Beverly B. Byron

Beverly Barton Byron served as a U.S. Congresswoman representing Maryland’s 6th congressional district for 14 years (1979-1993). Her career largely focused on military and national security issues.

Byron was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Harry C. and Ruth B. Butcher on July 27, 1932. She grew up in Washington, D.C., where her father was Vice President of CBS before becoming an aide to General Dwight D. Eisenhower for a period during World War II. She graduated from the National Cathedral School in 1950 and later attended Hood College.

In 1952, she married Goodloe Byron, who served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1963-1967 and later in the Maryland Senate from 1967-1971. She became active in the Maryland Young Democrats in 1960. She participated in her husband’s successful campaigns until his death in October 1978. Acting Maryland Governor Blair Lee III selected Byron to replace her husband on the ballot. She won election to the 96th Congress (1979–1981), becoming one of only 16 women elected to the House of Representatives that year. Four of those were from Maryland. Byron went on to win the next seven consecutive elections, serving as Western Maryland’s representative from 1978 to 1992.

At the time of her first election, Byron quickly learned to balance her job, public exposure, and the commute between Frederick and Washington, D.C., with parenting. When she was elected, women comprised only 3% of the House of Representatives, and those pioneers helped break down barriers for women and set the tone of professionalism in Congress that has impacted all women legislators since.

Byron was the first woman to chair a subcommittee of the U.S. House Armed Services Committee, with an oversight of 46% of the Defense Department's budget. She helped usher in a new era of equality for military women by sponsoring legislation that established the foundation for dismantling gender-based restrictions, opening roles in combat, equalizing advancement opportunities for all women in the military, and restructuring the military child care system. In 1991, the Byron Amendment to the Defense Authorization Act allowed women to fly combat missions in the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marines. The legislation eventually enacted (P.L. 102-190) the Defense Authorization Act, which removed the statutory limitations on the assignment of women in the armed forces to combat aircraft.

Byron chaired the Arms Control panel that was instrumental in the development of peaceful measures during the Cold War and the transition at the end of the Cold War. Mrs. Byron was the Sponsor of the Rails to Trails Act of 1983, which included the Potomac Heritage National Scenic Trail, and in 1992, the American Discovery Trail legislation designating 6800 miles coast to coast as part of the National Trails System.

After leaving Congress, Byron chaired the boards of CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, TEDCO, and the Board of Visitors of the United States Naval Academy. She served on the Boards of Directors of McDonald Douglas, UNC, LMI, Constellation Energy, Mercantile Bank, Henry M. Jackson Foundation, and the Advisory Committee of the Chief of Naval Operations. She was awarded the President’s Medal by Johns Hopkins University in 1993 and received honorary degrees from Boston University, Mount Saint Mary’s College, and Frostburg State University.

In 1986, she married B. Kirk Walsh, a Washington businessman. She continues to reside in Frederick Maryland. She has three children, Goodloe Jr., B. Kimball, and Mary, and several grandchildren.