Articles About Evelyn T Butts
This archive collects interviews, articles, essays, and historical coverage related to voting rights activist Evelyn Butts and writer Charlene Butts Ligon. These articles explore civil rights history, the poll tax case, voting rights advocacy, family legacy, and contemporary political commentary.
Featured Articles
March 24, 1966: Supreme Court Officially Abolishes Last Vestige of Poll Taxes
On March 24, 1966, the U.S. Supreme Court banned poll taxes for state and local elections, declaring that “wealth or fee paying has . . . no relation to voting qualifications; the right to vote is too precious, too fundamental to be so burdened or conditioned.” Read More
City of Norfolk Dedicates Historical Marker Honoring Civil Rights Activist Evelyn Butts
The City of Norfolk dedicated a new historical marker honoring Evelyn T. Butts located at 645 Church St. on Monday, Aug. 23. Several community and civic organizations joined members of Norfolk City Council in a short program honoring Ms. Butts at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Plaza. Immediately following the program, the marker was unveiled. Read More
Two Generations of Butts Women
Norfolk native Evelyn T. Butts highlights this year’s theme for Women’s History Month: Visionary Women; because she had a habit of opening and leaving a door open. Butts did not formally pass the torch on to her youngest daughter, Charlene Butts Ligon. She recently stood in the Slover Library autographing copies of her 2017 book on her mother, “Fearless: How a Poor Virginia Seamstress Took on Jim Crow, Beat the Poll Tax and Changed The City Forever.” Read More
Daughter’s New Book On Mrs. Evelyn Butts, Good Local History
Charlene Butts Ligon made a homecoming last week to promote the book she wrote about her famous mother, during the weekend her Norfolk hometown was observing the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Read More
Patriotism, Perseverance and the End of the Poll Tax
Evelyn T. Butts and Joseph A. Jordan challenged Virginia's poll tax. The case made it to the US Supreme Court and in March 1966, Justices voted 6-3 to end the poll tax in all elections. Following the decision, African Americans were elected to state and local offices for the first time since Reconstruction. Read More