How Stalin Hopes We Will Destroy America
Giveaway comic book about the dangers of inflation. Text argues that Communists want America to spend itself into destruction by printing more money. Advocates for the U.S. Government to operate on a "pay-as-you-go" basis. Encourages citizens to write their congressmen to tell them to cut unnecessary expenses. From p. 16 (back cover) After her husband writes a letter to their congressman, a wife says, "I'm a voter, too! I can write our congressman, too, can't I?" Her father-in-law replies, "Of course, every citizen can...and should! The way to prevent higher prices and keep our money strong -- is to cut unneccsary government expenses -- and 'pay as we go'!" Husband: "Together we can lick inflation -- and Communism!" Wife: "It's important to me...and to you!" Father-in-law: "And it's up to all of us."
Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
The copyright and related rights status of this Item has been reviewed by the organization that has made the Item available, but the organization was unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the Item. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/
Learn more: Comics on a Mission: Educational and Public Service Comics, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Educational comic book in the form of a dialogue between a successful black man in a suit who is taking a vacation with his wife in their convertable. He encourages young men of color hanging around a diner to get free job training and advice so as to increase their economic power. The story suggests that prejudice is not as strong a motivation as the desire to make money. p. 6 "I can't speak English good!" "No sweat--a man with a skill doesn't need to be a great talker....You'll get along fine!" "What about prejudice man? You know what I mean, suppose you're black!" "The Man needs help! You'd be surprised how UNprejudiced he gets when YOU got something his business needs." "GREEN is a powerful color, too Baby!!"
Educational comic book published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Public Information Department.
The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/
"The Communist Black Revolution Can and Will Be Smashed in Virginia!" [George Lincoln Rockwell campaign flyer]
Multi-page flyer outlining the reasons why white Democrats and Republicans of the Commonwealth of Virginia should unite and vote for White Constitutional Candidate, George Lincoln Rockwell. Rockwell, the founder and head of the American Nazi Party, was well known for his white supremacist views and his knack for political theater. Rockwell argued that blacks would vote as a block, and that whites should do the same. In 1965, Mills E. Godwin, Jr. won the governorship with 296,526 of the 562,789 votes cast. Rockwell received 5,730 votes, coming in fourth behind Godwin, A. Linwood Holton, Jr. and William J. Story Jr. p. 3 "American liberty ORIGINATED in Virginia. We believe it will be SAVED in this state. We believe Virginia will be the first state in which Whites will have the intelligence and grit to ake a stand as WHITE MEN, instead of 'Democrats', 'Republicans', Catholics, Prtestants, rich men, poor men, labor, or anything else except WHITE MEN! When black men are voting by race and destroying the liberty and traditions of White Men, it is not 'hate' or 'bigotry' to urge White Men to vote by race in self defense.... White Christian Americans came to the American wilderness and turned it into a garden of civilization. Whtie, Christian Americans fought for, founded and built Virginia with their blood, sweat and tears. Although the White Man brought the black man here as a slave, he gave that black man infinitely more than he took from him in the way of labor. He gave him a religion, he gave him a higher standard of living than that of the black man's cannibal relatives in Africa and he gave him a paternal care and love unknown in the black man's Africa, where the blacks sold their sons and daughters insto slavery and ate their brothers." p.4 "For years, many of us were puzzled by his 'Nazism' approach. Then we learned that he started out as a 'conservative' with Joe McCarthy, but got disgusted with the way Conservatives and White Men were completely blacked out of the press, TV, etc. or smeared and blasted as 'bigots' and fascists'. Rockwell decided that he had to find some way of smashing his way into a hostile press so that he could at least REACH the people, and he knew he would be smeared as a 'Nazi' for standing up as a White Man. He concluded that the way to get the publicity we needed and knock the enemy's weapon of smear from his hand at the same time was to CALL himself a 'Nazi' and throw the smear right back in the faces of the liberal race-mixers. And it worked! Rockwell has made his name and his all-out opposition to communism and race-mixing known all over the world!" p.6 "'WELFARE' REFORM We believe society has no duty to support those who refuse to work, when able, nor to support the hordes of parasites who abuse welfare generosity. Therefore we advocate a strong law cutting off all welfare to those who refuse appropriate paying employment, and the sterilization of all women who have had two illegitimate children, as a pre-condition to their receiving futher welfare payments." p.7 "ANTI-COMMUNIST COMMISSION We believe that Communism is not just an idea but that it is a criminal conspiracy, and that it is impossible for the average citizen to keep up with with [sic] the brilliant disguises and tricks of the communist criminals. The records prove that hundreds of communists have fooled their friends and even their families for years. Only professional investigators are capable of discovering and exposing these termites in our midst. Therefore, it is the determination of the White, Constitutional Party of Virginia to use every facility of the State Government, if elected, to ferret out communists and the army of their sympathizers and fellow conspirators, and, in so far as possible, prosecute them as criminals. Those who cannot be convicted, will be exposed thoroughly by every means at the disposal of the State."
M 342, Box 13, Edward H. Peeples, Jr. Papers, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library
Learn more: George Lincoln Rockwell, Social Welfare History Image Portal Miller, M.E. (2017). The shadow of an assassinated American Nazi commander hangs over Charlottesville. The Washington Post (August 21, 2017). Backlash to Reform: Hatred and Extremism, Social Welfare History Image Portal
The Rockwell Report, May 1965 [American Nazi Party]
Official monthly publication of the American Nazi Party, an organization founded by George Lincoln Rockwell in March 1959. Cover title for this issue, "The Real Story: Left vs. Right." Slogan on cover: "White People! Unite & Fight!" Article by George Lincoln Rockwell entitled, "Our 'Fascist' Founding Fathers" argues that the American Nazi Party represents a GOLDEN MEAN between the Tyranny of Total Order on the Right and the Anarchy of Total Freedom on the Left. Rockwell rails against "Rabbit" Welch (Robert W. Welch, Jr.), the founder of the John Birch Society. (Welch promoted conspiracy theories, including the notion that President Dwight D. Eisenhower was secretly a Communist.) Rockwell is incensed that Welch has equated Communism and Nazism. p.7 "If the Founding Fathers were to come to life today, they would NOT BE BIRCHERS....had the Founding Fathers lived today, they would have been 'NAZIS', as the Jews call anyone who sticks up for the White Christain eople and Constitutional Government."
M 342, Box 24, Edward H. Peeples, Jr. Papers, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library
Suggestions for Visitors to County Poorhouses and to Other Public Charitable Institutions
Cover title: Suggestions for Institution Visitors. A small volume that offers guidelines or suggestions for those undertake the investigaton of county poorhouses, public hospitals, asylums for the insane, children's homes, and industrial schools (homes for wayward girls and boys). A chapter titled "Homely Hints" supplies remedies for typical institutional problems such as bedbugs, roaches, vermin, ringworm, scabes, and sore eyes. The final chapter addresses the need for standards by which such institutions may be evaluated. Throughout, Lathrop encourages the visitor/inspector to keep an open mind while being friendly, knowledgeable, confident and persistent. This advice was very much in keeping with Lathrop's own methods. Excerpts: p. 6 "If you meet superintendents in a candid and friendly spirit, they will probably meet you in the same spirit. They usually want to do their duty and they doubtless have many difficulties you do not see. Like the rest of the world, they will probably welcome the visits of intelligent, good-natured, reasonable persons who want to know them and who through various avenues of influence may be able to help them. Try to understand, then, first of all, the official point of view and the official difficulties. A critical, suspicious bearing will defeat your purpose to learn the facts." p. 7-8 "In many counties the superintendency of the county poorhouse and farm is let annually to the lowest cash bidder. In some counties the care of the poor is contracted for at a set price per head--the contract going to the lowest bidder....It is not Utopian to look forward to a period when the superintendent of such an institution shall be specially trained for such work, appointed on his merits and kept as long as he is a good officer." p.31 "There is a growing feeling that the State should recognize its own profound responsibility toward every child who, because of defect, or neglect, or poverty, or delinquency, cannot be protected and reared by its natural guardians. Any institution for children which is supported by public funds in whole or in part, or which solicits funds from the public, should welcome intelligent scrutiny." p.37-38 "It may be noted that corporal punishment is the one form of discipline which every inmate has probably known before entering the institution, and that it has, prima facie, failed of a satisfactory result." p. 44 "And, finally, may we offer this legend: To be good-tempered, to be just, to be patient, to be persistent, to be courageous and, again, to be good-tempered."
James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Public Charities Committee of the Illinois Federation of Women's Clubs
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Learn more: Julia Clifford Lathrop, Social Welfare History Project Hull House, Social Welfare History Project Children's Bureau, Social Welfare History Project Sheppard-Towner Maternity and Infancy Act of 1921, Social Welfare History Image Portal
The First Work Camp for Democracy [trifold brochure]
Trifold brochure advertising the Work Camp for Democracy, August 7 to September 4, 1939, West Park, New York. The Executive Committee was chaired by Algernon D. Black who, with Alice K. Politzer, would found the Encampment for Citizenship in 1946. Sponsors included Paul Kellogg, Max Otto, V.T. Thayer, Agnes Reynolds, and Walter F. White. Excerpt: "The Work Camp for Democracy is to be an experiment in democracy as a way of life suited to meet the challenge of our time. It will afford sixty young people, Americans and refugees, of various religious, racial and economic backgrounds the opportunity to study, work and play together to broaden their understanding of democracy."
M 391, Box 6, Encampment for Citizenship Collection, 1939 - 2009, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
No Forced Labor Camps for American Youth! [American Student Union pamphlet]
Pamphlet published by the American Student Union, a national left-wing organization of college students active in the 1930s. The group consisted of both communists and socialists, who argued over the group's stance on pacificism in the face of Hitler's rise to power and events in Europe. The pamphlet advocates for the American Youth Act, a youth assistance bill proposed by the American Youth Congress as an alternative to the National Youth Administration. The AYA was never able to get out of committee on Capitol Hill, however, as it was too costly. "Foreward: This little pamphlet is published by the American Student Union as a warning to undergraduates to act quickly in defense of democratic education and peace, lest the enemies of our liberties succeed in their plan to regiment youth and precipitate us again into foreign war. The facts it reveals are but a partial presentation, due to space limitations, of available information on the subject. The questions it asks are vital to the welfare of every student. The campaign it proposes to launch deserves the support of every American student."
Learn more: Work Camp for Democracy, Social Welfare History Image Portal Encampment for Citizenship. Education for Democratic Living, VCU Libraries Gallery American Youth Congress, Social Welfare History Project
Public service comic published as a part of the National Social Welfare Assembly Comics Project. The Comics Project lasted from August 1949 - July 1967 and produced over 200 pages promoting citizenship and social values. Publisher's Note: "Published as a public service in cooperation with The National Social Welfare Assembly, coordinating organization for national health, welfare and recreation agencies of the U.S." Text: "Peace on Earth. The alphabet and the language may be different, but the same sentiment dwells in the hearts and minds of men all over the world." Published in February of 1967, this issue featured Sgt. Rock fighting “the toughest battle of his life.” In real life, public opposition to the war in Vietnam was growing in 1967. Groups like “Another Mother for Peace” wrote Congress, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave a controversial speech against the war, and the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam organized a march on the Pentagon where over 600 people were arrested for civil disobedience.
Our Army at War: no.176 FEB 1967 James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Learn more: National Social Welfare Assembly Comics Project, Social Welfare History Project National Social Welfare Assembly, Social Welfare History Project Comics on a Mission: Educational and Public Service Comics, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Prescription for whiskey to be taken in milk 3 times daily. Filled at Purcell & Littlejohn pharmacy, Leesburg, Va. During Prohibition, the U.S. Treasury Department issued forms that authorized physicians to write prescriptions for medicinal alcohol.
Carl F. Emswiller, Jr. papers (2011.02.02), Special Collections and Archives, Health Sciences Library, VCU Libraries
Special Collections and Archives, Tompkins-McCaw Library for the Health Sciences, VCU Libraries
During Prohibition, Your Doctor Could Write You a Prescription for Booze, Smithsonian.com Medicinal Alcohol, Ohio State University Discovery Set: Temperance and Prohibition, Social Welfare History Image Portal Temperance Movement, Social Welfare History Project
"Natural Beauty -- Everybody's Fight" illustrates quotations and paraphrases from President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Remarks to the Delegates to the White House Conference on Natural Beauty," given on May 25, 1965. Public service comic published as a part of the National Social Welfare Assembly Comics Project. The Comics Project lasted from August 1949 - July 1967 and produced over 200 pages promoting citizenship and social values. Publisher's Note: "Published as a public service in cooperation with The National Social Welfare Assembly, coordinating organization for national health, welfare and recreation agencies of the U.S." Text excerpt: "President Johnson says: 'At first there seemed to be no end to the wonder of the land, and then the country grew. There came ignorance, greed and ruthless exploitation. Today, natural beauty has new enemies, and we need new weapons to fight these enemies.'" "All of us can help clean up open spaces, protect parks from damage, teach friends not to littler, respect the plants and animals that live on Earth with us."
Blackhawk, No. 222, July 1966, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Learn more: National Social Welfare Assembly Comics Project, Social Welfare History Project National Social Welfare Assembly, Social Welfare History Project Beauty for America; proceedings of the White House Conference on Natural Beauty, Internet Archive Comics on a Mission: Educational and Public Service Comics, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Public service comic published as a part of the National Social Welfare Assembly Comics Project. The Comics Project lasted from August 1949 - July 1967 and produced over 200 pages promoting citizenship and social values. Publisher's Note: "Published as a public service in cooperation with The National Social Welfare Assembly, coordinating organization for national health, welfare and recreation agencies of the U.S." A father talks to his son Jerry about his failure to do a good job cleaning up the garage. Jerry says, "Aw, Dad, What's the difference? It's not very important." His father replies, "Hmm...With that kind of attitude, you'll get into sloppy work havits. If everyone felt that way about his job, what do you think would happen?" The father goes on to give examples of people we count on to do their jobs: a plumber, switchboard operator, garage mechanic, and finally "a man who works on a space capsule." Jerry concludes, "I get it Dad...Every job, whether it's big or small, is important enough to do right!"
Blackhawk No. 184, May 1963, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Influenza virus vaccines for Richmond region
After the influenza virus was finally identified in 1933, researchers immediately started to develop a vaccine. The first flu vaccine was approved for U.S. military use in 1945 and for civilian use in 1946. Unfortunately, the flu has several types, and many types come in multiple strains—each of which has to be included in a vaccine to provide protection. Each year, scientists make their best prediction as to which flu variants will circulate that year and prepare a vaccine that treats a combination of the most likely strains. Sometimes the match is a good one, but sometimes unexpected strains mean the vaccine is less effective. Immunity also wears off and different strains emerge—which is why it’s important to get a flu shot every year.
V.85.37.2477, Richmond Times-Dispatch Collection, The Valentine
Cholera Parade Float at Adventure Days, Richmond, Va.
This parade float from Richmond’s Adventure Days (1929) served as a public health reminder of cholera, noting “Richmonders Died at the Average Age of 24 in 1872.”
V.45.15.1024, W. Palmer Gray Collection, The Valentine
This Work has been digitized in a public-private partnership. As part of this partnership, the partners have agreed to limit commercial uses of this digital representation of the Work by third parties. You can, without permission, copy, modify, distribute, display, or perform the Item, for non-commercial uses. For any other permissible uses, please review the terms and conditions of the organization that has made the Item available. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
Typhoid fever study, Richmond, Va. [lantern slide]
Lantern slide. Image taken in Richmond, Va in 1907. The Richmond Health Department formed in 1906. One of its early initiatives (1907) was to investigate 433 cases of typhoid fever, creating the city’s first systematic study of infectious disease. In 1908, Dr. Ernest C. Levy (1868–1938), head of the Richmond Health Department, published the survey findings in The Old Dominion Journal of Medicine and Surgery. Dr. Levy discussed the generally declining rate of typhoid fever cases in Richmond from 1880 to 1907 but noted several outbreaks of the disease in 1881, 1884 and 1900. While one cluster of outbreaks in Church Hill was determined to come from a typhoid-infected confectioner, a larger proportion of cases were from properties on the outskirts of the city that generally used well water and lacked sewage systems.
V.81.99.08, The Valentine
Learn more: Levy, E. C. and Freeman, A. W. (1908). Certain conclusions concerning typhoid fever in the south, as deduced from a study of typhoid fever in Richmond Virginia. The Old Dominion Journal of Medicine and Surgery, VII (5), November 1908, 315-338. Carr, Laura (2014).Typhoid fever! The Valentine (blog). Hughes, Megan (2018). Typhoid fever! The Valentine (blog). Society for the Betterment of Housing and Living Conditions in Richmond, Virginia (1913). Report on housing and living conditions in the neglected sections of Richmond, Virginia.
Promotional materials for "Stop Polio Sunday. Second Dose Jan. 19." A hand drops the vaccine onto a sugar cube. Text: "everyone needs Sabin Vaccine. For complete protection against polio, EVERYONE over two months old needs ALL THREE TYPES of Sabin oral vaccine. Sabin school clincis will be open JANUARY 19 from NOON TO 6 P.M. to offer you your second dose of Sabin oral vaccine. BE SURE AND ATTEND YOUR LOCAL SABIN CLINIC AND TAKE THE SECOND DOSE OF SABIN VACCINE. HELP TO BANISH POLIO FROM THE RICHMOND AREA FOREVER. Check the other side for clinic nearest you." ------ The (near) elimination of polio is one of medicine’s great success stories. Jonas Salk (1914–1995) developed the first effective polio vaccine in 1953. Albert Sabin (1906–1993) developed an oral version of the vaccine in 1956. Polio cases dropped dramatically wherever the vaccines were used, and polio was eliminated in the U.S. by 1979. Through the efforts of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, formed in 1988, worldwide polio cases were down to 37 by 2016. Poliomyelitis vaccines were not without problems, though, especially initially. The Sabin version was more effective and easier to administer, but in very rare cases (1 in 2.9 million), it could produce a form of polio. It was abandoned in the U.S. by 2000. The Sabin vaccine required three doses, given six to eight weeks apart. In Richmond, Sunday vaccine drives were organized in the 1960s, leading to widespread city vaccination rates.
FIC.037526, The Valentine
Learn more: Paul, Catherine A. (2017). Polio. Social Welfare History Project. The History of Vaccines. An educational resource by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.
Students washing hands before lunch, old Cary Street School (Madison School).
Students from the old Cary Street School (Madison School) in Richmond, Va., demonstrate handwashing before having lunch. Washing hands regularly with soap and water remains one of the most important steps in preventing the spread of many illnesses. The school was located at 219 W. Cary Street, Richmond, Va. The photograph was taken in the early-20th century.
V.56.177.03, The Valentine
Learn more: Bonis, R. (2010) Madison School, Corner Cary and Madison St. (1872-1973) and Playground Kids, 1940s. The Shockoe Examiner (blog).
“Open-air” classroom at Moore Street School, 1113 W. Moore Street, Richmond, Va.
In the early-20th century, Europe and the U.S. saw the rise of “open air” schools intended to create healthy environments to combat tuberculosis using the principles of sanatoria. Sometimes purpose-built, and sometimes converted spaces, open air schools provided fresh air and extra nutrition for at-risk youth. In the May 1917 issue of The Modern City, John H. Ferguson wrote about Richmond’s 16 open air schools: “Each school has a capacity of 20 children; and each one is always crowded, with a long waiting list. The children are selected from the entire public school system of the city by the school physician…Few of these children have tuberculosis even in its non-communicative forms, but they are all below par, physically, just in the right receptive condition to be fertile soil for the development of the disease.” A Richmond Times-Dispatch notice of March 2, 1915 (p. 7) noted fundraising activities of "prominent society women" in support of the open-air schools. These women served as tearoom hostesses in the palm garden of the Jefferson Hotel. Indoor golf was a popular activity for which "two handsome silver cups" were to be awarded at the conclusion of the season.
Cook 1657, Cook Collection, The Valentine
Learn more: Tuberculosis, Social Welfare History Project Tuberculosis, Social Welfare History Image Portal Carr, Laura (2017). Open air schools: The fight against tuberculosis. The Valentine (blog) Open-Air Schools. Bulletin 1916, No. 23. Bureau of Education. Department of the Interior. via ERIC Goldsberry collection of open-air school photographs, Library of Congress 1930s: Open-Air Schools, Retronaut Does Cold Weather Sharpen a Schoolboy's Wits? The Scrap Book, 1908. pp. 883-884. via HathiTrust.org Nierenberg, A. (2019 October 27). Classrooms without walls and hopefully covid. New York Times.
Anti-tuberculosis play at Lyric Theatre, 901 E. Broad Street, Richmond, Va.
French bacteriologists Albert Calmette (1863–1933) and Camille Guérin (1872–1961) finalized the Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine for tuberculosis in 1921. The vaccine remains the only tuberculosis vaccine in use today. While not perfect, it is one of the most widely used vaccines and reaches more than 80 percent of all children in countries where the disease is common. The BCG vaccine was a major weapon in public health efforts to fight tuberculosis—an ongoing battle dramatized by Richmond children in this 1921 play. In this panoramic photograph, a "Modern Health Crusader" brandishes a sword shaped like the double-barred cross that was the emblem of the crusade. The crusader carries a "Modern Health Crusader" shield and fights "Tuberculosis" who is dressed all in black. The Modern Health Crusaders campaign was devised by Charles De Forest of the National Tuberculosis Association.
Cook Collection, The Valentine
NO COPYRIGHT - NON-COMMERCIAL USE ONLY This Work has been digitized in a public-private partnership. As part of this partnership, the partners have agreed to limit commercial uses of this digital representation of the Work by third parties. You can, without permission, copy, modify, distribute, display, or perform the Item, for non-commercial uses. For any other permissible uses, please review the terms and conditions of the organization that has made the Item available. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
Learn more: Chores of Modern Health Crusaders, Social Welfare History Image Portal The Modern Health Crusade. A National Program of Health Instruction in Schools, Internet Archive Stamping out tuberculosis with Christmas Seals. University of Virginia. Historical Collections at the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library Tuberculosis, Social Welfare History Project
I've had my chest x-ray [pinback button]
"I've Had My Chest X-Ray" button with red double-bar cross that was the emblem of the National Tuberculosis Association anti-TB crusade. People can be exposed to tuberculosis bacteria and become infected. Some who are infected go on to develop active TB disease; those who do not are said to have latent infection. Latent infection can be found through a skin test or a blood test; however, a chest x-ray and laboratory testing of a mucus sample are needed to determine if someone has active TB disease. In 1946, the Richmond Health Department worked with medical and civic organizations to launch the city’s first chest x-ray campaign.
V.83.158.20, The Valentine
Learn more: Tuberculosis, Social Welfare History Project Tuberculosis, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Candlelight AIDS memorial vigil on E. Grace Street, from St. Paul's Episcopal Church to Capitol Square, Richmond, Va.
In 1981, Dr. Michael Gottlieb of UCLA identified a new disease that, among its many signs, severely weakened the immune system. Named acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), this disease was initially seen among gay men in large cities. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), identified in 1985, is transmitted through blood, genital fluids (such as semen) and breastmilk. The earliest confirmed case of AIDS in the U.S. was in 1968, with the first case in Virginia reported in 1982. With no known cure, HIV/AIDS was initially a death sentence for those infected. Participants in this 1987 candlelight AIDS memorial vigil walked down E. Grace Street from St. Paul's Episcopal Churh to Capitol Square in Richmond, Va.
V.88.68.144, Richmond Times-Dispatch Collection, The Valentine
Position of Farm Workers in Federal and State Legislation
This pamphlet, written by Robin Myers and published by the National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor, describes the rights of migrant farm workers in the late 1950s. This excerpt describes the conditions and the rights of child workers at both the state and national legislative levels. The National Advisory Committee on Farm Labor (NACFL) grew out of the work of the National Sharecroppers Fund. The NACFL was organized in 1958 as a fact-finding, reporting agency whose goal was to build public awareness of the substandard living and working conditions of farm laborers. (Reuther Library, n.d.) Leaders included Eleanor Roosevelt, Socialist party presidental candidate Norman Thomas, Catholic Archbishop Robert Emmet Lucey, Rabbi Eugene Lipman of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Presbyterian theologian Dr. John A. Mackay, and Tuskegee Institute president, Dr. L. H. Foster (Hazelton, 2017). In 1958 and 1964, the NACFL held public hearings on farm labor and rural poverty. The agency dissolved in 1968. Excerpts: p. 34 "Children of migrant agricultural workers suffer from all the disadvantages and disabilities that handicap the whole migrant community -- unusual health hazards, inadequate food and housing due to low income level, lack of stable family life, and rejection by the community. In addition, two aspects of the migrant situation particularly affect the children and their future. The first is the common use of child workers, both legally and illegally. The second is their deprivation of such educational opportunities as would enable them to make their own lives an improvement over those of their parents." p. 35 "'Many of the Nation's farms do not come under the provisions of these Federal Acts. Only 6 States, 3 Territories, and the District of Columbia expressly provide a minimum age for agricultural work outside school hours, and only 13 States, 2 Territories, and the District of Columbia expressly provide a minimum age during school hours.'" (quoted from Child Workers in Agriculture, Leaflet No. 4, U. S. Dept. of Labor, 1959) p. 37 "The most common reason for the employment of child workers in agriculture, to an extent no longer acceptable in other industries, is that the low wage of the bread-winner of the family is not sufficient (averaging under $900 a year) to pay minimum family expenses, and so everyone works who can. This in turn creates the vicxious cycle of child labor lowering wage standards and contributing to the perpetuation of subnormal wages." p. 38 "In most places, the local schools cannot handle and do not want migrant children."
Box 248, O. C. Fisher Congressional Collection, The W. R. Poage Legislative Library Political Collections, Baylor University Libraries
http://www.baylor.edu/lib/digitization/digitalrights
Learn more: Hazelton, A. J. (2017). Farmworker Advocacy through Guestworker Policy: Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell and the Bracero Program. Journal of Policy History 29 (July), p. 431-461. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0898030617000185 National Sharecropper Fund Records, Walter P. Reuther Library (finding aid). Cosgrove, B. (2013) Bitter Harvest: LIFE With America's Migrant Workers, 1959. LIFE magazine Mar 10, 2013. (Previously unpublished photographs by Michael Rougier). Furman, M. (1959). Some Facts for Young Workers about Work and Labor Laws. Washington : U.S. Dept. of Labor, Bureau of Labor Standards.
Texas Committee on Migrant Farm Workers. Letter to Congressman W. R. Poage from Betty Jane Whitaker
This letter was written to Congressman W. R. Poage by Betty Jane Whitaker, Co-chairman of the Texas Committee on Migrant Farm Workers, asking him to help improve the lives of migrant workers and their children. Whitaker asks for this to be done through better schooling and healthcare. A paper titled "Migrant Children and Youth" by Florence R. Wyckoff was included with this letter.
Box 241, folder 13, W. R. Poage Papers, The W. R. Poage Legislative Library Political Collections, Baylor University Libraries.
Learn more: Cosgrove, B. (2013) Bitter Harvest: LIFE With America's Migrant Workers, 1959. LIFE magazine Mar 10, 2013. (Previously unpublished photographs by Michael Rougier). The Position of Farm Workers in Federal and State Legislation, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Sent to Congressman W. R. Poage (Texas) with a cover letter signed by Betty Jane Whitaker of the Texas Committee on Migrant Farm Workers. This paper was written by Florence R. Wyckoff, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Families Who Follow the Crops, California Governor's Advisory Committee on Children and Youth. It was originally prepared for The National Conference on Problems of Rural Youth in a Changing Environment held in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on September 22-25, 1963. This copy was reproduced by the Texas Committee on Migrant Farm Workers. Wyckoff's paper was written to educate people about migrant workers and their status. The author discusses families of migrant workers, and why they migrate, as well as the effect of high mobility on migrant children and youth. Wyckoff's intent was to inform the politicians who may be unaware of the struggles of migrant workers, but are writing bills affecting them and their families. Excerpts: p.2 "There are many kinds of migratory workers in America, but we are mainly concerned with the agricultural migrant and his family because 'agricultural labor' is specifically exempted from much protective legislation covering other types of workers who move about, such as construction workers or lumber workers. For example, workers employed in agriculture are exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act, Federal Wage and Hour Law. All states except Hawaii exempt them from unemployment insurance and all but California exempt them from disability insurance. Only a limited number are covered under social security. Residence requirements make it difficult for them to qualify for assistance benefits." p.3 "Economically, the migrant farm worker occupies the lowest level of any major group in the American economy."
Box 241, f. 13, W. R. Poage Papers, The W. R. Poage Legislative Library Political Collections, Baylor University Libraries
Use of Mexican Workers Does Not Depress Farm Wages
This article compares the hourly wages of farm workers state-by-state, along with the number of Mexican workers employed in 1962. The document's author states, "The current average hourly farm wage of the 21 States in which Mexican workers were used in 1962 is $1.13 per hour. The average of the 27 States in which no Mexican nationals were used in 1962 is $1.04 per hour...." "One conclusion, however is obvious; that factors other than employment of Mexican nationals dominate in the establishment of farm wage rates and if there is any correlation whatever between the employment of Mexican nationals, or the number employed, and the level of farm wages in the various States, it is that farm wages tend to be higher in States where substantial numbers of Mexican workers are employed."
Learn more: Hazelton, A. J. (2017). Farmworker Advocacy through Guestworker Policy: Secretary of Labor James P. Mitchell and the Bracero Program. Journal of Policy History 29 (July), p. 431-461. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0898030617000185 Cosgrove, B. (2013) Bitter Harvest: LIFE With America's Migrant Workers, 1959. LIFE magazine Mar 10, 2013. (Previously unpublished photographs by Michael Rougier). Migrant Children and Youth, Social Welfare History Image Portal