Packing up Senator Byrd's office

by: Carnacki

Thu Jul 08, 2010 at 16:44:05 PM EDT

As House historian, Smock helped close several offices in the 1980s and 1990s. He's now executive director of the Robert C. Byrd Center for Legislative Studies at Shepherd University in Shepherdstown, W.Va., which the senator established to house his records. A four-member staff has already amassed 800 cubic feet of boxes and anticipates another 2,000 cubic feet to arrive by September.

The daily grind of congressional work leaves little time for staff to think of the potential future value of a lawmaker's documents, Smock said. "That's when people like me come in," he said.

Byrd staffers first will identify the office's volumes of hearings, law books and other records that can be discarded unless personally tied to the senator. Most of the office furniture stays behind for the next occupant, unless Byrd originally owned it. Archiving photographs will occupy much of the time.

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The senator's insistence on keeping copies of every document sent or received by his office will add to the workload. Former press secretary Mike Willard recalled Byrd's particular concern for letters sent to constituents.

"He'd say, 'This may be the only letter that a person gets from a U.S. senator, I want it to be perfect,' " Willard recalled.