THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 18, 1995 TAG: 9511190140
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
When they laid Evelyn T. Butts to rest in the cold March earth 2 1/2 years ago, I regretted that I had never met such a woman.
Butts fought her way into American history, too stubborn, bull-headed and optimistic to believe that a penniless, uneducated, gapped-toothed ``Negro'' woman from a Navy town couldn't challenge the laws of the land.
In 1966, Butts asked the U.S. Supreme Court to declare Virginia's poll tax unconstitutional. The court struck down the $1.50 charge that had made voting cost-prohibitive.
Today at 11 a.m., Norfolk city officials, friends and family will honor Butts by renaming a street in her honor. They will gather at Oakwood Chapel at Avenue E and Elm Street.
They will sing and preach her praises, then Elm will be officially rechristened Evelyn T. Butts Avenue.
It's a 12-block stretch that runs north-south between Sewells Point Road and Chesapeake Boulevard in the Oakwood section, where Butts once lived.
Those who worked the polls with Butts think of her each time they drive by. In September, they asked the city about a street. All are too modest to take credit. ``No. No. I don't want to be named. Call so-and-so,'' they said when I telephoned.
They've done great good.
Today, a generation of children will grow up without ever shaking Evelyn Butts' warm, hard-working hands or reading about her in the news pages. But they can look up and see a street sign and ask, ``Mama, who was Evelyn T. Butts?''
We need more Evelyn T. Butts avenues, more streetside, everyday monuments to our heroes and heroines past.
As Thanksgiving approaches, others have found creative ways to express appreciation.
Karate for King: Starting at 9:30 a.m., the Kenpo Karate Self-Defense Institute in Chesapeake will hold a ``kick-a-thon'' to raise money for the Martin Luther King Jr. monument fund. Join them at 910 Great Bridge Blvd.
``Dr. King and martial arts echo a parallel ideology,'' says William F. Peterson, vice president of the Karazenpo-Go-Shinjutsu Association. ``Both embrace the concepts of peace, self-empowerment, personal achievement and inner change.''
You can pledge your bucks on a student for each kick he or she throws in a two-minute period. In other words, put your money where their foot is. Or you can simply make a direct donation. All proceeds, says Peterson, will go to the fund to erect a King monument at Church Street and Brambleton Avenue in Norfolk.
Make a joyful noise: At 2:30 p.m. today, Norfolk Academy Spanish teacher Rita Lupton will host a concert at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 233 Mann Drive, Chesapeake. Lupton wants to express appreciation to friends and family who stood by during her battle with breast cancer.
``This is my Thanksgiving to God and to all who supported me with cards and flowers, their prayers and their presence,'' said Lupton.
Come be exalted by the song of the St. Thomas Adult Choir, the Emmanuel Episcopal Church Choir, the Norfolk Academy Chamber Chorus, academy pianist Itzhak Gartenbery, Indian River High School violinist Zachary Casebolt and soloist Edwin J. Woodson.
Contributions will go to St. Francis Academy in Ellsworth, Ky., which is a ranch for troubled boys, and St. Jude's children's hospital in Memphis, Tenn. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Evelyn Butts, who initiated the repeal of Virginia's poll tax in the
'60s, proved that a penniless, uneducated ``Negro'' woman could
challenge the laws of the land.
by CNB