Constitution Day at the Byrd CenterThe 17th Annual Tom E. Moses Memorial Lecture on the United States Constitution was held at the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History and Education on Thursday, September 16, 2021. Dr. Ray Smock, Interim Director of the Byrd Center and former Historian of the United States House of Representatives, delivered the lecture entitled "Re-Energizing the American Experiment."
George Washington wrote: “The establishment of our new Government seemed to be the last great experiment in providing human happiness.” If the goal of government is human happiness, can any of us say we are currently happy about government or the state of the Republic? |
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With political partisanship at dangerous levels and threats to the American Republic at higher levels than at any time since the Civil War, Smock explored ideas to re-energize government, re-think our historical narratives about political parties, Constitutional history, and the concept of American greatness. He also offered his perspective—based on truths long known, but never fully realized, that no American can truly be free until all are free.
View the 2021 Constitution Day Lecture below or click here to access a transcript of Dr. Smock's remarks >>
View the 2021 Constitution Day Lecture below or click here to access a transcript of Dr. Smock's remarks >>
About the Moses Memorial LectureThe Moses Memorial Lecture is named for the late Tom E. Moses, a longtime civil libertarian, activist, and founder of the Eastern Panhandle branch of the ACLU-WV. The inaugural Moses Lecture was given by Senator Robert C. Byrd in 2005. You can view videos of some of our past Moses Memorial Lecture on the Byrd Center YouTube Channel >>
Past Constitution Day Speakers: 2005: Senator Robert C. Byrd
2006: Joseph Onek 2007: Anthony Williams 2008: Dr. Donald A. Ritchie 2009: David Cole 2010: Shoba Sivaprasad Wadhia and Bob Edgar 2011: Richard Dreyfuss 2012: Dr. Michael Austin 2013: Dr. Raymond Smock 2014: Clay Risen 2015: Dr. Ralph Young 2016: Dr. Elizabeth Hinton 2017: Ganesh Sitaraman 2018: Senator Tom Harkin 2019: Dr. Sophia Rosenfeld 2020: Dr. Sabina Dent 2021: Dr. Ray Smock |
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The Byrd Center advances representative democracy by promoting a better understanding of the United States Congress and the Constitution through programs and research that engage citizens.
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Congressional History and Education |