Sketch of Work done by Home Teacher for the Virginia Commission [Hattie Chambers Wills]
Draft of a biographical sketch of Black educator for the blind, Hattie Chambers Wills, who was herself blind. Includes some editor's marks and several paragraphs of additional material written at least partially in shorthand. Hattie Chambers is listed as "Blind Girls' Supervisor" in the First Bienniel Report of the Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children, Newport News, Virginia. Wills died Nov. 17, 1967 and was interred at Pleasant Shade Cemetery in Hampton, Va. Text: Sketch of Work done by Home Teacher for the Virginia Commission. This Picture shows Mrs. Hattie C. Wills Who For the passed year has worked as Home Teacher for the Virginia Commission for the Adult Blind. Her statistical report from August 15th 1923 to June 15th 1924 Shows Calls made on the blind 1014. Lessons given the blind. 1253. Reading and writing 388 Industrial. 865. Her classes are instructed in Revise Braille Reading Moon Type Reading. Pencil writing. Hand and Machine Sewing. Rug Weaving. Basket weaving. Chair Canning and Split Weaving. Crocheting and Knitting. Music Practical House keeping and cooking. She has organized Clubs which are doing good work to help brighten the lives of the Adult. Blind. Mrs. Wills Formerly, Hattie Chambers. Was born in Lynchburg Va. [A]t the age of three years. She was deprived of sight from illness. She was educated in the school for the Deaf and Blind. at Raleigh N.C. After leaving school She worked among sighted people . As a successf ful Music teacher.. In 1910 She was employed in the State School for the Blind at NewportNews Va. As instructor in the industrial department for the Blind. Which position she held untill[sic] 1920.. When She was compell to resign .. Because of over worked nerves..In 1913 She was married to A man with perfect sight. Mrs. wills Truly lives A normal life. She does all of her house work And cooking with out help. In spite of her handycap. She can be classed as A woman. who has made good. When asked what she contribute her success to. She said. .'What I have accomplished. I have done it through. Patience. Perseverence. Stability Honesty and Hard Work..Any Man or Woman who are blinded. Will make good in life. if they Possess these qualities. [Shorthand follows at bottom of page and continues on reverse.]
M 12 Box 1, Lucian Louis Watts papers 1921-1960, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Special Collections and Archives, 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/ Acknowledgment of VCU Libraries as a source is requested.
Learn more: Conner, G. J. (2022). The Education of Deaf and Blind African Americans in Virginia, 1909-2008. Social Welfare History Project Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children, Newport News, Virginia. First Biennial Report. 1909-10 to 1910-11. Social Welfare History Image Portal.
Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children, Newport News, Virginia. First Biennial Report. 1909-10 to 1910-11
The First Biennial Report (Second and Third Annual Reports) of the Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children at Newport News, Virginia. For the fiscal years ending September 30, 1910 and September 30, 1911. Report of the Superintendent. The Virginia State School opened in 1909. William C. Ritter (white) was the school's first superintendent. His wife, Leslie H. Ritter served as Matron. Teachers for the Deaf are listed as R. Aumon Bass and Miss Mary A. Scott. Teachers for the Blind are listed as Miss Laura Britt and P. Jensen Stevens. Other staff include Hattie Chambers (later, Wills), a Black Virginian who taught at the school until 1920 and later served as Home Teacher for the Virginia Commission for the Blind. The biennial report includes photographs of the school's buildings, the Board of Visitors, and student instruction.
M 12 Box 3, Lucian Louis Watts papers 1921-1960, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Learn more: Conner, G. J. (2022). The Education of Deaf and Blind African Americans in Virginia, 1909-2008. Social Welfare History Project Opening of the Virginia State School for Colored Deaf and Blind Children, 1909. The Times-Dispatch, August 15, 1909 in Social Welfare History Project Sketch of Work done by Home Teacher for the Virginia Commission [Hattie Chambers Wills] in Social Welfare History Image Portal Deafness in Social Welfare History Project Disability in Social Welfare History Image Portal
Virginia School for the Blind, Charlottesville, Virginia
View entire document as an accessible PDF
"The intent and purpose of this leaflet is to acquaint its readers with the immediate importance of the Virginia General Assembly making an appropriation sufficient to build and operate the Virginia School for the Blind at Charlottesville." (p.1) The proposal is signed by L.L. Watts, Executive Secretary, Virginia Commission for the Blind. A full-page illustration of the proposed school is included in the pamphlet.
M 12 Box 2, Lucian Louis Watts papers 1921-1960, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Learn more: Bukach, N. (2024). Lucian Louis Watts (1888 – 1974): Statesman, organizer, and advocate for blind and visually impaired Virginians. Social Welfare History Project
We Dedicate...... Virginia Commission for the Blind, September 25, 1941
Program from the dedication of the Virginia Commission for the Blind on September 25, 1941. The building, located at 3003 Parkwood Ave. Richmond, Va., was designed by prominent Richmond architects J. Binford Walford and O. Pendleton Wright of Walford & Wright, Architect. Members of the Commission listed on the program: James H. Price, Governor of Virginia Herbert J. Taylor, Chairman John L. Livers, Secretary Paul N. Derring Mrs. Howard C Gilmer Halstead S. Hedges, M.D. Clifton C. Hume Joseph J. Williams, Jr. L.L. Watts, Executive Secretary
Report of the Legislative Commission For the Blind, 1920-21 [Commonwealth of Virginia]
A report made to the Governor and Members of the General Assembly of Virginia by the first Commission for the Blind. The report's Appendix includes: Resolutions adopted by the Virginia Association of Workers for the Blind in Convention Assembled: 1) Resolved: That the work for the blind in Virginia should be co-ordinated under a single permanent commission who should have general direction of the work of prevention of blindness, industrial rehabilitation, placement, home teaching, etc. 2) WHEREAS, The Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind at Staunton is at present crowded to capacity in attempting to care for the instruction of both the Deaf and the Blind, and Whereas, recent investigations have shown that the number of children in the State of the two classes who are not receiving an education is probably as great as those who are now in attendance at the school, and Whereas, the methods of instruction of the two groups are so radically different as to require separate groups of teachers, and complete duplication of class rooms, study halls, text books, and apparatus, involving indeed the maintenance of the separate schools within the same institution, Therefore be it recolved, that we are convinced that the interest of both classes will be promoted by complete separation of the schools. (Signed) H. J. Taylor, Chairman, Staunton, Va. Senator S. L. Ferguson, Appomattox, Va. L. L. Watts, Secretary, Staunton, Va.
Negro Organization Society. Programme 12, 13, 14 November 1924. Fredericksburg, Va.
Program for the twelfth annual session of the Negro Organization Society, held in Fredericksburg, Virginia. November 12-14, 1924.
M 9 Box 81 Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries.
The Saint Luke Press. 900-2-4 St. James Street, Richmond, Virginia.
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 the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Letter, Ora Brown Stokes to Adèle Goodman Clark, June 1, 1922 regarding fundraising for National Federation of Colored Women's Clubs
Letterhead: Commission on Inter-Racial Co-operation, Atlanta, Ga. 210 W. Leigh St. Richmond Va. June 1st 1922 Dear Miss Clark: The National Federation of Colored Women's Clubs will meet in this city during the first week in August and I am asked to raise$50.00 towards the $1500 that the local committee must raise to meet the demands that will be required of us. I am writing to 25 of our white friends asking them to help me raise my $50.00. As Chairman of the local committee I am anxious to get the required amount. Won't you please help us and help me to make my report? Very truly yours, Ora Brown Stokes ----- The NACWC biennial meeting was held at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Richmond, Va., August 6 - 11, 1922. Ida B. Wells Barnett, the prominent journalist and civil rights activist, traveled from Chicago with her daughter Alfreda to attend. Speakers included Hallie J. Brown, Mary Church Terrell, Margaret Murray Washington (Mrs. Booker T. Washington), Mary Bethune, and others.
M 9 Box 81, Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
This item is in the public domain. Acknowledgement of the Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Learn more: Great Women's Convention Here. Richmond Planet, 1922, July 29. Bonis, R. (2019). Ora E. Brown Stokes (1882–1957), Dictionary of Virginia Biography. Ora Brown Stokes, Social Welfare History Image Portal
League for the Promotion of Public School Education in Virginia letter, January 20, 1930
Informational letter from the League for the Promotion of Public School Education in Virginia signed by the Chairman, Robert S. Barrett. Barrett was the son of the Rev. Dr. Robert S. Barrett, an Episcopal clergyman, and Kate Waller Barrett, one of the first women medical doctors in the South and co-founder of the National Florence Crittenton Mission. Text -- Dear Fellow Virginian: As you have perhaps noted in the newspapers this League has been established for the purpose of promoting public school education in Virginia. It is non-political and non-sectarian. There are no dues or obligations of any kind and its membership is composed of those persons who are interested in this important subject. The simple advice that your are interested will make you a member. Just at the present time the League is interested in the establishment of a Secretary of Education in the Presidents cabinet, believing that it will be of great benefit to Virginia. We agree with Senator Capper, of Kansas, and Representative Robsion, of Kentucky, the authors of the bill now pending in Congress, who say: "We seek broader opportunity for the childhood of this Nation, by guaranteeing to every boy and girl under the Stars and Stripes, regardless of race, creed, or color, at least a Grammar School eduation. If we succeed the deplorable illiteracy, now so manifest on every hand, will be abolished and intelligence completely enthroned." We feel that as a friend of education you should be interested in this bill and are therefore sending you a copy together with Congressman Robsion's speech which effectually answers all arguments against it. After you have read this leterature we will greatly appreciate it if you would write to our Virginia Senators, Senators Claude S. Swanson, and Senator Carter Glass, and your representative in Congress letting them know that you approve the bill and asking them to advocate and vote for it. Yours very truly, Robert S. Barrett Chairman
M 9 Box 30, Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, 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/
Suffrage Rally, May 1, 1915, Richmond, Va. [photographs]
These photographs document a suffrage rally held on the south portico of the Virginia Capitol on May 1, 1915. Dr. E. N. Calisch, rabbi of Congregation Beth Ahabah, spoke in favor of woman suffrage at the event. Joy Montgomery Higgins of Nebraska addressed the crowd next. The Equal Suffrage League was denied permission to speak on city streets by Richmond Mayor Ainslie, on the grounds that, while there was no law forbidding them to speak, neither was there one that allowed him to grant them a permit. The women proceeded to give speeches from inside an automobile, and the event was documented and reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch on May, 2, 1915. According to the paper, Floating suffrage banners, fluttering yellow ribbons, silver-toned bugles, and a brass band proclaimed the fact that yesterday was Equal Suffrage Day in Richmond, as well as in every other town and city of the United States. Throughout the morning forty women, at eleven stands about the city, sold copies of the Woman's Journal, and suffrage flags, buttons, and postcards. The cordial and sympathetic attitude shown by the public was regarded as a striking illustration of the change in public opinion effected during the last few years. By June, ESL members had successfully secured a permit to speak on city streets. Note: Images displayed here are black and white copies of the original photographs. Automobile identified as that of Mrs. W. W. Foster. Occupants of the vehicle are: (back seat) Mrs. Alice Overby Taylor, Mrs. W. Hill Urquhart, Jr., Mrs. G. Harvey Clark; (middle seat) Joy Montgomery Higgins, Mrs. Charles V. Meredith; (front seat) Lila Meade Valentine, Mabel Vernon, Chauffer, James.
M 9 Box 239, Adele Goodman Clark papers, 1849 - 1978, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Learn more: Suffrage, Social Welfare History Image Portal Suffrage at 100. A visual history. New York Times. Wheeler, M. (1992). Mary Johnston, Suffragist. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, 100(1), 99-118.
Voting Rights and Legal Wrongs. A Commentary on S. 1564, the proposed "Voting Rights Act of 1965..."
This booklet was distributed by the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government (VCCG) in opposition to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Commission began in 1958 and existed until the late 1960s. Led by David J. Mays, a prominent lawyer and advisor to Virginia’s commission on the response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, it advocated nationally for states’ rights and conservatism, and eventually distributed over 2 million published pamphlets, brochures and speeches. Excerpts: FOREWORD During the first eight weeks of 1965, demonstrations of increasing size and intensity in Selma, Ala., and later in Montgomery, attracted nationwide attention to the efforts of Alabama Negroes to secure their right to vote. The demonstrations reached a political climax on the evening of March 15, when the President asked a joint session of the Congress for the immediate adoption of a "Voting Rights Act of 1965." Remarkably, members of the United States Supreme Court, in their judical robes, sat in the front row applauding. Three days later, on March 18, identical bills were introduced in the House (HR 6400) and in the Senate (S. 1564) to carry out the President's recommendations. The Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government believes fervently in the right to vote....At the same time, the Commission adheres just as fervently to a conviction that the power to fix qualifications for voting, uniformly applied to all persons, is a power plainly reserved to the States under Article I of the Constitution.... The proposed "Voting Rights Act of 1965," in the Commission's view, transcends the authority vested in Congress. Its key provisions are triggered not by discrimination on account of race or color, but by arbitrarily defined statistical phenomena.... In our view, the President is proposing to deal unconstitutionally with unconstitutional acts, thus piling a large subversion on a small one. He is proposing to go far beyond the limits of discrimination "on account of" race or color, in order to spread upon the statute books a harsh and punitive measure of general application, more drastic than any voting legislation proposed since Reconstruction days. The bill would grievously undermine our federal system; it would open the door to the obliteration of all State powers in the field of State and local elections. We do not oppose the President's aim. Surely the indefensible conditions that provoked the Alabama demonstrations must be remedied. But we are convinced the job can be done by a carefully drawn bill, strictly confined to denials and abridgments by reason of race or color. Such a bill would have this Commission's support...." James J. Kilpatrick, Chairman, Committee on Publications Richmond, April, 1965. Other VCCG publications in the Image Portal
General collection, Call Number JK1861.V82 V6, Library of the Virginia Museum of History and 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: Controlling the Vote -- Rights. Registration. Representation. Social Welfare History Image Portal Voting Rights Act of 1965. An Introduction. Social Welfare History Project Hayter, J. M. (2017). The dream is lost. Voting rights and the politics of race in Richmond, Virginia. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky Moeser, J. V. & Dennis, R. M. (2020). The politics of annexation. Oligarchic power in a southern city. Open Access Edition. Digital publisher: VCU Libraries. Original (1982) edition Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Company Hershman, J. H. Jr. Massive Resistance. (2011, June 29). Encyclopedia Virginia
Woman's Journal and Suffrage News, November 30, 1912
Editorial cartoon by Ralph Wilder published Woman's Journal and Suffrage News, Vol . 43, No. 47, November 30, 1912. A group of suffragists wearing "Votes for Women" sashes enter a room where they are greeted by women labelled "Idaho," "Washington," "Utah," "Wyoming," "Colorado," and "California" (states where women could already vote). The suffragists joining the party are "Oregon," "Michigan," "Kansas," and "Arizona." Caption: "Meanwhile The Ladies Have Been Having a Perfectly Lovely Time" Publication note: "Courtesy Chicago Record-Herald"
M 9 Box 56, Adèle Goodman Clark papers, 1849-1978, 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/ Acknowledgment of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Learn more: Woman Suffrage, Social Welfare History Image Portal Wielding the Pen: Editorial Cartooning for Social Reform, Social Welfare History Image Portal Winslow, C. S. (1947). Early Chicago: As Seen by a Cartoonist. Illus. by Ralph Wilder. Chicago: Charles S. Winslow pub.
Within the first six weeks after the Voting Rights Act was signed into law, staff attorneys from the Commission on Civil Rights visited 32 Southern counties and parishes to study the implementation of the legislation. This document is their report, transmitted to the President, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives in November 1965. The Commission found widespread compliance, but also a need for further action. Their "Findings and Recommendations," along with the section titled, "Problems in Registration" are presented here. Read the report's Chapter 1: History of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Excerpts: p.34 Problems in Registration Some country registrars in Mississippi and Alabama have violated the new law by refusing to register illiterates.... Delay has created a problem in Alabama and South Carolina, principally because these States have a restricted number of registration days. p. 35 In some counties in North Carolina, registrars conduct all but three days of registration in their own homes or places of business. Social and psychological barriers are likely to deter Negroes from seeking out a registrar in his exclusively white neighborhood.... Racial violence related to civil rights activities is another factor which has limited applications in some counties with examiners. The killing of seminarian Jonathan Daniels in Lowndes Country, Alabama, on August 20 and the acquittal of his killer on September 30 appear to have been the single most important factor in reducing Negro applications in that county. It is symbolic of conditions there that a pick-up truck with a rifle visibly displayed has been parked daily immediately outside the examiner's office since the opening of the office. Registration workers in the country have reported increasing threats against their lives and continued efforts to intimidate resident Negro leaders. ------ This booklet on the Voting Rights Act was part of a resource file on civil rights and voting in the files of the National Federation of Settlements. The Federation was active in community organizing for social justice, voting, and civil rights. The entire document along with a transcript is available via the University of Minnesota Libraries, Social Welfare History Archives.
United States Commission on Civil Rights
National Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers records (Box 169, Folder 3), Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries
Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota 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/
The Candle. Vol. I, No. V, December 1957
Newsletter published by the Virginia State Conference-NAACP. The Candle's header shows two lighted candles and the motto, "It is Better to Light One Candle Than to Curse the Darkness." This issue includes reporting on the Virginia Political Action convention. Photographs of particiapnts in the Visual Aid Educational Political Action program show young people in costume and with props illustrating the importance of voting. Excerpts: Cover photograph captioned "The Three Presidents. 22 Years of Progressive Leadership. Dr. J. M. Tinsley of Richmond, president emeritus of the Virginia State Conference, congratulates Dr. Philip Y. Wyatt of Fredericksburg the newly elected Conference president as Dr. E. B. Henderson of Falls Church, retiring president looks on. Dr. Tinsley retired in 1955 after servicing as Conference president for 20 years. Dr. Henderson, after serving as president for two years could not stand for re-election because of a constitutional provision (adoped in 1955) prohibiting a third term." p.2 In our PAC work we have to keep going over the same points. In Virginia 26% of the adult population is colored, but we do not have a single Negro among the 100 Delegates in the General Assembly, nor among the 40 Senators. If we could get the majority of Negroes to vote our fight against segregation and discrimination would make real headway. There are three steps in getting Negroes to "count"; payment of poll taxes before the deadline, registration, and voting. Why don't more colored people vote? Some don't think it matters, some lack the education, some are fearful, and some just don't make the effort. We must keep hammering to get the deadlines met, to get older people who have never voted to overcome their shyness, to get citizens to study up on issues and candidates. We must inspire our teachers, ministers, and civic leaders to be voting citizens themselves and to preach the importance of using the ballot to win freedom.
M 296 Box 2, John Mitchell Brooks collection of NAACP files, 1957-1960, 1978 James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Every Man His Own Law [cover title: In those days there was no king in Israel...]
This booklet was distributed by the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government (VCCG) . Led by David J. Mays, a prominent lawyer and advisor to Virginia’s commission on the response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, it advocated nationally for states’ rights and conservatism, and eventually distributed over 2 million published pamphlets, brochures and speeches. This booklet argues against the Voting Rights Act and describes demonstrations as looting and mobbery. Excerpts: EVERY MAN HIS OWN LAW. A commentary by the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government concerning the unparalleled lawlessness in the streets of the Nation today. The Appendix contains excerpts from the Constitution of the United States; the Virginia Bill of Rights; and excerpts from the Code of Virginia. Specifically covered are several sections of the Code of Virginia dealing with suppression of and punishment for riotous acts. In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes. --JUDGES 21:25 Forward: It seems necessary and appropriate, however, to devote one pamphlet to a protest against the current unparalleled lawlessness that has plagued many of our cities, and which, if continued, would destroy those very liberties which the rioters profess to cherish but seek to gain through lawless acts. p.6 The ballot box is secret and is made accessible to those who have no property qualifications whatsoever and pay no taxes of any kind; and to those who cannot even read the comics. The most ignorant now has the same voice as the philosopher--often much greater because of the weight of minorities in key states in presidential elections. p.8 The American people are long-suffering and will tolerate repeated abuses; but a time comes when they rise in wrath to stamp them out. When they do, no minority group can resiste them, no matter what means it employs. p.9 They are insurrections against government. And it is no longer a matter of race, because some white hoodlums join in the loot, and the property taken and destroyed belongs to Negroes as well as to whites. It is the attack of the lowest of our citizens against any who may have achieved some measure of economic success.... It is to our shame that police officers have been ordered to shoot only in self-defense while mobs run wild, committing every excess. p.10 If they [police] are inadequate to quell insurrection, and if National Guard units may be too thin to put down several mobs at the same time, then we must organize, arm, and train home guard units in all our cities, composed of law-abiding citizens of both races. Mobbery has no place in free America. It must be destroyed. Other VCCG publications in the Image Portal
General collection. Call number K 49 V75 E8. Library of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Learn more: Controlling the Vote -- Rights. Registration. Representation. Social Welfare History Image Portal Voting Rights Act of 1965. An Introduction. Social Welfare History Project Hershman, J. H. Jr. Massive Resistance. (2011, June 29). Encyclopedia Virginia
Literacy and the Right to Vote. CLSA Reports: Information Bulletin, No. 2, May 15, 1962.
This information bulletin is a publication of the Commission on Law and Social Action of the American Jewish Congress. The four-page document, written by CLSA director Leo Pfeffer, discusses the topic of literacy tests and voter registration, particularly as a tool of discrimination against Black and immigrant voting. Pfeffer also considers literacy in languages other than English. This American Jewish Congress bulletin is from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Religious Freedom and Public Affairs Project and is part of a resource files on discrimination in voting. It discusses the use of literacy tests as a means to prevent voting. Excerpts: p.1 Today, however there is no widespread demand that literacy tests for voters be completely abolished. What is in issue is the use of such tests to discriminate against members of minority ethnic groups. The major victims in the South are the Negroes and in New York Puerto Ricans who are literate only in Spanish and Jews literate only in Yiddish. It is no accident that literacy tests should be so popular in the South. Their origin is to be found in the search by the Southern states to find ways to defeat the objective of the 15th Amendment which sought to secure the Negro's right to vote. Among other (e.g., poll tax, white promaries, etc.) the literacy test was hit upon as such a device. While this did effectively bar the polls to many Negroes, it had the disadvantage from the Southerner's viewpoint of also disenfranchising many whites who likewise were illiterate. To get around this, the "grandfather clause" was invented. This was a provision in the statute which exempted from the requirement of literacy anyone who was a descendant of a person who voted before 1866, in effect meaning any white person. p.2 Typical of the administration of literacy tests in the South is the explanation given by a Louisiana registrar to an investigator of the Civil Right Commission for her practice of asking for constitutional interpretations only from Negro applicants: "Usually, I find that the white people are more intelligent along those lines and I very seldom ask them; but some of the colored people -- I can determine by the way they fill out their card that they are not intelligent in these respects." To meet this problem the Civil Rights Commission unanimously recommended that any state law requirement of literacy as a prerequisite to the right to vote shall be deemed satisfied if the applicant shows that he completed six years of instruction in elementary school. A number of measures along this line have been introduced in Congress. p.3 Southern spokesmen argue that these bills are unconstitutional because they interfere with states rights. They contend that if a Negro is discriminated against his only relief is to sue in the courts. However, both the 14th and 15th Amendments specifically provide that Congress shall have the power to enforce their provisions by appropriate legislation....Enactment by Congress of the proposal recommended by the Civil Rights Commission would show that Congress realizes that it too shares responsibility in the struggle for equality. p. 4 There is a valid reason to deny the right to vote to persons who have not yet reached the age of maturity, or to those whose limited mental capacities render them unable to handle their own affairs. There is no valid reason to deny the ballot to a person who is competent to exercise intelligent judgment in respect to the issues of the day and the candidates for public office simply because he acquired his knowledge in one rather than another language.
Commission on Law and Social Action of the American Jewish Congress
National Conference of Christians and Jews records (SW0092). <a href="https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll453:11061/p16022coll453:11057?child_index=19&query=&sidebar_page=7" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://umedia.lib.umn.edu/item/p16022coll453:11061?q%3D%2522Voting%2Brights%2522&source=gmail&ust=1596631787427000&usg=AFQjCNE-srMJQt7FYy6BeuKGvSaecsHldQ" rel="noopener" title="University of Minnesota Libraries UMedia digital collections">Special Projects. Religious Freedom and Public Affairs Project. Discrimination in Voting. (Box 18, Folder 19) Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries
SCLC Crusade for the Vote: To Double the Negro Vote in the South [Southern Christian Leadership Conference brochure]
Brochure distributed by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) which describes and promotes the "Crusade for the Ballot. To Double the Negro Vote in the South." The campaign aimed to double the number of registered Black voters in the South and to educate and stimulate these citizens to exercise the vote. Page 3 of the brochure states that this goal will be achieved by educating and stimulating Black citizens to vote. Organizing communities, bipartisanship, and non-violence. SCLC leadership at this time included Martin Luther King, Jr. President, Wyatt Tee Walker, Executive Director, and Atty. I. M. Augustine, General Counsel. The pamphlet is from the National Conference of Christians and Jews, Religious Freedom and Public Affairs Project, and is part of a resource file on discrimination in voting. It discusses voter suppression tactics and lists ways to counter them and increase voter registration and participation. Excerpts: p. 2 THE FACTS (1) Over 5 million Negros of voting age live in the South. (2) Only 25% of adult Negroes vote compared with 60% white adults. (3) Purges of voter lists, "slowdowns" by registrars, opening the registration office only one of two days a month and at hours that are not helpful for working people; and (4) Open intimidation by some plantation bosses and many local officials, all play a part in discouraging the Negro Citizen from becoming a registered voter. As a result, "Government by consent of the governed," upon which our nation was founded in 1776, is a goal still to be made a reality in most of the South today. Most of the present crop of Southern Senators and Congressmen will oppose and fillibuster all legislation designed to protect the voting rights of citizens of this region. YOU CAN CHANGE THIS SITUATION Despite these obstacles Negro citizens are struggling daily to double the number of voters and to obtain representation in government. Even the most die-hard segregationist in public office can be made to respect voting power. Furthermore, we know there are many liberal white citizens in the South who count on the Negro votes to increase enough for liberal voice to be heard in the government. The whole nation will benefit from an enlarged Negro vote in the South. This area of our country CAN elect men and women of good will and a sense of justice to Congress and to local state legislatures. Let all who believe in Freedom and Human Dignity join in this great Crusade for The Ballot Now!! p. 3 In Unity There Is Strength. No narrow partisan interest must be allowed to divide us. In reaching a cross section of the Negro community, the Crusade will move across party lines. It is for the good of the local community that all civic, church, fraternal and other organizations p. 4 "The goal of the Freedom Movement in the South can be summed up in 3 words: All, Here, and Now We want all of our rights as citizens (not just some rights); We want them here, in the Deep South, and We want them now" -Martin Luther King, Jr. When you have finished reading this, please pass it on to a member of the family, a neighbor or a friend. Full transcript and other related items via University of Minnesota Libraries, Social Welfare History Archives.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
National Conference of Christians and Jews records (SW0092). Special Projects. Religious Freedom and Public Affairs Project. Discrimination in Voting. (Box 18, Folder 19). Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.
Learn more: Controlling the Vote -- Rights. Registration. Representation. Social Welfare History Image Portal
Constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965; a response to the Attorney General of the United States...
This booklet was distributed by the Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government (VCCG) in opposition to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Commission began in 1958 and existed until the late 1960s. Led by David J. Mays, a prominent lawyer and advisor to Virginia’s commission on the response to the Brown v. Board of Education decision, it advocated nationally for states’ rights and conservatism, and eventually distributed over 2 million published pamphlets, brochures and speeches. The Constitutionality of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 argues against the Voting Rights Act. Robert Y. Button (Virginia’s Attorney General at the time) made a typical VCCG argument in stating that the Act “attempted to erode the basic concepts of constitutional government in which the individual States are acknowledged to be sovereign” and is “patently unconstitutional.” Excerpts: pp. 8-9 "the Supreme Court of the United States has repeatedly declared that a State is free to conduct its elections and limit its electorate as it may deem wise, except as its actions may be affected by the prohibitions of the Federal Constitution, and that the power of Congress to legistlate at all the subject of racial discrimination in voting rests upon the Fifteenth Amendment and extends only to the prevention by appropriate legistlation of the discriminatiion forbidden by that Amendment..." p. 14 "I do believe, however, -- as Mr. Justice Harlan made clear...that the Framers of the Constitution: 'staked their faith that liberty would proper in the new Nation not primarily upon declarations of individual rights but upon the kind of government the Union was to have. And they determined that in a government of divided powers lay the best promise for realizing the free society it was their object to achieve.' (Italics supplied [by Button]. One aspect of this governmental edifice which the Framers sought to erect, and which H. R. 6400 would manifestly subvert, was the distribution of power between the Nation and the States, each supreme within its sphere, thus forming an indestructible Union of indestructible States." Other VCCG publications in the Image Portal
General collection, Call Number JK1861.V82 B8, Library of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Virginia Commission on Constitutional Government
"You Gotta Believe It" Your One Vote Does Count. [Crusade for Voters pamphlet]
Front and back covers of a four-page pamphlet created by the Crusade for Voters, Richmond, Va. The circular logo on the front cover shows a family of color with an American flag. Surrounding them is the slogan, "Every member of our family is a voter." Other text on the page says, "'You Gotta Believe It' Your One Vote Does Count. In Unity There is Strength." p.4 excerpts The black vote could be vital in many councilmanic elections, congressional elections, and even in the presidential election. If there is one who has not seen the value of the vote, take him by the hand and get him registered. He could be your next door neighbor, your husband, your wife, a member of your church, club, or organization. Wherever you find him, get him registered! By using your votes wisely -- voting for the right people -- impossible doors will be opened. The power of the people is at the Ballot Box -- Vote. At page bottom: Published by the Crusade for Voters -- a non partisan organization in the interest of increasing the Voter Registration and Education.
M 296, Box 2, John Mitchell Brooks collection of NAACP files, 1957-1960, 1978, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries
Learn more: Controlling the Vote: Rights. Registration. Representation. Social Welfare History Image Portal Hayter, J. M. (2017). The dream is lost. Voting rights and the politics of race in Richmond, Virginia. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky Moeser, J. V. & Dennis, R. M. (2020). The politics of annexation. Oligarchic power in a southern city. Open Access Edition. Digital publisher: VCU Libraries. Original (1982) edition Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Company Voter registration, Social Welfare History Image Portal Voting rights, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Address by Ethel Baskervill, Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work, January 8, 1932
Transcription: Woman’s Exchange January 8, 1932 The Richmond Exchange for Woman’s Work is the first woman’s shop established in Richmond which has been in continuous operation for almost fifty years. It was established in 1883 to assist ladies who, in 1883, felt their privacy would be violated and their pride tarnished if the public knew they were forced to work for money. Now we know that what a woman can do is her greatest ornament and that she always consults her dignity by doing it. Now we have meetings where Consignors and Board Members discuss every phase of our mutual business. There are among the consignors some of your best friends and mine. They are from the best levels of our citizenship – much respected and self respecting women. Without exception they are women who cannot go out into active business. Most of them have children or invalids at home who cannot do without them, or perhaps their husbands have had bad luck and cannot make ends meet. They show a notable gallantry by throwing their strength into helping their family to be self supporting upstanding citizens. The Exchange is not a charity, - it is a philanthropy. We simply give women a chance to help themselves. As a shop we are obliged to meet tremendous and increasing competition. We try to meet it by defeating it. We try to give honest value, courteous and efficient service and the very best quality in town. In our foods we tolerate no substitute for the best materials. 2 We have lately put on a second delivery and we send to Westhampton and to Ginter Park. We are constantly trying to introduce novelties in all our departments. We have many services which the public does not always realize. We make aspics and desert to order. We mend fine bead bags and wash and darn delicate laces and old lace curtains. We restore antique, painted trays. We print stationery, --just like you get from Peru, Indiana, at the same price, - and more promptly. We take for sale some young woman’s treasured bit of glory, that must be sacrificed because her husband has lost his job, or some frail old lady’s paisley shawl or piece of family silver. The Superintendent gives these facts about some of our present consignors A-says that through her sales she has been able to keep her two boys at school. B-says that her sales of cake and fancy articles enabled her to have her daughter taught the violin which she is now teaching to others. C-says her sales have made it possible for her to take care of an invalid mother and stay at home with her. D-says her sales have given her the means to help to keep her sister at the Blue Ridge Sanitarium. E-could not hold her home together without the Exchange. We have over two hundred consignors. It is not an easy job that we do. We have only a thirty thousand dollar endowment invested in mortgage bonds. p.3 The consignors pay us twenty per cent commission, -which is only about two-thirds of what it costs any shop to do business. We have a small amount from subscriptions and consignors membership tickets. One of our greatest difficulties has been to keep our promise to pay the consignor on the first pay day after her article is sold. This is difficult because some of our patrons are careless about paying their bills. They do not realize that we have no working capital and that their delay is a very serious embarrassment for us, and has often sent us to borrow from the bank where we have to pay interest. We rarely beg, but we do have a constant struggle to make ends meet. If we ever have to shut up our business it will throw about two hundred women out of employment. We do not ask pity, - we only ask that you will try our shop. Give us the chance we are trying to give our consignors. Ethel Baskervill
MSC0037-Baskervill, The Valentine
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Learn more: Sander, K. W. (1998). The Business of charity: The woman's exchange movement, 1832-1900. Urbana: University of Illinois Jones, D. G. (2001). A box lunch. Richmond, Va.: D. Jones. Federation of Woman's Exchanges Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Exchange for Woman's Work. Fourth Annual Report, 1887. [exceprt]
Report by Mrs. W. T. Richardson, recording secretary for the Exchange for Woman's Work. This excerpt (pp. 9 - 14) is taken from the Fourth Annual Report of the Exchange, 1887. Text (excerpt) Annual Report. The Richmond Exchange for Woman’s Work has now completed its fourth year. During the past twelve months, 5,279 articles have been place on sale, representing the handiwork of 400 women, 3,790 of these consignments were sold, realizing the sum of $3,375, which amount, less the commission of ten per cent, was paid to the consignors. Every article deposited for sale, however simple, must be the best of its kind. To reach and adhere to this standard is the persistent aim of the Board of Managers. They are gratified to observe a steady advance in the character and variety of the work offered. The Exchange is thus proving a school p.10 for the education of workers—developing the artistic instinct, correcting defects of design and execution, etc., --while it fosters a spirit of industry, energy and independence, and affords to all, even the aged and the invalid, an opportunity to turn to pecuniary advantage whatever talent they possess, however homely it may be…. We enter upon our fifth year with courage and hope—in any event, resting upon the promise that our work shall be accepted according to what we have, and not according to what we have not. Respectfully submitted, Mrs. W. T. Richardson, Recording Secretary.
MSC0037-AnnualReport, The Valentine
Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work members
Members stand outside the Exchange for Woman's Work at 203 East Franklin Street, Richmond, Va.
MSC0037-Photo, The Valentine
COPYRIGHT NOT EVALUATED The copyright and related rights status of this Item has not been evaluated. 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/CNE/1.0/
Learn more: Sander, K. W. (1998). The Business of charity: The woman's exchange movement, 1832-1900. Urbana: University of Illinois Federation of Woman's Exchanges Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work, Social Welfare History Image Portal
Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work [card]
Card describing the mission of the Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work. The Exchange for Woman’s Work, founded in 1883, was part of the Woman’s Exchange movement started in Philadelphia in 1832. Exchanges were popular places for women in hardship to sell goods on consignment without working publicly, a social taboo at the time. Some Exchanges still operate, and while the Richmond Exchange closed in 1955, it launched several female-owned businesses including Sally Bell’s Kitchen, still in business. Its founders—Elizabeth Lee Milton and Sarah Cabell Jones—met through the Richmond Woman’s Exchange. Card text: This depot for the exhibition and sale of the handiwork of needy women has always on hand an assortment of dainty crochetted and knitted goods, toilet sets, fancy and plain needle-work and painting, besides delicious home-made biscuit, cake, jellies, pickles, beef-tea, and delicacies for the sick. Strangers in the city may here find suitable souvenirs of their visit, and at the same time assist a deserving class of workers.
Manuscripts, Call Number Mss1 K2588 a 117-123, Library of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work [correspondence and ephemera]
This correspondence and ephemera pertain to the Richmond Exchange for Woman’s Work, founded in 1883, part of the Woman’s Exchange movement started in Philadelphia in 1832. Exchanges were popular places for women in hardship to sell goods on consignment without working publicly, a social taboo at the time. Some Exchanges still operate, and while the Richmond Exchange closed in 1955, it launched several female-owned businesses including Sally Bell’s Kitchen, still in business. Its founders—Elizabeth Lee Milton and Sarah Cabell Jones—met through the Richmond Woman’s Exchange.
Manuscripts, Call Number Mss1 K2588 a 117-123 and Manuscripts, Call Number Mss1 M3855 c 4024, Library of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Virginia Historical Society
Rules of the Richmond Woman's Work Exchange [broadside]
This broadside pertains to the Richmond Exchange for Woman’s Work, founded in 1883, part of the Woman’s Exchange movement started in Philadelphia in 1832. Exchanges were popular places for women in hardship to sell goods on consignment without working publicly, a social taboo at the time. Some Exchanges still operate, and while the Richmond Exchange closed in 1955, it launched several female-owned businesses including Sally Bell’s Kitchen, still in business. Its founders—Elizabeth Lee Milton and Sarah Cabell Jones—met through the Richmond Woman’s Exchange. Excerpts: 1. The annual membership fee is $2. This membership will entitle each subscriber to enter the work of three persons for one year.... 10. Articles of personal property, which ladies are compelled by necessity to dispose of, are received under the rules applied to all other consignments. 11. Work is not received from ladies whose circumstances do not make it necessary for them to dispose of their handiwork, except when the proceeds are to be devoted to charitable purposes.
Richmond Exchange for Woman's Work, 309 East Franklin Street [pamphlet]
This ephemera pertains to the Richmond Exchange for Woman’s Work, founded in 1883, part of the Woman’s Exchange movement started in Philadelphia in 1832. Exchanges were popular places for women in hardship to sell goods on consignment without working publicly, a social taboo at the time. Some Exchanges still operate, and while the Richmond Exchange closed in 1955, it launched several female-owned businesses including Sally Bell’s Kitchen, still in business. Its founders—Elizabeth Lee Milton and Sarah Cabell Jones—met through the Richmond Woman’s Exchange. A handwritten note at the document's end records "From March 1st 1883 to March 1st 1884 $2430.80 was paid to consigners -" Printed text excerpts: The Association has been organized to aid ladies whose pecuniary circumstances require them to make their own handiwork a means of their support, and also to afford an opportunity by which work may be sold for charitable purposes. The rooms of the Exchange are located in a convenient part of the city, and there useful and domestic, fancy and artistic articles are exhibited and sold. Orders for work of all descriptions may be given, and purchasers of tasteful and useful articles may relieve the wants of others while gratifying their own taste.
Manuscripts, Call Number Mss1 M3855 c 4024, Library of the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, Virginia Historical Society