Returning to Senator Byrd’s Alma Mater – The Byrd Exhibit opens at Marshall University

​On Monday, April 10, 2017, the Byrd Center opened its traveling exhibit Robert C. Byrd: Senator, Statesman, West Virginian in the atrium of the John Deaver Drinko Library at Marshall University. Located in Huntington, West Virginia’s second-largest city, the modern facilities at the Drinko Library provided an exceptional setting for the exhibit. From the windows in the atrium, passersby can spot the exhibit as they walk across the campus.

The trip to Marshall University marked our fourteenth stop on the tour of the exhibit. As with so many of the places we've visited over the past year, there were many ties to Senator Byrd's life and career at our destination. As Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Byrd secured federal dollars that helped to build the university's biotechnology science center and advanced flexible manufacturing institute as well as other programs and campus improvements.

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. 

Senator Byrd speaks at the dedication of the John Deaver Drinko Library at Marshall University in 1998. Congressman Nick Joe Rahall (second from the right) also took part in the dedication ceremony.

​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.

From left to right: Dr. Ray Smock (Director, Byrd Center); Dr. Jerome Gilbert (President, Marshall University), Dr. Jay Wyatt (Director of Programs and Research, Byrd Center), and Dr. Damien Arthur (Assistant Professor of Public Administration and Policy, Marshall University).