A Guide to the Papers of Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr.,
A Collection in
Special Collections
The University of Virginia Library
Accession Number 10320-k
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Special Collections, University of Virginia Library
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections LibraryUniversity of Virginia
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USA
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Processed by: Special Collections Staff
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
Access to the Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Papers is controlled by the Honorable Harry F. Byrd, Jr. An applicant for access who is not associated with the University of Virginia must furnish to the Director of Special Collections a brief description of his academic or other qualifications, a summary of his research project, and a description of any projected publication that might make use of material from, or material derived from, the Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Papers. The Director of Special Collections will contact Senator Byrd and will notify the applicant of the Senator's decision.
Use Restrictions
No part of the Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Papers, nor any material from them, or derived from them, may be published without the express permission of the Honorable Harry F. Byrd, Jr. Please see Access Restrictions above for the procedure to be followed to obtain Senator Byrd's permission.
Preferred Citation
Papers of Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Accession #10320-k, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.
Acquisition Information
These papers were given to the University of Virginia Library by Harry F. Byrd, Jr., Winchester, Virginia, on May 26, 2005.
Biographical/Historical Information
Harry Flood Byrd, Jr., a former member of the Virginia Senate (1947-1965), United States Senator for Virginia (1965-1983), and newspaper executive, was born in Winchester, Virginia, on December 20, 1914, son of Harry F. Byrd, Sr. and Anne Douglas (Beverley) Byrd. He was a student at the Virginia Military Institute, 1931-1933, and the University of Virginia, 1933-1935. Byrd married Gretchen B. Thomson of New Orleans, on August 9, 1941, and they had three children, Harry, Thomas Thomson, and Beverley.
Appointed to the United States Senate in 1965, Senator Byrd was elected to the Senate in 1966 as a Democrat and was reelected in 1970 and 1976 as an Independent. He was the first person in the history of the Senate to be elected twice as an Independent. Byrd was active on both the Armed Services Committee and the Finance Committee. He was also a member of the Virginia Democratic Central Committee (1940-1966).
Byrd was the editor of the Winchester Evening Star from 1935-, publisher of the Harrisonburg, Virginia, Daily News Record , 1937-; President 
and Director of the Rockingham Publishing Company, from 1946; director of the Associated Press, 1950-1966.
During World War II, he served as an executive officer of a patrol bombing squadron in the Central and Western Pacific as a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Naval Reserve. Byrd was a recipient of the Honor Medal, and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, Rotarian Club, National Press Club, and the Army-Navy Club.
Scope and Content
This addition to the papers of Senator Harry F. Byrd, Jr. consists of 370 items (2 Hollinger boxes, ca. 1 linear foot), ca. 1960, 1966, 1982-2005. The papers contain manuscripts (electrostatic copies), typescripts and page proofs for Defying the Odds: An Independent Senator's Historic Campaign by Harry F. Byrd, Jr.; correspondence concerning the publication of Defying the Odds and responses from recipients and other readers to the book, many of whom wrote about their own involvement in or reminiscences about the 1970 campaign. Many of the responses were from U.S. Senators, members of the Virginia legislature, members of the media, and close friends of Byrd.
Also present are news clippings concerning Defying the Odds, the burial of Harry F. Byrd, Sr. and miscellaneous honors awarded to Harry F. Byrd, Jr., including the New Market Medal awarded to Harry F. Byrd, Jr. by VMI (2005 May 16); awards and honors, including resolutions and statues; and photographs. The collection also contains a letter from Richard E. Byrd to "Dear Rixey " [Smith], January 29, 1948.
Contents List
"In Recognition of Distinguished and Unselfish Service to our Nation, State and Northern Virginia Communities. "
Correspondents include several persons who sent editing suggestions: J. Edward Grimsley, Charles L. Bartlett, Nelson Hyde, and James J. Kilpatrick; Larry J. Sabato, who wrote the preface; and several persons who wrote blurb statements for the book: Senator Sam Nunn (fax), Senator Russell B. Long (fax), and Charles McDowell.
Correspondents include: George F. Allen, Lewis Allen, Hunter B. Andrews, William L. Armstrong, John Ashcroft, Charles L. Bartlett, Frank Batten, Fitzgerald Bemiss, David S. Broder, David Tennant Bryan, J. Stewart Bryan III, Judge James L. Buckley, Robert C. Byrd, George M. Cochran, Thad Cochran, John Warren Cooke, Paul D. Coverdell, Pete V. Domenici, Thomas N. Downing, Mark L. Earley, Gerald Ford, James S. Gilmore, III, Mills E. Godwin, Jr. (2 letters), Virgil H. Goode, Bob Goodlatte, Alan Greenspan, Ed Grimsley, Orrin G. Hatch, Jesse Helms, Nelson Hyde, J.J. Jewett, Paul Laxalt, Joseph I. Lieberman, Bob Livingston, Russell B. Long, Richard G. Lugar, Connie Mack, Mike Mansfield, John F. McNair, III, Patrick Munroe, W. Tayloe Murphy, Jr., Don Nickles, Herman J. Obermayer, Cokie Roberts, Sandra Mims Rowe, George Warren Shanks, Richard T. Short, Arlen Specter, William C. Stuart III, Fred Thompson, and Strom Thurmond.
Correspondents include: Robert F. Bennett, Lloyd Bentsen, George Bush, Robert C. Fitzgerald, Judge Robert E. Gibson, Judge William H. Hodges, Ernest F. Hollings, Walter Dee Huddleston, Daniel K. Inouye, Patrick J. Leahy, Henry Luce III, Paul Saunier, Jr. (relates two anecdotes about Bill Tuck), Paul Simon, Howard K. Smith, Ted Stevens, Paul A. Volcker, Frank R. Wolf, and T. Eugene Worrell.
Correspondents include: Maryon Allen (anecdote about George Wallace), William Cohen, Mark O. Hatfield, Fred G. Pollard, William Rehnquist, Harrison H. Schmitt, John B. Updike (former staffer), Jesse Ventura, and Malcolm Wallop.
