Robert Byrd represented West Virginia in the US Senate from 1959 until his death in 2010. Previously he also served in the US House of Representatives and in both houses of the WV state legislature. According to a 2004 interview with NPR, Byrd came to West Virginia from North Carolina after his mother died in the 1918 influenza pandemic and he was sent to live with his aunt and her husband. Byrd was a man of many contradictions — growing up poor and entering politics with just a high school education, he would later earn a college degree and a law degree while serving in Congress. As a young man, he was a Ku Klux Klan leader and fought against the 1964 Civil Rights Act, yet by the 1980s he was forcefully renouncing his earlier views according to contemporary news reports.
Story Artist Adam Booth, the 2022 West Virginia Folk Artist of the Year, delved into the Byrd Center archives to create a compelling original tale based on Byrd’s life. Performance details: May 9, 7:00 pm, Byrd Auditorium, 213 North King St, Shepherdstown (on the Shepherd University campus). FREE (no reservations required). Web: ByrdCenter.org/events
By Staff Contributor