“Robert C. Byrd: Senator, Statesman, West Virginian,” a major traveling exhibit on the life and career of the late senator, will visit the Marsh Library at Concord University Oct. 1-31, 2016.
The exhibit honors the 100th anniversary of the birth of Senator Byrd in 2017 and includes digital representations of more than 100 documents and photographs from the extensive Robert C. Byrd Congressional Papers Collection.
The Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education is the sponsor of the exhibit along with the non-profit Congressional Education Foundation, Inc.
“This exhibit shares the story of the longest serving United States Senator: his early life and entrance into politics; his devotion to family and to the people of West Virginia; his public service and rise to leadership positions in the U.S. Senate; and the Senator’s role as defender of the U.S. Constitution,” said Ray Smock, director of the Byrd Center.
An opening reception for the exhibit’s visit at Concord will be held in the Marsh Library on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 11 a.m. Dr. David A. Corbin will serve as guest speaker.
Corbin worked in the U.S. Senate for 26 years – six years on Senator Byrd’s leadership staff while he was Senate Majority Leader and 10 years on the leadership staffs of Senate Majority Leaders George Mitchell and Tom Daschle. He also served as Senator Byrd’s speechwriter for the last 10 years of Byrd’s career.
Corbin is the author of “The Last Great Senator: Robert C. Byrd’s Encounters with Eleven U.S. Presidents” and “Life, Work, and Rebellion in the Coal Fields: the Southern West Virginia Miners, 1880-1922” for which he won the W.D. Weatherford Award.
He is the editor of “Gun Thugs, Rednecks, and Radicals: A Documentary History of the West Virginia Mine Wars” and has written two commissioned studies on coal strikes for the U.S. Department of Labor. Corbin received a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Maryland in 1978. He has taught political and labor history at the University of Maryland.
The reception is open to the Concord community and the general public with no admission charge. The CU community and the general public are also invited to view the exhibit during its visit to Concord at no charge. The exhibit is available for viewing Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Schools and other groups wishing to visit the exhibit should contact Connie Shumate at 304-384-5366 to schedule an appointment.
The exhibit began its two year tour in April at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va. After going on the road in West Virginia and Washington, D.C., the tour will culminate in Charleston, W.Va. in November 2017 in celebration of the centennial of Senator Byrd’s birth.
For additional information about the exhibit’s visit to Concord University contact Nancy Ellison at nellison@concord.edu or 304-384-6086.
