Notice! The Coloured People of the City of Richmond… [broadside]
This 1866 broadside, issued by members of the African American community in Richmond, intended to clarify their plans to celebrate not the fall of the Confederacy, but rather the first anniversary of emancipation. When Richmond fell into the hands of Union troops, on 3 April 1865, enslaved individuals there effectively were emancipated. The text noted that the black community would commemorate “the day on which GOD was pleased to liberate their long-oppressed race”—emphasizing that their freedom came about as a result of God’s will. In the immediate aftermath of the war, racialized confrontations in Richmond’s streets frequently led to violence, and near-riots. The African American community, while determined to carry out their celebration, clearly intended to preempt potentially violent repercussions. Text: "NOTICE! The coloured people of the City of Richmond would most respectfully inform the public, that THEY DO NOT INTEND to celebrate THE FAILURE OF THE SOUTHERN CONFEDERACY, as it has been stated in the papers of this City, but simply as the day on which GOD was pleased to Liberate their long-oppressed race. C. Harris, J. Cocks, J. Edmunds, F. J. Smith, N. Williams, Committee. Richmond, Va., April 2, 1866"
Unknown, although presumed authors are the “Committee” listed on the broadside: C. Harris, J. Cocks, J. Edmunds, F. J. Smith, N. Williams.
Broadside Collection, Call Number 1866:13, Library of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Acknowledgement of the Virginia Historical Society as a source is requested.
Learn more: The Evacuation of Richmond. (1933). The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 41(3), 215-222. Richmond during the Civil War, Encyclopedia Virginia Ruane, M.E. (2015). War's End. The Washington Post. Linking to Our Past, Virginia Museum of History and Culture.
Bond, issued in 1917 in return for a donationof $1.00 toward the construction of Piedmont Sanatorium. The Piedmont Sanatorium was established in Burkeville, Virginia, in June, 1918. At that time, tuberculosis was one of the leading causes of death for African Americans, but segregated health care in Virginia dictated that blacks could receive treatment in only two facilities—Central State Hospital (a mental health facility) and the state penitentiary. The Negro Organization Society initiated discussions with the State Board of Health, particularly Agnes D. Randolph, the Director of the Bureau of Tuberculosis Education. Randolph was instrumental in convincing the state government to establish a facility for African Americans. The Negro Organization Society continued to be heavily involved with the issue, from raising public awareness to donating funds to improve the facility. Piedmont Sanatorium had closed by 1965, when black patients began to be sent to Blue Ridge Sanatorium, near Charlottesville. Excerpt: "This Bond is issued for the purpose of cooperation with the Negro Organization Society to erect and to equip one Building to be used for the patients and to include rooms for visiting Doctors who shall from time to time be invited for study to the Sanatorium. The purchaser hereby receives a share in the benefit and happiness to be derived."
Manuscripts, Call Number Mss4 P5957 a 1, Library of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Learn more: The White Plague: Tuberculosis, Discovery Set, Social Welfare History Image Portal Tuberculosis, Social Welfare History Project Tuberculosis, Social Welfare History Image Portal Tuberculosis Sanatoriums in Virginia: Catawba, Piedmont, and Blue Ridge, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, University of Virginia France J. J. (1920). A Post-Graduate Course in Tuberculosis at the Piedmont Sanatorium, Burkeville, Va. Journal of the National Medical Association, 12(2), 16–21. (link to PDF) The Rules of Good Health and Directions for Spring Cleaning. Prepared and Issued at the Request of the Negro Organization Society of Virginia (1917 April 5). Virginia Public Health Bulletin, IX(2) Extra.
Equal Suffrage and the Negro Vote [broadside]
This broadside was issued by the Equal Suffrage League in about 1916. Southern suffragists were forced to respond to anti-suffrage groups who argued that if African American women gained the right to vote, white supremacy would be threatened. Although some prominent suffragists claimed that their response was borne only out of expedience, and not principle, they nonetheless employed Jim Crow arguments by emphasizing the power of the literacy test and the poll tax.
Equal Suffrage League of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Broadside Collection, Call Number 1916:1, Library of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Learn more: The Negro Vote in the South. A Southern Woman's Viewpoint, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Support Rally for Gay & Lesbian Rights [broadside]
This broadside advertises a support rally for gay and lesbian civil rights that was held October 8, 1977. Activists organized the rally in Monroe Park to protest a concert given at the University of Richmond by Anita Bryant, the popular entertainer who evolved into a prominent anti-gay rights crusader in the 1970s. The rally’s primary speaker, Karla Jay (b. 1947), is the prominent professor, activist and author who published Out of the Closets: Voices of Gay Liberation (1972), with Allen Young. Image at bottom shows silhouettes and outlined figures with the caption, "We are your children."
Richmond Citizens for Gay and Lesbian Rights
Broadside Collection, Call Number 1977:9, Library of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Learn more: Anita Bryant at UR, 1970s, LGBTQ History at UR, Common Ground, University of Richmond A Guide to the Richmond Gay Documents Collection, 1974-1988, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU
Virginia Warns Her People Against Suffrage [broadside]
Reprint of an editorial from the Richmond Evening Journal, May 4, 1915. "Virginia Warns Her People Against Suffrage ---- Twenty-nine counties would go under Negro Rule Over sixty counties in the State of Georgia The entire State of Mississippi ----- What of your state, your country? Isn't it about time for reflecting men and women to think--and act? ---- THE THREATENED COUNTIES From the Richmond Evening Journal May 4, 1915--Republished by Request Several times The Richmond Evening Journal has be asked to say which counties of Virginia have more colored than white female inhabitants. The question , of course, is in connection with the somewhat noisy demands we read of in the newspapers for "votes for women." Here is the list, from the United States census of 1910: ...It is to be remembered that the literacy test would not work in choking off the colored woman vote. The colored people are decreasing their percentage of illiteracy very fast, especially among their women and girls. The ladies of the suffrage league will hardly come forward with a property test. No safeguard would be left but the poll tax; and if colored women knew they could get votes and rule some very rich and important counties by paying $1.50 apiece, we are inclined to think most of them would be willing to go hungry, if necessary to do it. Probably the ladies engaged in this suffrage movement are not very practical or very logical or very well informed or disposed to bother their heads with the actual facts of politics. Most of them, we surmise, hold the somewhat vague, but firmly established feminine line of reasoning that when they want something , or think they want it, they ought to have it by all principles of wisdom and justice; and are prepared always to fall back on the traditional conclusive feminine argument "because."
M 9 Box 51, Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Acknowledgement of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
In 1944, military leaders struggled to maintain troop levels as casualties mounted in World War II. The Navy Women’s Reserve Act, signed into law in 1942, authorized women to become part of the group called Women Accepted for Volunteer Service—commonly known as WAVES. By 1945, some 86,000 reservists were on duty. Women served in myriad roles during the war, running the gamut from clerks and drivers to machinists and radio operators, as well as doctors, engineers, and attorneys. This Richmond broadside encourages women to volunteer to become part of the “all-Virginia WAVES group.” Text: V is for VIRGINIA, the Old Dominion State which has given so generously of her men and women in every cause of justice, righteousness, and democracy. V is for VICTORY, which requires the energy and effort of every man and woman to bring the war to a quick and sure end. V is for VOLUNTEER, as in Virginia Victory Volunteers, the all-Virginia WAVES group in which Virginia women are enlisting during August and September 1944 to achieve the Victory we all desire. Investigate YOUR opportunity today! Volunteer at any U.S. Navy Recruiting Station or Office of Naval Officer Procurement; (5th & Cary Sts., Richmond 19, Va.)
Broadside Collection, Call Number 1944:4, Library of the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Senator John T. Morgan Denounces Woman Suffrage. "He Being Dead, yet Speaketh"
Anti-suffrage broadside that argues voting will corrupt women, and, more urgently, that increasing the number of black votes will bring about the end of white supremacy in Alabama. The words of Senator John Tyler Morgan, a staunch proponent of white supremacist ideology, and Judge William Henry Tayloe, a wealthy plantation owner, are quoted. Susan B. Anthony and Ida Husted Harper are mentioned. Excerpts: "White Supremacy Totters in Alabama. Men of the South, Shall It Fall? Woe Be Unto That Man who Would Betray Us. Judge W. H. Tayloe, one of Alabama's Ablest and Informed Statesmen, adds this Warning, Backed by Facts, Figures and Personal Experience." "It is not the moral influence of woman upon the ballot that I am objecting to, and it is not to get rid of that, or to silence or destroy such influence that I oppose it, but it is the IMMORAL influence of the ballot upon woman, that I depreciate and would avoid. I do not want to see her drawn into contact with the rude things of this world, where the delicacy of her senses and sensibilities would be constantly wounded by the attrition with bad and desperate and foul politicians and men. Such is not her function and is not her office; and if we degrade her from the high station that God has place her in to put her at the ballot-box, at political or other elections, we UNMAN ourselves and refuse to do the duties that God as assigned to us." "Though the Supreme Court of the Nation has held that the 14th and 15th amendments were not grants of power to Congress but limitations upon the power of the States; yet it found a way to declare void the provisions of the Constitution of Oklahoma that eliminated the negro in that State as a voter. How soon will it find a way to require the States to let the negro vote? Who can tell?" "Men of the South, the 15th Amendment but sleeps. Write your State Legislators TO-DAY to VOTE AGAINST WOMAN SUFFRAGE."
NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES The organization that has made the Item available believes that the Item is in the Public Domain under the laws of the United States, but a determination was not made as to its copyright status under the copyright laws of other countries. The Item may not be in the Public Domain under the laws of other countries. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/ Acknowledgement of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Elihu Root Warns the South [anti-suffrage broadside]
Broadside publishing an essay by James Callaway, editor of the Macon Telegraph and an ardent anti-suffragist. Callaway quotes Senator William Borah: "The cornerstone of the very fabric of our system is the right of local self-government as to who shall vote in the State, or who shall own property and lands or attend schools in a State. These are prerogatives of the State, not of the Federal government. What I am contending for is this--that which is local in its nature as I conceive this suffrage matter to be, should be permitted to remain local. The right to vote can never, in the nature of things, under our system be other than a local question, for upon it rests the very integrity and the sovereignty of the State." Callaway discusses "complications" with the Federal government (including the Supreme Court that had decided against disenfranchisement laws) brought about when States cannot decide who gets to vote. He declares that the white primary was important for protecting white rural women in the black belt and making it safe for them to leave their homes without escort. "Talk about emancipation of women--of freedom and a war for humanity--when the Susan B. Anthony amendment will close the public highways to our women of the rural districts, and again make them the victims of the 'terrorism,' that frightfulness which superinduced nervous debility."
Socialism--By Federal Amendment / The Red Behind the Black
Two-sided handbill. One side uses quotations from The Messenger (1917-1928) to associate woman suffrage, black voting, and a socialist takeover of the United States government. The handbill argues that Socialists will benefit if a "Force Bill" introduced by Senator James E. Watson of Indiana were to be passed to enforce the 19th Amendment. The text raises the issues of interracial marriage and desegregation as threats. On the reverse, Scott Nearing is quoted as having replied to the question, "How do you propose to take property away from its owners?" "By CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT--in the same way that the property of the brewers and distillers was taken by Constitutional Amendment. The Prohibitionists have shown us the way in which property can be taken for public purposes without compensation to the owners," etc. --From The Review, Feb. 7, 1920, Page 130
State Capitation Tax receipts [poll tax receipts]
Virginia State Capitation Tax receipts from the various years. Note: Names and addresses have been removed from these receipts. Poll taxes have a long and contentious history in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Payment of the tax first became a requirement for voting in 1876, as part of an effort to make it more difficult for African Americans and poor whites to participate in elections. Beginning in 1904, Virginians could not register to vote without presenting proof of having paid the poll tax for each of the three years preceding an election. In March of 1966, in the case of Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax was unconstitutional. In 1970, the Virginia Constitution omitted authorization of the General Assembly to make payment of a poll tax a prerequisite for voting.
M 68, Box 11, Edward H. Peeples, Jr. Papers, n.d., 1910, 1943-1994. Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library
NO KNOWN COPYRIGHT 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/
Learn more: Tarter, B. Poll Tax. Encyclopedia Virginia Poll tax, Social Welfare History Image Portal Suffrage in the South: The Poll Tax (1940), Social Welfare History Project Nurturing the Roots: 90for90 and Black Political Power. The Progressive, July 15, 2016.
Wake Up! Richmond, Va. Crusade for Voters [handbill]
This handbill was produced during Crusade for Voters campaign in 1976. The Crusade for Voters in Richmond, Virginia was started by John Mitchell Brooks, Dr. William S. Thornton, Dr. William Ferguson Reid, Ethel T. Overby and Lola Hamilton. Excerpts: WAKE UP! Richmond, Va. Voters Needed 50,000 or more Voters Needed to say that I am a citizen on election day Down with apathy Down with unemployment Don't let the newspaper lull you to sleep Be alert! Be a card carrying voter Any U.S. Citizen who will be 18 years or older before November 2, 1976 is eligible to vote IT IS FREE All Applicants MUST have their Social Security Number and know their birthdate. You must apply in person - no one can register for you. IF YOU HAVE BEEN PURGED - PLEASE REGISTER. ... "YOU GOTTA BELIEVE IT" YOUR ONE VOTE DOES COUNT
Crusade for Voters Registration and Education Committee
M 296, Box 2, John Mitchell Brooks Collection of NAACP Files 1957-1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
COPYRIGHT UNDETERMINED 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: Davis, B.N. (2018). ‘We Decided to Start a Third Party’ Richmond Magazine Nurturing the Roots: 90for90 and Black Political Power. The Progressive, July 15, 2016. Komp, C. (2017, October 26). The Lasting Legacy of the Richmond Crusade for Voters. Community Idea Stations. Matthews, K. A. (2017). The Richmond Crusade for Voters. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing.
High school seniors embark by bus to voter registration, Atlanta, Ga., 1959
Photograph of students from Luther Judson Price High School of Atlanta, Ga., prepare to register to vote. Caption attached to photograph: "18 year old high school students of Atlanta, Georgia as they embark by bus to register in the 1959 Voter Registration Campaign of the All Citizens Registration Committee headed by Mr. Jesse Hill, Jr., Actuary of the Atlanta Life Insurance Co." Handwritten on back of photograph: "R.E. Cureton, Principal of Price High School, Atlanta, Ga., confers with members of the Senior Class as they embark by bus to register in the 1959 Voter-Registration Campaign of the All Citizens Registration Committee headed by Jesse Hill, Jr. Actuary of the Atlanta Life Insurance Co. All six Atlanta High Schools participated in this program and registered 18 year old students (eligible to vote under Georgia law) nearly 100%."
Learn more: Holmes, R. A. (2005). Black suffrage in the twentieth century. New Georgia Encyclopedia Myers, B. (2006). Jesse Hill (1927-2012). New Georgia Encyclopedia Voting Rights Act of 1965: An Introduction, Social Welfare History Project Voting Rights Act of 1965, Social Welfare History Project
Virginia Federation of Labor Convention Badge. Bristol, Va., April 3, 4, 5, 1922
Virginia Federation of Labor delegate's convention badge. Delegates represented local unions at the state gathering. The Virginia Federation of Labor was aligned with the American Federation of Labor, the powerful organization of unions led by Samuel Gompers. Although southern workers struggled to organize successfully in large numbers, unions nonetheless became a force. Between 1885 and 1890, according to one historian, twenty-three national or international unions organized locals in Virginia. Another scholar estimates that by the turn of the twentieth century, about 10% of Richmond’s industrial workers were represented by unions. That success was tempered, however, by the pervasive racism of the period. When the Knights of Labor held a national convention in Richmond in 1886, the New York delegation was refused accommodations because one of their members was an African American. By 1919 progress in racial cooperation had been made at the national level. That progress was reflected at the Virginia State Federation of Labor’s annual convention, in the same year, in Alexandria. W.H. Page, of Newport News, became the first African American to be appointed to the Virginia group’s executive council. Black labor leaders, and black newspapers, praised the move, but it also prompted angry backlash. Some two thousand white unionists, of Richmond, left the Federation of Labor in protest of Page’s appointment. Those episodes evoke the racial tensions of the Jim Crow South. Image Description: This round badge has blue lettering on a white background with a multi-color coat of arms of Virginia in the center. Inscribed in blue: "27TH ANNUAL CONVENTION / VA. FEDERATION OF LABOR" above the seal and "APRIL 3.4.5, 1922, BRISTOL, VA." below. Suspended from oval badge inscribed : "DELEGATE". The back of the badge reads "The Whitehead and Hoag Co. Buttons, Badges, Novelties and Signs. Newark, N.J."
2002.148.6, Virginia Museum of History & Culture, Virginia Historical Society
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: Love, R. Labor in Virginia during the twentieth century. Encyclopedia Virginia Virginia Federation of Labor proceedings of the 27th annual session held at Bristol, Virginia, April Third and Fourth, 1922. HathiTrust.org Harold, C. N. (2016). New Negro politics in the Jim Crow south. (Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press). Kimball, G. (1991, April). The working people of Richmond: life and labor in an industrial city, 1865-1920. Labor's Heritage, 3(2). Woman's Work. Sixteenth Annual Session of the Virginia Federation of Labor, Richmond, Virginia. June 6-7-8, 1911, 25-26. Note of Thanks to Miss Johnston. The Times Dispatch. (Richmond, Va.), 10 June 1911, p. 5. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Library of Congress.
Equal Suffrage League of Richmond, Va., February, 1915
Equal Suffrage League of Richmond, Va. in front of Washington Monument, Capitol Square, Richmond. The members of the ESL were promoting the suffrage film, "Your Girl and Mine." Photo published in The Times-Dispatch: Richmond, Va., February 28, 1915, p. 10 Members of the Equal Suffrage League photographed that day: (left to right in car) Mrs. G. Harvey Clarke (Mary Ellen Pollard Clarke), Mrs. Roy Knight Flannagan (Lucy Catesby Jones Flannagan), Nora Houston, Mrs. John Grant Armistead (Rosalie Fontaine Jones Armistead), Mrs. Alice Overbey Taylor, Mrs. Della E. Hooker (widow of J. W. Hooker), Mrs. Charles Vivian Meredith (Sophie “Posie” Meredith), Mrs. Georgia May Johnson (identified on photo as Mrs. Frank L. Johnson; perhaps Mrs. Francis L. Johnson) (left to right outside car) Adèle Clark, Mrs. Archer Gracchus Jones (Annie Boyd Jones), Mrs. John Garland Pollard (Grace Phillips Pollard), Mrs. Carter Wormeley (Sarah Harvie Wormeley), Mrs. Earnest Meade (Aline Jennings Mead(e), Mrs. Earnest C. B. Meade), Lynda McCalanahan Koiner, Mrs. James Stuart Reynolds (Virginia “Boogie” Dickinson Reynolds), Mrs. W. Hill Urquhart (Dorothy Gordon Tait Urquhart), Mrs. W. W. Foster (Carrie Palmore Hughes Foster)
M 9 Box 242, Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
NO KNOWN COPYRIGHT 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/ Acknowledgement of VCU Libraries as a source is requested.
Learn more: Campbell, A.W. (2019). Your Girl and Mine (suffrage film), Social Welfare History Project Equal Suffrage League, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Letter to H. D. Dillard from Martin L. Calhoun, Alabama Male Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage [typed letter, signed]
Letter from Martin L. Calhoun, Secretary Treasurer of the Alabama Male Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage dated 15 August 1919. The letter was sent to the Hon. H. D. Dillard (of Franklin County, Va.), General Assembly, Richmond, Va. Calhoun is opposed to the Fifteenth Amendment (which prohibits the federal government and each state from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude") and the ratification of the proposed "Anthony Amendment" (which would become the Nineteenth Amendment). The letter associates woman suffrage, African American suffrage, and socialism. The organization's platform is printed on this letterhead near the top of the page. "Platform:--The Alabama Male Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage-- Stands for HOME and NATIONAL DEFENSE aggainst Woman's Suffrage, Feminismand Socialism. For MAN-POWER in Government, believing that Democracy must be STRONG to be SAFE. For the PRESERVATION of the established foundations of the American Republic as a Model for the World. For the RECOGNITION and ENFORCEMENT of the INHERENT RIGHT of EACH STATE to control the question of Woman's Suffrage for ITSELF. For EFFICIENCY and PROGRESS without Waste and Duplication in Government. For the CONSERVATION of the BEST WOMANHOOD of all conditions and stations in life, along NON-PARTISAN lines, so that the interests of Womanhood, Childhood and Civilization may be advanced FREE from the strife and division of politics, factions and parties. For the retention of the BEST IDEALS of the past, adapted to the advantages and opportunities given women under modern conditions, so that the FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES of Morality, of Patriotism and of World Progress may be more firmly established in the present and future generations." Excerpt of letter text: "Susan B. Anthony was instrumental in securing the Fifteenth Article to the Federal Constitution, the adoption of which has always stood as a blot on the escutchen of our Country. Her purpose and intent was to further humiliate and oppress the then down trodden South. This in itself should condemn her namesake in the heart of every true Southerner. We are calling upon all the Southern States to REJECT [handwritten in margin "(it now)"] her namesake and if we can get the twelve Southern States to the two which have rejected - Georgia and Alabama - we can bury Old Susan where she belongs. If we, of the South, surrender our control of suffrage to the Federal Government we should not complain of the Fifteenth Amendment or what may follow under the adoption of the Anthony Amendment, for we would be traitors to that grand martyr of your State- Robert E. Lee and we are not worthy of our sires."
NO KNOWN COPYRIGHT 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/ Acknowledgement of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Learn more: Letter from the Alabama Male Association Opposed to Woman's Suffrage, DocsTeach, National Archives
Letter from John M. Brooks, NAACP Registration Director to voter registration activists, Mississippi, July 7, 1958
Letter of encouragement from John M. Brooks, NAACP Registration Director following a meeting he attended in Mississippi. Text -- Dear Friend: My meeting with you in Mississippi was an inspiration to me. It proved my belief that, "if people are given a clear picture of the voting situation, they will cooperate". The people in Meridian and Jackson are well on their way toward increasing their voting strength and becoming first-class citizens. Your future activities will tell what Y O U are going to do in your city. Talk to your neighbors and invite them to join your group. A large attendance will be an inspiration to all concerned. It is my sincere hope that your organization will be a guiding light for other communities all over Mississippi to follow. IT CAN BE DONE would be the wrong words to us, IT WILL BE DONE because of Y O U. Sincerely yours, John M. Brooks NAACP Registration Director
Learn more: Voting, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Letter from Medgar W. Evers to John M. Brooks, May 15, 1958
Letter from Medgar W. Evers, Field Secretary, Mississippi NAACP to John M. Brooks, Director, Voter Registration, Virginia NAACP. Dated May 15, 1958, the letter is an update on the progress of voter registration efforts in Mississippi. Text: Mr. Johnnie M. Brooks Director, Registration and Voting 404 1/2 North Second Street Richmond, Virginia Dear Mr. Brooks: On last night, May 14, I attended the third successful meeting of the "Crusade for Voters" in Meridian, Mississippi. It is amazing how the enthusiasm that was generated in the first two meetings has continued. It is definitely an encouraging sign. At last night's meeting there were represented persons from six of the seven presincts in Meridian, Mississippi, also representatives from two of the county supervisory districts. At this meeting we set up temporary precinct machinery and indications are that within the next two weeks the precinct organizations will be a reality. The list of qualified Negro voters is in the process of being secured, also maps setting forth the boundaries of the various precincts. I do feel personally that in Meridian we are getting off to a very good start. Tonight is Jackson's night. I shall report ot you on its progress later. We had at last night's meeting approximately forty persons, more or less. Sincerely yours, Medgar W. Evers Field Secretary
Learn more: Medgar Evers, SNCC Digital Gateway
Letter from John M. Brooks to Medgar W. Evers, May 20, 1958 [carbon copy]
Carbon copy of letter from John M. Brooks, Director of Voter Registration, Virginia NAACP to Medgar W. Evers, Field Secretary, Mississippi NAACP. Sent 20 May 1958 in response to Evers' letter of 15 May 1958. Text: Mr. Medgar W. Evers 1072 Lynch Street Jackson, Mississippi Dear Medgar: Your letter was a real pick up for me...keep up the good work. I am sending a letter of congratulations to the Meridian group from this office. I hope your Jackson meeting will be as good as the one in Meridian. Don't fail to call on me for any help needed. Sincerely yours, John M. Brooks NAACP Registration Director JMB/eww
You've got it...USE IT! [Richmond Crusade for Voters flyer]
Richmond Crusade for Voters flyer. A hand brings down a heavy hammer that says VOTE, and breaks a chain. Text: you've got it...USE IT! Votes mean FREEDOM. Register and vote Votes mean EQUALITY. Register and vote Votes mean first-class citizenship. Register and vote. Votes mean better schools, better jobs, better housing. Register and vote USE YOUR VOTE TO WIN YOUR RIGHTS To Vote in November, you must REGISTER NOW!
M 306 Box 2, folder 8, Richmond Crusade for Voters collection, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU LIbraries
Learn more: Komp, C. (2017, October 26). The Lasting Legacy of the Richmond Crusade for Voters. Community Idea Stations. Matthews, K. A. (2017). The Richmond Crusade for Voters. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing.
Virginia State Board of Elections Bulletin No. 29, May 22, 1958 [blank sheet voter registration]
Bulletin No. 29 addressed To ALL REGISTRARS OF VIRGINIA. Stamped in red "Important Read Carefully." Excerpts: The 1958 session of the General Assembly made several changes in the Election Laws of Virginia stressing the duties of the registrars and the procedure to be followed by all the registrars throughout the State in registering applicants who are eligible to have their names placed on the registration books in order that a uniform system will be stictly adherred to. If each registrar will follow the procedure whih is outlined below, step by step, in registering voters, we believe he will be fully meeting the requirements of the new law. 1. Every person applying for registration should be furnished one of the Information Sheets, Form No. 1, which we have printed and are furnishing each registrar, containing the pertinenet provisions of Chapter 576 of the Acts of the 1958 General Assembly and Section 20 of the Constitution of Virginia. 2. The registrar shall furnish the applicant a sheet of paper containing no written or printed data; in other words, just a blank sheet of paper for the applicant to supply in his own handwriting the information required by Section 20 of the Constitution and Section 24-68 of the Code, which is as follows: 1. Name of applicant. 2. Age of applicant. 3. Date of applicant's birth. 4. Place of applicant's birth. 5. Residence of applicant at the time application is made. 6. Residence of applicant for one year next preceding the making of the application. 7. Occupation of applicant at the time application is made. 8. Occupation of applicant for one year next preceding the making of the application. 9. Whether applicant has previously voted. 10. If applicant has previously voted, the State, County and precinct in which applicant last voted. While making his application for registration, which must be done in the presence of the registrar, the applicant shall not be permitted to refer to any pamphlet, booklet or other memorandum, printed or written, nor to discuss with any person any matter concerning the requirements necessary in order to register other than the provisions of Section 20 of the Constitution and Section 24-68 of the Code which we have printed for his use on Form No. 1. If an applicant makes application in his or her own handwriting, and without aid, suggestion or memorandum, other than the right to refer to the pertinent provisions of the Code and the Constitution, then such applicant has satisfied the requirements of the law, so far as a written application is required.
Commonwealth of Virginia, State Board of Elections
M 306 Box 2, folder 6, Richmond Crusade for Voters collection, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU LIbraries
Learn more: Nurturing the Roots: 90for90 and Black Political Power. The Progressive, July 15, 2016.
Pilgrimage of Prayer for Public Schools, January 1, 1959 [broadside]
Broadside advertising A Pilgrimage of Prayer for Public Schools, January 1, 1959 in Richmond, Va. At this event, organizers played a seven-minute pre-recorded message from Dr. King. A description of the event by Wyatt Tee Walker as reported to Dr. King is available online. More than 1,500 people attended. Text: Martin Luther King joins your Religious and Civic Leaders in Urging All Virginians to Come to Richmond in A Pilgrimage For Public Schools on EMANCIPATION DAY January 1, 1959. You will assemble at THE MOSQUE Laurel and Main Streets promptly at 2:30 P.M. "Let us not deceive ourselves! We have among us politicians who will not hesitate to CLOSE ALL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN VIRGINIA. We must demonstrate to Virginia and the nation by our presence and action that we will not tolerate this crime against Virginia's children." --Dr. Philip Y. Wyatt WHICH WILL IT BE? Free Eduation? or Closed Schools? "Only through the preservation of a free, desegregated public school system can a people be fully emancipated from the shackles of prejudice and inequality. American democracy itself is at stake. This is your pilgrimage." --The Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker
Learn more: Text of letter from Wyatt Tee Walker, pastor of Gillfield Baptist Church in Petersburg, to Martin Luther King, Jr. reporting on a 1 January Prayer Pilgrimage to protest the efforts of Virginia officials to block public school integration. Stanford University, The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Leaflet. Passive Resisance to Massive Resistance. Leaflet with photographs of the Prayer Pilgrimage. Digital Collections. Yale University Library. Program, Pilgrimage of Prayer for Public Schools, January 1, 1959. Library of Virginia. Massive resistance, Social Welfare History Image Portal. Massive resistance, Encyclopedia Virginia. Wyatt Tee Walker, Dr. King's Strategist and a Harlem Leader, Dies at 88, The New York Times. Martin Luther King, Jr., Social Welfare History Image Portal.
Letter to Eleanor P. Sheppard from Lyndon B. Johnson, February 10, 1964
Letter to the Honorable Eleanor P. Sheppard, Mayor of Richmond, Virginia from President Lyndon Baines Johnson. February 10, 1964. This letter accompanied the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation "Report on Registration and Voting Participation." Text: The White House Washington February 10, 1964 Dear Mayor Sheppard: Less than two thirds of Americans of voting age cast ballots in Presidential elections. Less than one half vote in Congressional elections. This is a serious void in our free society. Last March President Kennedy appointed a bipartisan Commission on Registration and Voting Particpation. Its task was to study the causes of nonvoting and to recommend remedies. After careful study this Commission has presented its report and I send one to you. More interest in voting can be stressed by local efforts. May I suggest that you might want to consider the appointment of a citizens committee to investigate possible restrictions to reistration and voting -- and to promote greater voter participation in the 1964 elections. At a time when people all over the world cry out for the right to vote, too many of our citizens neglect to use this most precious of all citizen privileges. Our states and our cities, by improving voting laws and voting practices, can help produce increased voting interest by all the people. Kindly give me a report on the situation in your city. Sincerely, Lyndon B. Johnson
M 277, Box 11, Eleanor P. Sheppard papers, 1924 - 1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Learn more: Voting, Social Welfare History Image Portal Discovery Set: Controlling the Vote, Social Welfare History Image Portal Visit of the Commission on Registration & Voting Participation, 12:25PM, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Lee C. White. General File, 1954-1964. Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, 23 April 1963-30 March 1964 Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Lee C. White. General File, 1954-1964. Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, 21 December 1962–30 March 1963
Report of the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, November 1963
Report of the President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation. The bipartisan commission was created by Executive Order on March 30, 1963 by President John F. Kennedy. The Commission was chaired by Richard M. Scammon, Census Director. The report was transmitted on November 26, 1963, just days after Kennedy's assassination. In February, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson mailed this report along with a letter to Eleanor P. Sheppard, Mayor of Richmond, Virginia. In its opening summary, the Commission wrote: "One-third of our adults do not vote in presidential elections, and more than half do not vote in congressional elections. The reasons for America's low voter participation are both psychological and legal. Psychological causes of low turnout must be attacked by education and educational programs. Every citizen and group has a responsibility to join in this effort. The Commission endorses the practice of comprehensive register-and-vote campaigns to encourage and inform potential voters. We specifically call for a new effort by our schools in the teaching of citizenship, and we underscore the great responsibility of parents in citizenship education. The Commission strongly believes that effective two-party competition in all areas of the Nation will build and maintain interest in public affairs and lead to greater voter participation. We commend the two party system and all efforts to strengthen that system. Restrictive legal and administrative procedures in registration and voting disfranchise millions. To overcome such restrictions, taking into account the disparity in law and practice amont the States, we recommend the following specific standards: [Twenty-one standards are listed, including the elimination of literacy tests and poll taxes and the extension of voting to persons eighteen years of age.] The implementation of these standards will guarantee the right to vote to every citizen, adduring in fact what we proclain in theory--the supremacy of the individual in American political life." Complete report available through HathiTrust.
President's Commission on Registration and Voting Participation
Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office
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Learn more: Visit of the Commission on Registration & Voting Participation, 12:25PM, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Lee C. White. General File, 1954-1964. Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, 23 April 1963-30 March 1964 Papers of John F. Kennedy. Presidential Papers. White House Staff Files of Lee C. White. General File, 1954-1964. Commission on Registration and Voting Participation, 21 December 1962–30 March 1963 Letter to Eleanor P. Sheppard from Lyndon B. Johnson, February 10, 1964
Free Our Districts! End Gerrymandering. [bumper sticker]
Bumper sticker created by OneVirginia2021, an American civic non-profit organization founded to advocate for a non-partisan redistricting of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Formed in 2014, OneVirginia2021 is made up of people from across the political spectrum, including Republicans, Democrats, and TEA party members. Sticker text: "Free Our Districts! End Gerrymandering. Authorized by the good people at OneVirginia2021 who are trying to stop politicians from rigging the system." Gerrymandering is the practice of setting the boundaries of electoral districts to favor specific political interests. The redrawing of district lines takes place after each new U. S. Census to ensure that the "one person one vote" requirement is met. Partisan gerrymandering works to increase the power of a political party. Racial gerrymandering weakens representation, and therefore the political power, of minority voters.
Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries
IN COPYRIGHT 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: Miller, G. (2018). The map that popularised the word 'Gerrymander.' National Geographic (November 6, 2018). Ingraham, C. (2015, March 1). This is the best explanation of gerrymandering you will ever see. The Washington Post. Baker v. Carr, 1962. Reynolds v. Sims, 1964. Redistricting guru's hard drives could mean legal, political woes for GOP (2019, June 6), National Public Radio. One Virginia 2021, organization website
End Gerrymandering Now! [pinback button]
Pinback button created by OneVirginia2021, an American civic non-profit organization founded to advocate for a non-partisan redistricting of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Formed in 2014, OneVirginia2021 is made up of people from across the political spectrum, including Republicans, Democrats, and TEA party members. Gerrymandering is the practice of setting the boundaries of electoral districts to favor specific political interests. The redrawing of district lines takes place after each new U. S. Census to ensure that the "one person one vote" requirement is met. Partisan gerrymandering works to increase the power of a political party. Racial gerrymandering weakens representation, and therefore the political power, of minority voters.