Robert C. Byrd Scholarship History
Robert C. Byrd was born in North Carolina in 1917 and was left an orphan by the widespread influenza epidemic that struck down millions in the wake of World War I. Byrd was taken to West Virginia to be raised by his aunt and uncle. The future senator mastered life's early lessons, learning the duties of a coal miner's son. He graduated as valedictorian of his high school class in the depths of the Great Depression in the 1930's.
Unable at the time to afford college tuition, Byrd sought employment wherever he found an opportunity - pumping gas at a filling station, working as a produce salesman, and then becoming a meat cutter - picking up new skills as he advanced. One of those skills, welding, was in demand during World War II. Byrd worked during the war years building Liberty and Victory ships in Maryland and Florida.
At war's end, Byrd returned to West Virginia with a new vision of what his home state and country could be. He made his first run for political office in 1947 and was elected to the West Virginia House of Delegates. After serving in both the State House and Senate, Byrd moved on to Congress where he served three terms as a United States Representative. In 1959, he was elected to the United States Senate, where he has since represented West Virginia. His service as U.S. Senator spans longer than any other in West Virginia's history.
In addition to fulfilling his senate responsibilities, Robert Byrd earned his law degree, cum laude, in 1963 after ten years of study in night classes at the American University in Washington, D.C. This was the first time in history that a sitting member of Congress had accomplished such a feat.
Senator Byrd became a member of the Senate Leadership in 1967, when his party colleagues selected him as Secretary of the Democratic Conference. In 1971, he was chosen Senate Democratic Whip, and in 1977 Senate Democratic Leader, an honor bestowed on him five consecutive times since.
The education and training of West Virginia's and America's young people have been among Senator Byrd's career-long concerns. Through the Robert C. Byrd Scholastic Recognition Award, he established a program which has provided U.S. savings bonds and certificates to several thousand valedictorians of West Virginia's nearly 200 high schools since 1969.
Inspired by the success of his Scholastic Recognition Award in promoting academic excellence among West Virginia's high school students, he authored and secured passage of the Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program, a national plan to provide college scholarships to eligible graduating high school and GED recipients in every state.
