Representative democracy depends on an informed and engaged electorate.
What are we facing?
Public faith in our nation’s institutions of government on all levels of the federal system is diminishing. People do not feel that their voice is heard or respected and so they react by not engaging with their elected officials or even participating in elections. Surveys and studies conducted by numerous outlets demonstrate consistently low levels of public knowledge of the Constitution and how it informs the structure and operation of our government. When the public’s engagement with their government decreases, the government is less representative of the people and therefore less adept at serving their needs. As the heirs of the world’s oldest active Constitution, we all have a shared responsibility in ensuring that the principles of representative government endure for future generations.
“You have heard me say quite often,
never stop learning.
Now I say,
for the sake of our country,
arm yourselves with information.”
SENATOR ROBERT C. BYRD, 2002
How does the Byrd Center address this problem?
Preserving our Past...Since our beginning, the Byrd Center has been collecting and preserving the documentary history of our nation's legislative branch. The center now houses the papers of five members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, spanning more than sixty years of America's story from the end of WWII to the first decade of the twenty-first century. Learn more >>
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to Engage our Present...Inspired by our research into the history of U.S. Congress and the Constitution, the Byrd Center conducts programs every year that engage hundreds of people in learning about our representative democracy. Public lectures and film screenings, Teachers Institutes, tours, exhibits, and other programs serve all generations in an ever-increasing geographic reach. Learn more >>
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and Prepare our Future.Primary sources and the knowledge of experts in our national network combine in innovative ways to prepare today's students to take up the mantel of civic engagement and public leadership in our nation's future. The Byrd Center develops educational resources and facilitates access to new ways of approaching civics education to ensure a new generation of leaders. Learn more >>
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P R E S E R V I N G O U R P A S T
Much of the second floor level of the Byrd Center is occupied by the archives, a climate-controlled room with shelves and boxes containing the personal papers of five members of the United States House of Representatives and Senate who served from the state of West Virginia. These collections occupy over three quarters of a mile of shelves and span more than sixty years of history, beginning in the wake of WWII and continuing through the first decade of the twenty-first century. These collections contain letters, memoranda, bills, speeches, photographs, audio/visual recordings, and other artifacts documenting the daily work of a congressional office. While each collection is unique, they all contain similar types of papers: legislative files, constituent correspondence, press materials, and travel reports in addition to campaign documents and personal records.
The Center's archives contain the vast personal collection of Senator Robert C. Byrd, some 2,000 linear feet housed in over 3,000 boxes. The nation's longest-serving Senator and the only West Virginian to serve in both chambers of the state and federal legislature, Robert C. Byrd's career provides countless research opportunities supported by the papers he gifted to the Center. Of particular note, researchers have sought out Senator Byrd's collection for the records detailing his work on the contentious Panama Canal Treaties of the late-1970s, his more than $10 billion appropriations work throughout West Virginia, and his outspoken opposition to the Iraq War.
Within the papers of his colleagues, the Byrd Center's collections document an extraordinary legacy of leadership on the part of West Virginia's elected representatives.
The Center's archives contain the vast personal collection of Senator Robert C. Byrd, some 2,000 linear feet housed in over 3,000 boxes. The nation's longest-serving Senator and the only West Virginian to serve in both chambers of the state and federal legislature, Robert C. Byrd's career provides countless research opportunities supported by the papers he gifted to the Center. Of particular note, researchers have sought out Senator Byrd's collection for the records detailing his work on the contentious Panama Canal Treaties of the late-1970s, his more than $10 billion appropriations work throughout West Virginia, and his outspoken opposition to the Iraq War.
Within the papers of his colleagues, the Byrd Center's collections document an extraordinary legacy of leadership on the part of West Virginia's elected representatives.
Our Mission: |
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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© 2021 Robert C. Byrd Center for
Congressional History and Education |