Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education

C-SPAN Marks Forty Years of Bringing Congress to the American Public

3/22/2019

Tuesday, March 19, 2019, marked forty years since the first broadcast of a session of the United States House of Representatives went live on C-SPAN in 1979. Seven years later, Senate Minority Leader Robert Byrd introduced legislation to allow for the broadcast of sessions of the Senate on C-SPAN. Prior to the approval of this measure, television cameras had only been allowed on the floor of the Senate once for the swearing in of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller on December 19, 1974. On June 2, 1986, Senator Robert C. Byrd stood at his desk and delivered a speech as the cameras rolled for the first broadcast of the Senate in session.

Senator Byrd delivering his address on June 2, 1986, the first day C-SPAN broadcast the Senate in session.

The Byrd Center Remembers President George H.W. Bush.

12/5/2018

Director's Post

The Byrd Center joins with the nation and the world as we reflect on the life and legacy of President George Herbert Walker Bush. Before his term as the forty-first President of the United States, George H.W. Bush served in the United States House of Representatives from the ninth district of Texas, played a significant diplomatic role in the opening of relations between the United States and the Peoples Republic of China, headed the Central Intelligence Agency, and served two terms as Vice President during the Ronald Reagan Administration. His lengthy career in public service coincided largely with that of Senator Byrd, and the two served in leadership in the Senate together during the 100th Congress (1987-1988) during Byrd's last term as Majority Leader.

In his capacity as Chief of the U.S. Liaison Office to the People’s Republic of China in 1975, Bush traveled with Senator Byrd and West Virginia Congressman John Slack on a delegation to China as America worked to open diplomatic relations with the nation. As Vice President on January 6, 1989, Bush administered the oath of office to Senator Byrd as he assumed the role of President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate. During his term in office, President Bush and Senator Byrd worked together to reauthorize the Appalachian Regional Development Act, providing funding for critical infrastructure, education, and healthcare projects in the state.

Members of the 1975 delegation to China meeting with Deng Xiaoping, future leader of the People's Republic of China (center, first row), including George H.W. Bush (front row, left) and Senator Byrd and Mrs. Byrd (front row, 4th and 3rd from right).

Vice President Bush administers the oath of office to Senator Byrd as he assumes the role of President Pro Tempore.

Appalachian Aspects - Episode 1

8/28/2018

By Delaney Conner

Welcome to Appalachian Aspects, the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education’s first student-developed podcast. I conceptualized, researched, and produced the podcast as part of my public history internship at the Byrd Center this summer. I hope that this initial episode, which focuses on the development and construction of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) during the 1990s, will be the first of a limited series of podcasts that explore West Virginia’s deep and varied history, primarily since the beginning of the 20th century.

Aerial view of NCTC and the Potomac River after its completion, fall of 1997.

Third Annual Teacher Institute Travels across West Virginia

7/10/2018

By Jay Wyatt

The Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education started its teacher institute program three years ago. Our first two workshops were held at the Byrd Center in Shepherdstown in 2016 and 2017 and drew grades k-12 public and private school educators from the Eastern Panhandle and Potomac Highlands regions of West Virginia. The teachers learned about and received training with teaching resources developed by the Center for Legislative Archives (a division of the National Archives and Records Administration) and by the Byrd Center. This summer, with the support of a grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council, we took the show on the road and conducted one-day institutes at the Cultural Center in Charleston, the State Fairgrounds in Lewisburg, and WVU’s Downtown Library in Morgantown, where we reached a broader group of educators, introducing them to new methods of teaching students about representative government and the United States Congress in the process.

Teachers participate in the legislative process module during the first workshop in Charleston on June 18, 2018.

A Sincere Thank You and Farewell

6/28/2018

By Ray Smock

As I retire as Director of the Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education after sixteen years, I want to thank all the people who have made these years so satisfying, both professionally and personally. I cannot begin to name everyone. But it includes four presidents of Shepherd University, many fine administrators, and the outstanding faculty of this gem of a liberal arts university. And it includes the students of Shepherd too, those who have been in the classes I have taught over the years, but especially to those who have served as interns at the Byrd Center. I am proud of all of them. Many of our interns have said that their experiences working with the Byrd Center, helping us process Senator Byrd’s vast archive, learning how an archive really works, and being given important tasks to do, was one of their most rewarding experiences during their college years.

The Appalachian Fruit Research Station

5/29/2018

By Jody Brumage

The small communities of Kearneysville and Leetown in Jefferson County, West Virginia have been a center of scientific research for over sixty years. One of the laboratories centered in the area is the Appalachian Fruit Research Station, a part of the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture. Opened in 1979, the laboratory was the result of over fifteen years of efforts to secure land, funding, and a mandate for the institution.

Image to the Right: Senator Byrd's 1963 proposal for the scope of research to be conducted at the Fruit Research Station.

The Long Road to Recovery: The Tug Fork Valley Floods (Part II)

5/1/2018

By Jody Brumage

Click here to read the first part of this blog series on the Tug Fork Valley Floods.

Hundreds of residents of the Tug Fork Valley converged on Washington DC in April 1978. Tired of unfulfilled promises of federal assistance for flood control, they marched to the Capitol to demand that Congress appropriate funding for infrastructure that could tame the Tug Fork River and lessen the impact of future floods. They were addressed by members of their congressional delegation, including Senators Jennings Randolph, Robert C. Byrd, and Congressman Nick Joe Rahall.

A photograph of Tug Fork Valley residents marching in Washington D.C. from the "Washington Star" newspaper.

The Long Road to Recovery: The Tug Fork Valley Floods (Part I)

4/10/2018

By Jody Brumage

On the morning of January 26, 1978, after returning to Washington D.C. after a tour of flood-ravaged towns in the Tug Fork Valley, Senator Byrd’s office sent a telegram to state agencies notifying them that President Carter had been briefed on the disaster and that assistance was being sought immediately. This message was less than reassuring to its recipients who had heard similar promises frequently over the past several years. The January 1978 flood was the tenth major disaster to impact the Tug Fork region in a decade. The previous year, the worst of these floods, with waters rising in excess of 56 feet, struck the valley in April. For residents in the Tug Fork, promises of “immediate action” were appreciated, but permanent flood control infrastructure in the valley was greatly needed.

West Virginians Battle over Coal Slurry Pipelines

2/6/2018

By Jody Brumage

Anyone driving through West Virginia today will see yard signs and billboards expressing support and opposition to the construction of pipelines in the state. The current debate centers largely on pipelines built to transport natural gas, but fifty-six years ago, a similar battle was fought in the state over coal slurry pipelines. The technology for these overland transport systems was developed in the early-1960s. Slurry pipelines operate in one of two ways: the coal is pulverized and mixed with water or it is pressed into logs which are floated through the pipelines to their destination. Soon after this technology became available, West Virginia’s mine operators began exploring ways that pipelines could open new markets for coal extracted from the Mountain State where exportation had always relied primarily upon railroad and river barge transport.

Congressman Staggers meets with Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Workers in his office in the summer of 1961.

West Virginia Responds to Hurricane Andrew

1/30/2018

By Jody Brumage

“The destruction from this storm goes beyond anything we’ve known in recent years. It will test the resources of all volunteer organizations, private sector help, and state, local, and federal governments.” President George H.W. Bush delivered these grave remarks in the White House briefing room on August 26, 1992 as the nation was realizing the horrific damage wrought by Hurricane Andrew. Florida and Louisiana were among the hardest hit areas. Two days prior to his statement to the press, President Bush toured Florida. He planned to visit Louisiana in the next few days to assess damages there too. The recovery effort that lay ahead was a daunting one as communities dealt with the loss of human lives and billions of dollars in damage.

The devastation of Hurricane Andrew seen in Florida City (1992).

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