Background
Byrd was born Cornelius Calvin Sale, Jr. in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on November 20, 1917. When he was ten months old, his mother, Ada Mae (née Kirby), died in the 1918 Flu Pandemic. In accordance with his mother's wishes, his father, Cornelius Calvin Sale, dispersed the family children among relatives. Titus and Vlurma Byrd, the infant's uncle and aunt, were given custody, adopted him, renamed him Robert Carlyle Byrd, and raised him in the coal-mining region of southern West Virginia.
Byrd was valedictorian of Mark Twain High School in Sophia, West Virginia and attended Beckley College, Concord College, Morris Harvey College, and Marshall University, all in West Virginia. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.
Read more about this topic: Robert Byrd
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