 For eight years, beginning in 1941, Mollohan was director of the West Virginia Industrial School for Boys at Pruntytown.He left this position in 1949 to become a clerk for the U.S. Senate.He made a name for himself in Washington, and he rode the momentum to an election victory that earned him a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from the 1st District of West Virginia in 1953.