graphs and charts and appendices showing committee assignments held by women.

The Office of History and Preservation staff that prepared the volume are: Matthew A. Wasniewski, Editor in Chief, Kathleen Johnson, Erin M. Lloyd, and Laura K. Turner, who were writers and researchers for the volume.

The volume can be purchased through the Government Printing Office for $59. Orders can be placed online at http://bookstore.gpo.gov

In addition to the new book, the Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk established an excellent website that contains all the information in the printed volume plus educational resources and new information about women in Congress that has transpired since the volume went to press, most notably, the election of Nancy Pelosi of California as Speaker of the House, the first woman to hold this high constitutional office. The website can be found at: http://womenincongress.house.gov

Leslie Sewell

On Wednesday March 28 at noon Women's History Month will celebrated be at the Byrd Center with a showing of Government Girls of World War II followed by a discussion with the film's director Leslie Sewall. The one-hour documentary tells the story of the young women who moved to Washington, D.C. in the 1940s and how their experiences during the war years changed their lives, the city and American society.

Young women of all races, nearly a million strong by war's end, streamed into Washington from all over the country, filled with patriotism and enthusiasm to aid the World War II homeland effort. The government staged a full-scale propaganda effort to recruit them and by doing so changed the face of women's employment and racial attitudes for the rest of the century. Government Girls combines movie footage from the era with interviews of the participants and discussions with scholars about the ways that women's roles changed during the twentieth century. More information on the film can be found at www.governmentgirls.com

Leslie Sewell is an experienced senior television producer. She has written, directed and produced network television programming for nearly twenty years. Sewall has worked as a Congressional reporter for NBC and contributed to the NBC Nightly News, the Today program, the Public Broadcasting Service, National Public Radio, and Fox News Channel. Sewell has a BA from Northwestern University and is working on an MA in classics at St. Johns College in Santa Fe.

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Senator Byrd listens as his Chief of Staff Barbara Videnieks reads the Friend of History Award. Senate Historian Richard A. Baker is standing on the left and seated next to Senator Byrd is Will Sperry, the son of Paul Sperry, a member of the OAH award delegation.

Senator Byrd speaks with passion about the importance of teaching American history.

On March 1, 2007, the Organization of American Historians gave its prestigious "Friend of History" award to Senator Robert C. Byrd in a ceremony held in the Senate Appropriations Committee Room at the U. S. Capitol. The delegation of OAH members that met with Senator Byrd included the incoming president of the OAH, Nell Irvin Painter and OAH executive director, Lee Formwalt. Other members of the OAH attending the ceremony were: Richard Baker, Don Ritchie, and Betty Koed of the Senate Historical Office, Ray Smock, director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies, Paul Sperry, representing the Leadership Advisory Council, Alida Black of George Washington University, and Lee White, executive director of the Coalition for History. Also attending was Will Sperry, the young son of Paul Sperry, who sat next to Senator Byrd during the presentation.

The award recognized Senator Byrd's leadership in promoting the study of American history through the Teaching American History grant program which has been a major factor in revitalizing the teaching of American history in high schools and has been responsible for forging new partnerships between local school agencies and universities, museums, leading scholars, and historical sites to improve teaching of American history.

Senator Byrd told the OAH delegation how important the study of American history was to his own development and he recalled the names of the history teachers who most influenced him. He stressed the importance of knowledge of American history as a requirement for good citizenship and he reminded the delegation that when the people are ignorant of the U. S. Constitution they will not be aware when it is abused and threatened. Knowing history is not an abstraction, it is a civic responsibility of vital necessity.

Bruce A. Jacobs speaks at the Byrd Center in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Mr. Jacobs meets with students following his address.

On January 17, 2007, the Byrd Center and the Shepherd University Office of Multicultural Affairs sponsored a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day address by author Bruce A. Jacobs who spoke on the subject of his newly updated and revised book Race Manners for the 21st Century: Navigating the Minefield Between Black and White Americans in an Age of Fear.

Jacobs, a Harvard graduate who resides in Baltimore, Maryland, is a dynamic speaker who urges us all to conduct and maintain a civil dialogue on the issue of race that has to be based on honesty and candor and not evasiveness, ignorance, political and social propaganda, or stereotypes.

This dialogue is all the more important in the wake of the disaster of 9/11/2001, where new fears flamed by racial and religious misunderstandings of Muslims have tended to polarize our debate even more. The mass media news, especially talk radio and television shows based on confrontational dialogue distorts important issues and turns them into partisan shouting matches that only add to fear, confusion, and hostility.

Jacobs' book, and his lecture, offer suggestions for survival in this age of partisan confrontation and fearmongering from public officials and media outlets who find shouting matches easier and cheaper to produce than serious news gathering. One of his survival suggestions in the wake of 9/11 reads:

Understand that the only "new" thing about the post 9/11 hysteria is its flavor.

Don't fall for the hype abut "everything being different"; it is dead-end reasoning that leaves you at the mercy of fearmongering public figures who offer rhetoric and aggression but not true solutions. Yes, the tactics for addressing mobile, decentralized terrorists are very different from those for other types of conflicts. But the underlying solution to this newest reign of terror is the same as the solutions to our previous ones: understand and address the grievances that drive the conflict. In this case they are the Israeli occupation of Palestine, American abetting of economic and political injustice in heavily Muslim nations, and now the war in Iraq. If we fail to deal with these triggers, we will chase bands of terrorists forever.

The Byrd Center for Legislative Studies has launched a documentary editing research project on the petitions received by the House of Representatives and the Senate during the early years of the Republic from 1789 to 1817. These petitions, most never published before, offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives and concerns of Americans of the time and what they expected Congress to do for them. Each petition is a story unto itself. We hear the voices of Indians, New England whalers, women, abolitionists, both black and white, and manufacturers urging Congress to protect their fledgling industries against the unfair prices of foreign imports. These petitions helped shape the very nature of the House and Senate and for the first time, beginning in 1789, the people of all the states had a national government to hear their grievances.

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During 2005 and 2006 the Byrd Center organized and hosted a wide range of educational programs. The Center worked with Shepherd University and a range of groups in West Virginia while building partnerships nationally and internationally.

On September 16, 2005 Senator Byrd inaugurated Constitution Day, which Congress enacted in response to his initiative. September 17 marks the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution by the delegates to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. Senator Byrd included in federal legislation, signed into law November 2004, a provision requiring schools and federal agencies to set some time aside to study the Constitution. The event was attended by over 400 people and broadcast live on C-SPAN.

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