By Jody Brumage
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When exploring the collections at the Byrd Center, we often discover remarkable stories by following the trail though the various boxes and folders of records. Sometimes, the simplest object can have a dramatic and significant background. This week, we would like to share one such object and its intriguing context as illuminated by the Robert C. Byrd Congressional Papers Collection.​

As news of the Byrd Center’s new mission and name makes its way across the Mountain State and beyond, Senator Byrd’s legacy in West Virginia is being re-energized as people anticipate the arrival of our traveling exhibit later this spring. In an interview with Martinsburg, West Virginia radio station WEPM this past Monday, Byrd Center Director Ray Smock spoke of Senator Byrd’s role as a master of the appropriations process and his work to steer federal funds to essential projects in West Virginia.
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The records of this immense and far-reaching work reside in the Robert C. Byrd Congressional Papers Collection in the Byrd Center Archives. Occupying almost 900 boxes, nearly a third of the overall collection, the West Virginia Projects Series spans four decades of Senator Byrd’s work on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Though the Senator served on the committee from 1959 until his death in 2010, the amount of funds secured for West Virginia projects increased exponentially in the last two decades of his career when he was alternatively chairman and ranking member of the committee. As a result of this work, Senator Byrd successfully obtained over $10 billion for West Virginia, supporting countless infrastructure, education, tourism, and industrial projects.

The Byrd Center, a product of this remarkable record, has devoted a great deal of research to studying how Senator Byrd was so successful in securing billions in federal funds for West Virginia and the impact these projects had on the state. As we continue to find new reports and lists of projects, we have certainly showed that Senator Byrd made good on his stated goal of becoming West Virginia’s “Billion Dollar Industry.” His work to support West Virginia’s infrastructure, tourism industry, its historic landmarks, and many other projects show the dramatic impact Senator Byrd had on the state.
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In the coming months as our traveling exhibit: “Senator Robert C. Byrd: Senator, Statesman, West Virginian” begins its two-year journey across West Virginia, we invite you to discover the legacy of Senator Byrd’s life and career in our state and our nation.

By Jody Brumage
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In the past few weeks, the Byrd Center archives staff has been at work processing the extensive photograph collection of Senator Robert Byrd. Spanning his entire life and career, the collection includes official images from the U.S. Senate, delegation trips, campaign events, project dedications, and family photographs. Numbering in the thousands of photographs, the collection will be a long-term process to rehouse, describe, and digitize.

By Jody Brumage
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In the 1970s, a coup d’état and subsequent military invasion of the eastern Mediterranean island nation of Cyprus entangled U.S. foreign policy and left Congress and two presidential administrations in the position of determining how the government would respond to the complex situation. In this two part blog post, we will investigate how the Senate responded to the initial invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and then how those actions were reconsidered later in the decade under Senate Majority Leader Robert C. Byrd’s leadership.

The Republic of Cyprus was established to govern the island, inhabited by ethnic Greek and Turkish communities in 1960, placing the nations of Greece and Turkey in opposition over control of the new government. For over a decade, Greece sought to unite Cyprus under its policy of “enosis” (union of Greek communities living outside of Greece with the Greek state). These tensions boiled over into the July 15, 1974 coup d’état which overthrew President Makarios III and established a pro-union government. In response, Turkey invaded Cyprus on July 20, 1974 and in the coming weeks established the Turkish Republic of Cyprus, claiming the northern section of the island as its own territory.

The Byrd Center is excited to announce that the Harley O. Staggers, Sr. Press Series is now open for research.

We have just finished processing Congressman Stagger’s fascinating collection of press materials and newspaper clippings. The series contains press coverage of specific topics and issues addressed by Staggers throughout his 32 years in the U.S. House of Representatives. The collection spans the entirety of Stagger’s professional life, beginning with his days as a student at Emory and Henry College in the 1920’s and ending with his retirement from the U.S. Congress in the 1980’s.