Virginia Foster Durr facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Virginia Foster Durr
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Durr in 1948
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| Born | August 6, 1903 |
| Died | February 24, 1999 (aged 95) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Clifford Durr |
Virginia Foster Durr (August 6, 1903 – February 24, 1999) was an American civil rights activist. She worked to change unfair laws and practices. Virginia was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1903. Her father was a minister and her mother was Ann Patterson Foster.
When she was 22, Virginia married a lawyer named Clifford Durr. They had five children together. Virginia was a close friend of Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt. She was also related to Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. He made important decisions in civil rights cases. Virginia Durr was honored in the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Growing Up in Alabama
Virginia Durr grew up in Birmingham, Alabama. She was raised by Black women who cared for her. However, she was also taught that the Ku Klux Klan protected women in the South. One of her grandfathers had owned enslaved people. Her other grandfather was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
College and New Ideas
From 1920 to 1923, Virginia attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts. This college experience changed her views on race. She began to question racial segregation, which was the separation of people based on race.
At Wellesley, the dining halls had a rule that students had to eat with different students each time. This meant students of all races ate together. Virginia felt uncomfortable with this rule at first. But the head of her house said she would have to leave college if she did not follow it. So, Virginia learned to accept the rule.
In 1923, Virginia had to leave Wellesley College. Her family could no longer afford the tuition. She returned home to Birmingham, Alabama.
Marriage and Support for Others
After leaving college, Virginia met Clifford Durr at church. They married in April 1926. Clifford hoped Virginia would be a housewife and a social leader.
Virginia accepted this role. But she also saw how difficult life was for many workers and their families. She noticed this while doing volunteer work for churches. Virginia and Clifford Durr later gave legal help, money, and encouragement to civil rights activists.
Becoming an Activist
Moving to Washington, D.C.
In 1933, Virginia and Clifford moved to Washington, D.C.. Clifford worked for the government during the New Deal era. This was a time when the government created programs to help people during the Great Depression.
In Washington, Virginia's activism truly began. She met many important people through her husband's work. Some of these people helped change her conservative ideas about civil rights.
Fighting for Human Welfare
Virginia joined the Woman's National Democratic Club. In 1938, she helped start the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (SCHW). This group included both Black and white people. They worked to reduce segregation and improve living conditions in the South.
By 1941, Virginia became a leader in the SCHW. She worked with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. They worked to pass laws that would end the poll tax. A poll tax was a fee people had to pay to vote. This tax often stopped poor people, especially Black people, from voting.
Virginia worked with other political leaders to gain support for these laws. Her efforts helped lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This law made it illegal to stop people from voting based on their race. Virginia later said her work with the SCHW was one of the happiest times of her life.
Running for Office
In 1948, Mrs. Durr ran for the U.S. Senate in Virginia. She ran as a candidate for the Progressive Party. She believed in equal rights for everyone. She also thought that money spent on war could be better used to help people have a good life.
Facing Challenges in the McCarthy Era
During the McCarthy era, many people in the United States were very suspicious of communism. People were often accused of being disloyal without proof. Virginia Durr was called to appear before a committee that investigated suspected Communists.
The Durrs did not openly criticize communism. Because of this, anti-Communist activists often targeted them. At the committee meeting, Virginia stated her name and said she was not a Communist. Then, she refused to answer any more questions.
Activism in Montgomery
Returning to Alabama
In 1951, Virginia and Clifford moved back to Montgomery, Alabama. There, Virginia met local civil rights leaders. These included Rosa Parks, Aubrey Williams, E.D. Nixon, and Myles Horton.
Virginia's activism grew when she joined the Council of Human Relations. This was the only group in Montgomery that included both Black and white people. She supported young activists from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). She often housed and cared for volunteers who came to Montgomery to help people register to vote. She became like a "den mother" to them.
Virginia and Clifford supported the Voting Rights Act of 1965. They also gave legal advice to many Black people facing jail time or lawsuits. They stood by the sit-in movement and the Freedom Riders. They offered their home as a place for students coming from the North to stay during protests. Through their work, they became close friends with E. D. Nixon, who led the NAACP in Montgomery.
Working for Church Integration
When Virginia arrived in Montgomery, she saw that church women's groups were separated by race. She helped arrange meetings where Black and white women could meet together. Many people in the town and even in the church opposed these meetings.
Opponents took down license plate numbers of cars at the meetings. They later published the addresses and phone numbers of the members in a Ku Klux Klan magazine. The women received upsetting phone calls. Some of their family members publicly distanced themselves from the group. This was because it hurt their businesses. As a result, the women became too scared to continue meeting, and the group broke up.
Friendship with Rosa Parks
Virginia Durr met Rosa Parks through their friend E.D. Nixon. Virginia hired Rosa Parks part-time as a seamstress. Rosa sewed clothes for Virginia and her children. Over time, they became close friends.
In the summer of 1955, Virginia's friend Myles Horton asked her to recommend a Black person for workshops. These workshops at Highlander Folk School aimed to help carry out the recent Brown v. Board of Education decision. This decision said that separate schools for Black and white children were illegal. Virginia arranged a full scholarship for Rosa Parks to attend the school in Tennessee. There, Rosa Parks experienced true equality for the first time.
In December 1955, Virginia and Clifford, along with E.D. Nixon, helped Rosa Parks get out of jail. Rosa had been arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person. The Durrs and the NAACP helped Rosa Parks take her case to the Supreme Court. Rosa's actions started the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Virginia and Clifford strongly supported this boycott.
Supporting Martin Luther King Jr.
Virginia and her husband also knew Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife. In March 1965, during the Selma to Montgomery marches, the Durrs opened their home to many volunteers. Virginia remembered, "I spent all my time making coffee and frying bacon and eggs for them."
After the boycott, Virginia remained an active civil rights leader. She worked with groups like the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She continued to travel and speak at colleges and community groups.
Later Life and Legacy
Clifford Durr passed away in 1975. Virginia Durr continued to write and speak about important political issues. She remained active in state and local politics even into her nineties. In 1985, she published her autobiography, Outside the Magic Circle. She stayed politically active until a few years before her death. Virginia Foster Durr died on February 24, 1999, at age 95.
When Rosa Parks heard of Virginia's death, she said that Virginia's wealthy background did not stop her from wanting equality for everyone. President Bill Clinton also spoke after her death. He said Virginia's bravery and strong beliefs helped change the nation forever.
Writings
Virginia Durr published her life story, Outside the Magic Circle: The Autobiography of Virginia Foster Durr, in 1990.
Her book talks about the New Deal era and the start of the Cold War. It also covers her involvement in the US presidential campaign of Henry A. Wallace. She wrote about Anti-Communism and McCarthyism. Most importantly, her memoirs describe her work in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
