THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 25, 1996 TAG: 9603250048
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TERRI WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
The sounds of children singing gospel music filled the church. Their voices sang of affirmation, hope and faith.
It was all for a celebration Sunday honoring the work of two people who helped to open Virginia's voting booths.
About 150 people - including Del. Jerrauld C. Jones and state Sen. Yvonne B. Miller - came out to Oakwood Chapel Church of Christ to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that eliminated the state poll tax.
In November 1963, Evelyn T. Butts - who later became a political activist and commissioner for the Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority - sued the state of Virginia, contesting the tax. Her lawyer, Joseph A. Jordan - who later became a district judge and served on the City Council - helped her make history.
It's a legacy that children from the Oakwood community honored through song, prayer and skits. Jones presented the families of Butts and Jordan with a resolution naming the day Voter Education and Participation Day in Virginia.
The relatives say Butts and Jordan should never be forgotten.
``I think she would have been proud today, especially with all these kids (taking part),'' said Butts' younger sister, Estelle Smith.
``She wanted to better Norfolk. She worked hard to register voters. She went into the grocery stores, the churches. She wanted to see her city grow.''
Butts' struggle was a long one.
To be eligible to vote, citizens had to pay a $1.50 poll tax. In effect, that kept mostly poor blacks and whites from voting. While other states eliminated the tax, Virginia, Texas, Alabama and Mississippi held onto the requirement. Butts was an unemployed seamstress when she filed the suit, and her husband, Charles H. Butts, was a disabled veteran.
Butts' first case was dismissed in March 1964, but later that month she filed another one.
Eight months later, a special three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the tax.
Butts appealed that ruling, and in October 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case.
Thurgood Marshall, who was later to become a U.S. Supreme Court justice, joined Jordan in successfully arguing the case. On March 24, 1966, the high court decided 6-3 to eliminate the tax.
Even though the tax is gone, some activists said Sunday that, in Virginia, barriers to open voter registration still must be broken down.
Jones pointed to the General Assembly's passage this month of the state's version of the national motor-voter act - which allows citizens to register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles - as an example of a recent battle for more open voter registration.
To augment their efforts on voter registration, Norfolk civic activists and relatives of Butts and Jordan created the E.T. Butts Voter Registration Committee. Members - like Jordan's sister Anna Brinkley and Jordan's nephew Rodney Jordan - register and educate citizens at area churches.
In May 1994, only 26 percent of the city's registered voters came out for Norfolk City Council elections, according to the registrar's office.
``Open registration has not translated into voter turnout,'' Norfolk Deputy Registrar Lisa Long said last week.
Rodney Jordan, 30, said the most apathetic voters are young people.
``For a lot of younger people, the accomplishments of our elders has no merit,'' he said. ``People my age and younger seem to be totally disaffected by voting.''
Rodney Jordan, along with Sterling White, a teacher at James Monroe Elementary, are helping develop a voter-education program honoring Butts and Jordan on the Internet.
White's fourth-grade students learn about Butts and Jordan and the court case, and learn about the importance of voting.
When the site is finished and available on the World Wide Web, parents and other community members will be able to use it as a resource.
Many of White's students spoke with reverence about Butts' and Jordan's success. During one skit, the students chanted their classroom motto: ``I love myself. That's why when things get rough, I never quit, . . so I will stick to the fight.''
Rodney Jordan is encouraged by what the students are learning: ``It gives me hope.'' ILLUSTRATION: B\W Photo
Evelyn Butts was unemployed when she began a march through the court
system to have the $1.50 poll tax eliminated.
B\W photo
The late Joseph A. Jordan, a former district judge and Norfolk city
councilman.
KEYWORDS: PROFILE by CNB