Rahall Congressional Archives House
The Rahall Congressional Archives House was established the same year on the campus of WVU Tech in Beckley. It honors the decades of service undertaken by one of West Virginia's most dedicated public servants.
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The Rahall Congressional Archives House was established the same year on the campus of WVU Tech in Beckley. It honors the decades of service undertaken by one of West Virginia's most dedicated public servants.
U.S. Congressman Nick Rahall II served the people of West Virginia for nearly forty years. He began his political service in the early 1970s working in the cloak room of the U.S. Senate; as a staff member in the Senate Office of the Majority Whip Robert C. Byrd from 1971-1974; and as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1972 and 1976. He was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1976 to represent West Virginia’s Fourth District (later Third District) and was re-elected for nineteen terms, serving from January 3, 1977-January 2, 2015.
Rahall became well-known for his efforts to provide aid for the benefit of coal miners and those suffering from black lung disease and to support mine health and safety. While supporting the coal industry, he also sought to preserve the environment and historical resources of the state. Most notably he successfully worked to establish the New River Gorge National River as a unit of the National Park System in southern West Virginia, later adding the Gauley River National Recreation Area and the Bluestone National Scenic River, all a precursor for the New River Gorge National Park. Rahall also led efforts to develop federal highway and transit legislation to improve West Virginia's infrastructure and to diversify the state's economic development. Proud of his Lebanese-Protestant heritage, he worked to ensure positive relationships between the Middle East and the United States, leading and accompanying multiple trips to the region throughout his career.
In 2015, Congressman Rahall donated the bulk of his archives documenting his career
in the U.S. House of Representatives to WVU Libraries' West Virginia and Regional
History Center in Morgantown. The Rahall Congressional Archives House was established
the same year on the campus of WVU Institute of Technology in Beckley to display
photographs, memorabilia, and selected documents illustrating a lifetime of public
service.