Series I: Subject files, 1926-1930.

Containers:

Box Boxes 1-105, 141

Extent:

Extent: 37.35 cu. ft. (106 boxes).

Scope and content:

The Subject files series, 1926-1930 is housed in one hundred and six archival boxes and is arranged alphabetically by subject. This series documents correspondence received and sent by Governor Byrd during his four-year term as governor of Virginia. In addition to correspondence, there are reports, proclamations, telegrams, orders, resolutions, acts, publications, news clippings, invitations, proceedings, financial statements, invoices, and other sundry items. Topics include Aviation and establishment of the Airport Commission, Celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Virginia Bill of Rights, Chamber of Commerce, pensions for Confederate veterans, Forfeited cars used for transporting illegal alcohol, Gas taxes and prices, Eastern State Hospital, the Jefferson memorial and centennial celebration, building of a statue for Robert E. Lee, letters encouraging residents from other states to immigrate to Virginia, Motion picture censorship, Motor Vehicle Commission, the Oysters and shellfish industry, State Board of Education, Virginia Commission for the Blind, Virginia Industrial School for Colored Girls, among others. Also included are appointments to various boards such as the American Mining Congress, Commission of Fisheries, Forest wardens, Judges, Labor Commissioners, National Tax Association Congress, Superintendents of Public Schools, State Port Authority, U.S. Good Roads Association, and appointments to West Point.

Included are papers relating to the Constitutional Amendments Commission and Byrd's efforts to push through constitutional amendments that streamlined the state government and allowed for more efficient use of tax dollars. He wanted to establish a separation of tax sources for state and localities and worked with the General Assembly to approve a gas tax increase. Governor Byrd also advocated building roads to state shrines such as Jamestown and Monticello and called for historical markers along roadways. Also included is information on renovations to the Governor's mansion, racial listings in the census, annual reports of directors of the Indians Rights Association, invitations to numerous events, and the establishment of the Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles, license testing requirements, and vehicle safety inspections. Also included are financial reports and minutes from several state boards including the State Board of Education and the State Board of Pharmacy.

Of note are the papers relating to the State Commission of Conservation and Development and the creation of Shenandoah National Park. Included are minutes from the commission, letters regarding billboards on highways blocking scenery, letters of support for the National Park from politicians and citizens, maps of the proposed park, and brochures. Also included is correspondence with John D. Rockefeller regarding the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg.

Of note are the papers relating to lynchings in Virginia and Governor's Byrd efforts to have one of the toughest anti-lynching laws in the country. Included is correspondence with Louis Isaac Jaffee (1888-1950), who won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing in 1929 for his editorial, "An unspeakable act of savagery," in the Norfolk Virginian Pilot. There are also letters relating to a lynching in Wytheville, Virginia, and the appointment of a special prosecutor for the case. While Governor Byrd may have opposed lynchings, he was also opposed to racial desegregation of the public schools and lead a campaign in the 1950s opposed to the U.S. Supreme Court decisions in Brown vs. Board of Education. The Massive Resistance campaign occurred while Byrd was senator and as such, not much is included related to school segregation in his Governor's executive papers.

This series was maintained in its original order and is not completely chronological. At some point the pins holding together the incoming and outgoing letters were removed and the archivist did not rearrange the folder items for fear of loosing the relationships between the incoming and outgoing letters.

Arrangement:

Arranged alphabetically by folder title.

Access and use

Contents