Robert C. Byrd High School

Last updated
Robert C. Byrd High School
Address
Robert C. Byrd High School
One Eagle Way

, ,
26301

United States
Coordinates 39°15′32″N80°21′6″W / 39.25889°N 80.35167°W / 39.25889; -80.35167
Information
School type Public, high school
Founded1996
School district Harrison County Schools
SuperintendentDora Stutler
PrincipalSteve Egbert Gibson
Assistant PrincipalsEric Post
Dr. Jamie Looker
Faculty51.34 (FTE) [1]
Grades9-12
Enrollment750 (2018-19) [1]
Student to teacher ratio13.63 [1]
Color(s)   Blue and green
Athletics conferenceBig Ten Conference
Mascot Eagle
Rival Bridgeport High School
AccreditationNorth Central Association of Secondary Schools and Colleges
YearbookAerie
Website www.harcoboe.com/robertcbyrdhighschool/

Robert C. Byrd High School is a public school in Clarksburg, West Virginia.

The school, which serves grades 9-12, is a part of Harrison County Schools.

The school serves a vast majority of the city of Clarksburg, West Virginia, along with the towns of Nutter Fort, West Virginia and Stonewood, West Virginia. It is one of six public high schools in Harrison County. The school opened in 1996 as a consolidation of Washington Irving High School, which is now Washington Irving Middle School, and Roosevelt-Wilson High School. The student enrollment (as of 2008-09) is 880. The principal is Steve Gibson. The school's colors are Royal Blue and Kelly Green, and their mascot is the eagle.

The school's namesake is U.S. Senator Robert Byrd, who served from 1959 to 2010.

Ku Klux Klan In the early 1940s, Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to create a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in Sophia, West Virginia.[12][16]

As a young boy, Byrd had witnessed his adoptive father walk in a Klan parade in Matoaka, West Virginia.[27] While growing up, Byrd had heard that "the Klan defended the American way of life against racemixers and communists".[28] He then wrote to Joel L. Baskin, Grand Dragon of the Realm of Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and Delaware, who responded that he would come and organize a chapter when Byrd had recruited 150 people.[27]

It was Baskin who told Byrd, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob ... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." Byrd later recalled, "Suddenly lights flashed in my mind! Someone important had recognized my abilities! I was only 23 or 24 years old, and the thought of a political career had never really hit me. But strike me that night, it did."[29] Byrd became a recruiter and leader of his chapter.[16] When it came time to elect the top officer (Exalted Cyclops) in the local Klan unit, Byrd won unanimously.[16][30]

In December 1944, Byrd wrote to segregationist Mississippi Senator Theodore G. Bilbo:

I shall never fight in the armed forces with a negro by my side ... Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.

— Robert C. Byrd, in a letter to Sen. Theodore Bilbo (D-MS), 1944[16][31]

All Rankings as of 2022 - 8,635th in National Rankings - 49th in West Virginia High Schools - 4th in Clarksburg, WV Metro Area High Schools - 2nd in Harrison County Schools High Schools

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "ROBERT C BYRD HIGH SCHOOL". National Center for Education Statistics. Retrieved May 16, 2020.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/west-virginia/districts/harrison-county-schools/robert-c-byrd-high-school-21353#:~:text=School%202022%20Rankings-,Robert%20C.,8%2C635%20in%20the%20National%20Rankings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd