The Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional Education and History just completed its 20th anniversary year. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — After celebrating its 20th anniversary during the 2022-2023 school year, through holding the Voices of the Community series, featuring three local experts discussing their fields of expertise, the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education has begun developing plans for another successful 20 years of community service and education.

According to founding and interim director Ray Smock, moving fully into the digital age as an archive is no small feat, though one he feels confident the center will be able to expertly achieve, through the oversight of new archivist, Matisha “Tish” Wiggs.

“We opened our doors late in 2002, so we’re just ending our 20th anniversary year,” Smock said, noting he worked closely with the late Senator Robert Byrd to establish the center at Shepherd University. “We’re doing some new fundraising opportunities to keep us going into the future.

“We are a 501(c)(3) organization, so it’s up to us — we get no funds from the state of West Virginia or from Shepherd University,” Smock said. “We have to raise money through grants and donations, from corporations and individuals, to keep us going into the future! It’s always a challenge.”

On June 10 at 6 p.m., the center’s recurring summer fundraiser, the Summer Lawn Concert, will once again be held at Patterson’s Mill in Martinsburg. The event will feature a catered dinner by Scoop Dawg and Taste of Greece, as well as a featured performance by West Virginia Public Broadcasting Mountain Stage pianist Bob Thompson.

The Summer Lawn Concert, a popular fundraiser for the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education, will once again be held at Patterson's Mill in Martinsburg on June 10. Courtesy photo

“You get a nice afternoon of excellent music, and all of the proceeds go to the Byrd Center,” Smock said of the Summer Lawn Concert. “It’s a big help to us.”

Along with the Summer Lawn Concert, donations can be made directly to the Byrd Center at any time via its website, or through participating in the Seat at the Forum fundraiser, which allows individuals to purchase a plaque dedication to be affixed to a seat in the Robert C. Byrd Center auditorium.

“It’s a nice idea, for someone who wants to give a $1,000 donation and has someone they want to memorialize or just have their own name on a bronze plaque. Some people put little phrases, in addition to the names, on their plaques,” Smock said. “It’s been a little over a year since it was founded. So far, we’ve sold 20 seats! A hundred are available, so there’s still plenty left.”

With an increase in funding, the Byrd Center will be able to more easily proceed into the future, as it seeks to have enough funding to employ a permanent director in Smock’s place and to pay for technological improvements, such as to its audio-visual equipment in the center’s auditorium. An increase in donations and grant funding will also allow the center to expand its programming, such as with this summer’s new grant-funded teacher institute, People Powered: Civic Action, Community Engagement and American Representative Democracy, which will be held at the Byrd Center a couple weeks before the annual summer program, the Voices from the Misty Mountains Teacher Institute.

As it enters its 21st year, the Byrd Center will welcome the return of a program cancelled for several years, due not to funding issues, but to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The Seat at the Forum fundraiser allows patrons to purchase a plaque dedication to be affixed to a seat in the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education auditorium. Courtesy photo

“The internship program is something we started very early on,” Smock said. “COVID shut everything down, unfortunately, so we haven’t had interns here, probably in three years. They’re coming back this fall!

“Over the years, I’ve been very pleased with our internship program. We’ve had quite a few interns who have gone on to careers in archival management, because they enjoyed their experience working here at the Byrd Center. A number of our student interns have completed their capstone projects, through information they found in our archives,” Smock said. “It ties us more closely to Shepherd University’s campus and helps our research.”

In addition to its programming, the Robert C. Byrd Center for Congressional History & Education regularly gives back to the community by donating its auditorium, meetings rooms and multi-purpose room for use by organizations like Lifelong Learning, the Shepherdstown Film Society and the League of Women Voters of Jefferson County, Smock said.

To buy tickets to the Summer Lawn Concert, visit https://www.byrdcenter.org/events.html. To purchase a bronze seat plaque, visit https://www.byrdcenter.org/name-a-seat.html.

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Thompson