​Our host at the Culture Center, Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith welcomed those in attendance and Byrd Center Director Ray Smock acted as master of ceremonies. The speakers were Gayle Manchin, West Virginia Secretary of Education and the Arts; Senator Joe Manchin who spoke via a video message; Mary Eckerson, staff person for Senator Shelley Moore Capito; and Susan Azevedo, representing Congressman Alex Mooney.  The evening’s program concluded with remarks from Erik Fatemi, Senator Byrd’s grandson and vice-chairman of the board of directors of the Congressional Education Foundation, which operates the Byrd Center.

​The exhibit will remain on display in the Great Hall of the Culture Center, 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East, Charleston, WV 25305, until Monday, December 4, when it will be moved to the rotunda of the West Virginia Capitol. Visitors can view the exhibit there until January 13, 2018, when it will return to the Culture Center until the end of January.

View more photographs from the reception below:

Blue Ridge Community and Technical College (CTC) was founded as a two-year division of Shepherd University in the mid-1970s, gaining its own dean in 1989 and moving to its own campus in 2001. This progression towards becoming an independent institution was cemented in 2005 when the school was accredited as the CTC Shepherd (renamed Blue Ridge CTC in 2006). The school expanded to a second campus in Martinsburg in 2012, a beautiful facility which is now hosting the traveling exhibit in its main lobby. Blue Ridge CTC students pursue a variety of associate degrees and certifications in liberal arts, business administration, and allied health fields. Institutions like Blue Ridge CTC were encouraged by Senator Byrd to foster innovative trade and career-based education in West Virginia. 

The Byrd Center would like to extend our appreciation to Bill Lucht, Blue Ridge CTC's Senior Program Coordinator, for welcoming the exhibit and our staff to the main campus yesterday as we setup the exhibit, which will be on display from now until Friday, October 27, 2017. 

The legacy of Senator Byrd’s career can be viewed in several projects around Moorefield, including Corridor H, a segment of the Appalachian Development Highway System, which crosses the South Branch Valley just north of Moorefield.  Senator Byrd also secured $4.2 million in appropriations for building a flood protection system along the South Fork River in downtown Moorefield which was heavily damaged by the floods of 1985.
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The exhibit will remain on display at Eastern until Monday, September 25 and through the 2017 Hardy County Heritage Weekend celebration, September 22 - 24.  Moorefield is situated along the South Branch of the Potomac River and was the site of conflicts between English settlers and Native Americans during the French and Indian War as well as a small cavalry engagement during the Civil War.  Many of its historic homes date to the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  Hardy County Heritage Weekend celebrates the town’s long history each year by welcoming thousands of visitors for three days of historic home tours and heritage walks, free movie screenings, living history and storytelling events, live music, as well as craft and food tents.

​The traveling exhibit’s stay at Eastern WV Community and Technical College marks the first stop on the last leg of the exhibit tour.  Beginning on October 2, the exhibit will be on display at Blue Ridge Community and Technical College in Martinsburg, and in early November, it will move to the Martinsburg Public Library.  And finally, after more than a year and a half on the road and thousands of miles traversed across the Mountain State, the exhibit tour will conclude with an extended stay in Charleston, WV to commemorate Senator Byrd’s centennial birth day.  The exhibit will be on display at the West Virginia Culture Center from November 17-December 4 and from January 3 – 31, 2018.  In between, the exhibit will be on display at the WV State Capitol. 

Ripley is located in the western region of the state, about halfway between the cities of Parkersburg and Charleston, the state capitol. Settled in the 1820s around Mill Creek which powered the area's milling industry, the town was chartered by the Virginia Assembly in 1831. Ripley is the seat of Jackson County, formed in 1831 from parts of Wood, Mason, and Kanawha Counties and named in honor of President Andrew Jackson. Throughout his career in Congress, Senator Byrd represented the interests of Jackson County in the effort to save the region's aluminum manufacturing industry. He also helped to support local infrastructure projects including the county's airport. Each year, the Mountain State Art and Craft Fair, started during West Virginia's centennial in 1963, is held at nearby Cedar Lakes and highlights artisans who continue the traditions of the various cultures represented in the diverse population of Appalachia.

On Thursday, June 29, the city of Ripley welcomed the Byrd Exhibit with a public reception which included participants from the community, remarks by Mayor Rader and our own Director of Programs and Research, Jay Wyatt. The keynote speaker was the Hon. Carte Goodwin who served in the United States Senate from July 20, 2010 until the close of the 111th Congress that fall. Goodwin was appointed by West Virginia Governor Joe Manchin to serve out the remaining months of Senator Byrd's term following his death on June 28, 2010. In his remarks, Goodwin, who spent his childhood in nearby Mount Alto, reminded the audience of the legacy of Senator Byrd's work in the state, especially his devotion to education. As with so many stops on our journey with the Byrd Exhibit, the opportunity to speak about Senator Byrd and to hear people's stories and recollections demonstrate that the impact of the life and career of our country's longest-serving senator remains vital and present in the minds of West Virginians. 

​United Hospital Center (UHC), completed in 2010, is a state-of-the-art healthcare facility, replacing a previous hospital built in the 1970s after the merger of St. Mary’s and Union Protestant Hospitals in the Clarksburg-Bridgeport area. The bright atrium located on the main level, framed by gardens that extend around the perimeter of the hospital center, provides an impressive setting for public gatherings and exhibit displays. The hospital has previously hosted traveling exhibits including West Virginia Humanities Council’s Born of Rebellion exhibit on West Virginia statehood.

Visitors to the Bridgeport/Clarksburg area can see numerous projects which Senator Byrd supported, including the Louis A. Johnson Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center, the Clarksburg Federal Building, Robert C. Byrd High School, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Criminal Justice Information Services Center. Outside of the city, Senator Byrd also supported projects throughout Harrison County’s towns including infrastructure and educational programs. 

The Byrd Exhibit opened with a public reception at the hospital on Tuesday, April 11, 2017. In addition to the UHC staff, the Auxiliary to the UHC and the Harrison County Historical Society supported bringing the Byrd exhibit to Bridgeport. At a reception for the exhibit sponsored by the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce, Denise Steffich, Coordinator of the Auxiliary to the UHC and Crystal Wimer, Executive Director of the Harrison County Historical Society delivered remarks in addition to Byrd Center Director, Dr. Ray Smock. We also thank Matt Chisler, UHC Director of Public Relations for coordinating our visit to the hospital center.
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The Byrd Exhibit will be on display at the UHC until Monday, May 15, 2017. 

Founded in 1837, Marshall University is named in honor of the fourth Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, John Marshall. As expressed in remarks by President Jerome “Jerry” Gilbert at a reception for the exhibit, Senator Byrd had a special connection to the university. In the early 1950s, Senator Byrd took classes at Marshall, one of four institutions he attended during his undergraduate studies. Marshall University President Wade Gilley determined that the credits which Senator Byrd had earned while attending Beckley College, Concord College, Morris Harvey College, and Marshall were sufficient to award him with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. During the 1994 commencement ceremonies, President Gilley presented then seventy-six year old Senator Byrd with the degree. Senator Byrd returned to Marshall four years later in 1998 to dedicate the newly-built John Deaver Drinko Library, where the traveling exhibit is now on display. 

​Our stop in Huntington included the opportunity to collaborate with faculty from Marshall University’s History and Public Administration and Policy departments in a panel discussion on Senator Byrd’s legacy in West Virginia and in the United States. The panel featured our own Director, Dr. Ray Smock and Director of Programs and Research, Dr. Jay Wyatt as well as Dr. Damien Arthur, Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy. Dr. Kevin Barksdale, Associate Professor of American History moderated the panel and discussion. 

​We thank Dr. Monica Brooks, Associate Vice President of Libraries and Online Learning at the J. Deaver Drinko Library for hosting our visit to Marshall University. In addition to the library, we received support from the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing and the Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce. The Byrd Exhibit will be on display in the Drinko Library until Monday, May 15, 2017.

​Through their coal and railroad company interests, Senators Davis and Elkins founded the city of Elkins in 1889. Though the city was named after Senator Elkins, both senators' names are preserved by Davis and Elkins College, founded in 1904. 

Like so many of the stops on our exhibit tour, Elkins has connections to the life and career of Senator Byrd that can still be seen today. We hope that you have the opportunity to view the traveling exhibit while it is on display in Elkins.

​The Byrd Exhibit is displayed in the art gallery of Kirby Hall on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University. Established in 1954, Wheeling Jesuit’s campus is home to the Robert C. Byrd National Technology Transfer Center and the Erma Ora Byrd Center for Educational Technologies, both supported with funds appropriated by Senator Byrd and dedicated in 1997.

Senator Byrd’s involvement with Wheeling extended beyond the Wheeling Jesuit Campus, including the city’s Intermodal Transportation Center, post office, watershed, hospital, and creation of a National Heritage Area. This was recalled by several visitors at the reception on Tuesday, January 24th as they viewed the exhibit. As with so many of the stops made along our journey, the impacts of Senator Byrd’s efforts remain very present in the memories of West Virginians.
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We thank the faculty and students at Wheeling Jesuit University for welcoming us and the Byrd Exhibit to their campus. Visitors can view the exhibit in the Kirby Hall Art Gallery until Thursday, February 16, 2017.

​The Byrd exhibit is prominently displayed at the heart of the center in a large conference room along the main hall. Visitors are greeted by the reproduced portrait of the senator as they enter the exhibit space. Pierpont Community and Technical College plans to host a reception for the exhibit on Wednesday, January 25th at 2:00 pm. We encourage all visitors to leave their feedback on cards provided near the entrance to the exhibit. Your comments and suggestions are very helpful as we continue our journey with the Byrd traveling exhibit!

On Thursday, November 10, West Virginia University (WVU) hosted a reception to open the traveling exhibit Robert C. Byrd: Senator, Statesman, West Virginian. Visitors at the reception heard remarks from Ray Smock, Director of the Byrd Center who reflected on the legacy of Senator Byrd's career and his impact on the university, the state of West Virginia, and the United States. This reception marked the eighth stop on the tour of the traveling exhibit. 

The reception was sponsored by our friends at the West Virginia and Regional History Center, which is housed in WVU's Downtown Library. The placement of the exhibit was particularly appropriate in the gallery named for Senator Byrd's longtime colleague, Senator John D. "Jay" Rockefeller IV. ​