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The Evelyn T. Butts Story Kenneth Cooper Alexa Developing and Sustaining Political Citizenship for Poor and Marginalized People: The Evelyn T. Butts Story Kenneth Cooper Alexander ORCID Scholar ID# 0000-0001-5601-9497 A Dissertation Submitted to the PhD in Leadership and Change Program of Antioch University in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2019 This dissertation has been approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Ph.D. in Leadership and Change, Graduate School of Leadership and Change, Antioch University. Dissertation Committee • Dr. Philomena Essed, Committee Chair • Dr. Elizabeth L. Holloway, Committee Member • Dr. Tommy L. Bogger, Committee Member Copyright 2019 Kenneth Cooper Alexander All rights reserved Acknowledgements When I embarked on my doctoral work at Antioch University’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change in 2015, I knew I would eventually share the fruits of my studies with my hometown of Norfolk, Virginia, which has given so much to me. I did not know at the time, though, how much the history of Norfolk would help me choose my dissertation topic, sharpen my insights about what my forebears endured, and strengthen my resolve to pass these lessons forward to future generations. Delving into the life and activism of voting-rights champion Evelyn T. Butts was challenging, stimulating, and rewarding; yet my journey was never a lonely one. Throughout my quest, I was blessed with the support, patience, and enduring love of my wife, Donna, and our two sons, Kenneth II and David, young men who will soon begin their own pursuits in higher education. Their embrace of my studies constantly reminded me of how important family and community have been throughout my life. This remarkable achievement is also theirs. My deepest thanks also go to my late parents, David Alexander and Ruby Rebecca Cooper, and my late grandmother, Ruby Rose Cooper, and to many community mentors. A complete list of people who gave me positive guidance from childhood through my formative years in the public and political arenas might resemble a village telephone book, but I must single out a few. They include Elwood “Coach” Williams, the former director of the Southside Boys & Girls Club; longtime neighborhood leader George Banks; the late Horace C. Downing; the late Minnie Madrey; the late Yvonne B. Miller, Ph.D., the first African American woman elected to the Virginia House of Delegates, the first African American woman elected to the Senate of Virginia, and the first to chair a Virginia General Assembly standing committee; and my Antioch Missionary Baptist Church family. i I also owe a great debt of gratitude to so many other people who were generous with their time and insights, including Dr. Stephen Shaw, faculty research librarian at Antioch’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change, and Norfolk City Hall staff in the mayor’s office, city planning, voter registration, and the public library, especially in the Sergeant Memorial Collection. The resources at Old Dominion University’s Patricia W. and J. Douglas Perry Library and Norfolk State University’s Harrison B. Wilson Archives (and especially the efforts of NSU’s Annette Montgomery) proved invaluable. There are so many friends to thank, but I want to give special recognition to Michael Knepler and his wife, Barbara Taychert, both retired journalists, and Dr. Battinto Batts, Journalism Fund director, Scripps Howard Foundation, all of whom rendered much constructive advice about writing, and to Rodney Jordan for sharing archival material from his late uncle, Joseph A. Jordan Jr., who was Mrs. Butts’ close friend and attorney. Thanks, too, to political scientist Dr. Leslie A. Caughell of Virginia Wesleyan University as well as to the university’s Center for the Study of Religious Freedom, to historian Dr. Charles Ford of Norfolk State University, and to my great team of employees at Metropolitan Funeral Service for easing my professional burdens to allow me more time for my studies. I found enthusiasm and encouragement for my study of Evelyn Butts from so many people but especially from my leadership studies adviser, Dr. Jon Wergin, professor of Education Studies in Antioch’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change, and my dissertation committee members, Dr. Philomena Essed, professor of Critical Race, Gender and Leadership Studies in Antioch’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change; Dr. Elizabeth L. Holloway, professor of psychology in Antioch’s Graduate School of Leadership and Change; and Dr. Tommy L. Bogger, professor of history and university archivist at Norfolk State University. Each of you presented ii me with thoughtful challenges and pushed me to clarify where needed, sharpen my focus in various sections, and made sure I produced a dissertation that I could build upon for future publication. Of course, I never would have gotten very far in this project if not for the people who knew Evelyn Butts and agreed to be interviewed, including her daughter, Charlene Butts Ligon. Your names are highlighted in Chapters IV. Thank you for not only telling me about your experiences but for providing valuable personal and historical context for what was happening in Norfolk during the years of Mrs. Butts’ heyday as an activist. Because of you, this study of Evelyn Butts has become much more than an academic achievement in the advancement of my education. By sharing your stories, you have helped our community understand how much we have benefited by the social justice activism, leadership, and legacy of Evelyn Thomas Butts. iii Abstract This study tells the deep, rich story of Evelyn T. Butts, a grassroots civil rights champion in Norfolk, Virginia, whose bridge leadership style can teach and inspire new generations about political, community, and social change. Butts used neighbor-to-neighbor skills to keep her community connected with the national civil rights movement, which had heavily relied on grassroots leaders—especially women—for much of its success in overthrowing America’s Jim Crow system of segregation and suppression. She is best-known for her 1963 lawsuit that resulted in the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1966 decision to ban poll taxes for state and local elections, a democratizing event hailed as a progressive victory over the entrenchment of property and wealth as prerequisites for suffrage. Virginia required an annual $1.50 poll, while other Southern states had similar levies. Butts’ legacy from her 1954–1970 grassroots heyday is also built on what she did before and after her court victory to help blacks and poor whites attain political citizenship—the right to fully participate in political decision-making. Butts, who stood amid the continuum of black resistance leaders questing for freedom, civil rights, equality, justice, and dignity, exercised effective leadership on diverse concerns, including segregated schools, employment discrimination, and substandard housing. Self-determination for marginalized people lay at the heart of her crusades, especially for voter education, registration, and turnout. This first, full-length scholarly examination of Butts’ leadership is a qualitative study and narrative inquiry that includes the context of her times. This interdisciplinary study draws on literature in history, political science, sociology, civil rights, voting rights, critical race theory, and leadership theories, and is built on narrative analysis and constructivist/interpretivist techniques. Butts, who died in 1993, did not leave many personal writings, so research findings emerged from a triangulation of resources: interviews with friends; a self-published memoir by iv Butts’ youngest daughter; and newspaper archives. This study contributes to closing the gap in leadership literature about grassroots black women who remain unsung and understudied because of nontraditional leadership styles. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA: Antioch University Repository and Archive, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu Keywords: Social sciences, Citizenship, African American women, Civil rights movement, Qualitative, Narrative inquiry, Narrative analysis, Poll tax, Bridge leader, Citizen leader, American history, Voting rights, Race, Class, Political development, Virginia v Table of Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... i Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Chapter I: Introduction .....................................................................................................................1 Overview .....................................................................................................................................1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................2 Political Citizenship ....................................................................................................................4 The Problems ..............................................................................................................................6 A Brief Biography .....................................................................................................................10 Positionality of the Researcher .................................................................................................14
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