The collection is open for research.
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Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], Viola James Collection, c. 1920s, Ms2023-032, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The Viola James Collection was donated to Special Collections and University Archives in June 2015.
The processing, arrangement, and description of the Viola James Collection was completed in May 2023.
Viola Ethel Cox James (1892-1965) was born to Newman M. Cox and Martha Martin in Clarksburg, West Virginia. She was a member of the Women of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. She married Charles Burrell James (1885-1949) in 1912, and they had a son, Festus Burrell James (1921-2016). She worked as a homemaker.
External sources:
U.S. Federal Census, 1930-1950
"Viola Ethel Cox James", findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/5953961/viola-ethel-james, accessed on May 31, 2023.
"Festus Burrell James", findagrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/167963443/festus-burrell-james, accessed on May 31, 2023.
"Viola James" in the West Virginia, U.S., Deaths Index, 1853-1973, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/1208160:2568, accessed on December 7, 2023.
"Viola E Cox" in the West Virginia, U.S., Marriages Index, 1785-1971, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/10099128:2538, accessed on December 7, 2023.
"Charles B. James" in the West Virginia, U.S., Deaths Index, 1853-1973, Ancestry.com, https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/1723285:2568, accessed on December 7, 2023.
The Viola James Collection contains membership cards for James as a member of the Clarksburg, West Virginia chapter of the Women of the Ku Klux Klan, which are in a wallet marked with the initials "KKK". The collection also has a blank application form and printed Christian literature related to the organization. It also includes a small framed tintype of two unidentified little girls.
The guide to the Viola James Collection by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (