Edythe C. Harrison Papers
Scope and Contents ~ Organization ~ Series Description ~ Container Listing ~ Provenance
Biography
Edythe C. Harrison was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1934. Edythe and her husband, Stanley Harrison, have lived in Norfolk, Virginia since 1957. A professional volunteer, Edythe has founded and served on numerous committees and councils. She is the founding member of the Virginia Opera Association and has served on such committees as Old Dominion University's President's Advisory Council, the Board of Directors of the Greater Norfolk Corporation, the Advisory Committee of the Day Care and Child Development Center of Tidewater, Inc., and National Board of Governors of the National Conference of Soviet Jewry. Her awards and honors include Outstanding Professional Woman of the Tidewater, 1982 and the Brotherhood Award of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Edythe C. Harrison was first elected to political office in 1979 when she was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates. The committees on which she served during her tenure in the House of Delegates, 1979-1982, were Education, Labor and Commerce, Conservation and Natural Resources, and Chesapeake and its Tributaries. She also served as Chairperson of the Joint Legislative Subcommittee on Vocational-Technical and Career Education and represented Virginia at the National Conference of State Legislatures, Arts and the States Committee. President Jimmy Carter appointed Edythe Harrison to the Advisory Committee for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in 1979. In 1982 political redistricting in Norfolk created single member districts. She opposed incumbent Thomas Moss in the Democratic primary and lost. In 1984 Edythe Harrison became the first woman from Virginia nominated to seek state-wide office. She challenged Republican incumbent Senator John Warner in the 1984 United States Senate Race and was defeated.
Scope and Contents
The Edythe C. Harrison Collection contains material concerning her activities as a delegate in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1979-1982, the Virginia Opera Association, the course she taught at Old Dominion University, Women in Leadership, and her campaign for United States Senator in 1984 against incumbent Republican Senator John Warner.
The bulk of the collection pertains to the 1984 United States Senate race, providing considerable insight into how a campaign operates from organizing staff and volunteers, establishing stances on various issues and soliciting electoral and financial support. The material contains information on political action committees, fundraising, contributions and contributors, research on various issues, preparatory notes for debates against Warner, reports stating her stance on the issues, political contacts throughout the state and election results in Virginia's ten congressional districts for previous elections. The correspondence includes letters of support, requests for information, letters from her constituents and condolence letters on her defeat. Two letters of particular note are from Bill Clinton, then Governor of Arkansas. Her records also contain a considerable amount of material on her opponent, Senator John Warner. This material includes information on his Senate voting record, his personal life, his stances on the issues and contribution material from his campaign for United States Senate in 1978.
The collection also contains records pertaining to the Subcommittee of Vocational, Technical, and Career Education which she organized and chaired during her term in the Virginia House of Delegates. The material contains newspaper clippings, correspondence, reports of the committee and House Joint Resolutions. Other items of importance include records on the Virginia Vocational-Technical Education Foundation, later renamed, the Virginia Foundation for Business and Education. The material consists of meeting records, correspondence, news clippings, and reports.
The material pertaining to the Virginia Opera Association contains reviews of the events, news articles, promotional materials, programs from other opera and music festivals and correspondence. This correspondence contains letters of support to and from the association and nomination letters for the committees of the Virginia Opera Association.
Several boxes contain information concerning her term in the Virginia House of Delegates. The material contains information on issues and legislation including abortion, the arts, breast cancer the deficit, arms control, crime, and Virginia's economy. The material also includes information on the elections in 1979, 1981 and her campaign in the 1982 Democratic primary against Delegate Tom Moss of Norfolk.
The box containing material of the course she taught at Old Dominion University, Women in Leadership, include bibliographies for research, pamphlets for Instruction, and textbooks. A considerable amount of material concerns the organization, V.O.I.C.E. (Virginians Organized For Informed Community Expression) It was established to counter vocal right-wing attacks on such issues as abortion and medical research on human reproduction and fertility. The folders contain minutes of meetings, stances on abortion, membership solicitations and budget reports. Correspondence contains insightful information on the organization's purpose and the members of the organization. A letter of particular importance is from Pat Robertson to Bob Nusbaum, Vice-President of V.O.I.C.E., distributed among the members of the organization.
Organization
The collection is divided into five series:
I. Legislative Papers
Sub series A: House of Delegates
Sub series B: Joint Subcommittee on Career, Technical and Vocational Education
II. Campaign Files
Sub series A: Campaigns for House of Delegates (1979-1982)
Sub series B: 1984 United States Senate Campaign
Sub series C: 1984 Senate Campaign Clippings and News Releases
III. Virginia Opera Association
IV. General Papers
Sub series A: Arts
Sub series B: Education
Sub series C: Abortion and V.O.I.C.E. (Virginians Organized for Informed Community
Expression)
Sub series D: Women's Issues
Sub series E: Women in Leadership - Old Dominion University
Sub series F: Miscellaneous
Sub series G: Reports & Publications
Sub series H: Oversized Materials
V. Audio and Video Tapes
Sub series A: Audio Cassette Tapes
Sub series B: Reel-to-Reel Audio Tapes
Sub series C: Video Tapes
Series Descriptions
Series I: Legislative Papers contains material regarding legislation proposed during Harrison's tenure in the Virginia House of Delegates. Some of the issues covered include; abortion, mastectomy, paternity, arts funding and education.
Sub series B of this series involves Harrison's work on the Joint Subcommittee on Career, Technical and Vocational Education that she organized and chaired during her term in the Virginia House of Delegates. This sub series contains newspaper clippings, correspondence, reports of the committee and House Joint Resolutions.
Series II: Campaign Files contains material regarding the campaign for House of Delegates (Sub series A), the campaign for U.S. Senate (Sub series B) and newspaper clippings regarding both campaigns (Sub series C).
Sub series A contains information on the elections in 1979, 1981 and her campaign in the 1982 Democratic primary against Delegate Tom Moss of Norfolk.
Sub series B contains information on political action committees, fundraising, contributions and contributors, research on various issues, preparatory notes for debates against Warner, reports stating her stance on the issues, political contacts throughout the state and election results in Virginia's ten congressional districts for previous elections. The correspondence includes letters of support, requests for information, letters from her constituents and condolence letters on her defeat. Her records also contain a considerable amount of material on her opponent, Senator John Warner. This material includes information on his Senate voting record, personal life, positions on various issues and contributions to his campaign for United States Senate in 1978.
Sub series C contains newspaper clippings regarding Harrison's campaigns. The bulk of this sub series pertains to the 1984 senate campaign.
Series III: Virginia Opera Association contains reviews of events, news articles, promotional materials, programs from the Virginia Opera and other opera and music festivals. The correspondence contains letters of support to and from the association and nomination letters for the committees of the Virginia Opera Association.
Series IV: General Papers includes material regarding Harrison's non-legislative activities.
Sub series A contains material regarding her work in support of the arts
Sub series B contains information on the Virginia Vocational-Technical Education Foundation (VVEF) later renamed the Virginia Foundation for Business and Education. The material consists of meeting records, correspondence, news clippings, and reports.
Sub series C contains material regarding Harrison's work to keep abortion legal. Also included is material on V.O.I.C.E. (Virginians Organized For Informed Community Expression). The folders contain minutes of meetings, stances on abortion, membership solicitations and budget reports. Correspondence contains insightful information on the organization's purpose and the members of the organization. A letter of particular importance is from Pat Robertson to Bob Nusbaum, Vice-President of V.O.I.C.E.
Sub series D contains material regarding Harrison's work in women's issues. Most of this material pertains to Harrison's involvement with the National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC).
Sub series E contains material regarding the course taught by Harrison at Old Dominion University. The materials include lecture notes, course descriptions, reference materials. The sub series also contains material on the Friends of Women's Studies group at ODU.
Sub series F contains miscellaneous materials such as personal correspondence, invitations, certificates, and portrait photos.
Sub series G contains published reports mostly concerning the issues of comparable worth and women in politics.
Sub series H contains oversized materials, mostly newspapers, also a birthday card, maps of voting precincts, sample ballot, and cross reference directory.
Series V: Audio and Video Tapes contains tapes mostly regarding Harrison's political activities. They include speeches, political ads, appearances on talk and news shows.
Provenance
Gift of Edythe C. Harrison, September 1994.
Access
Open to researchers without restrictions. Questions on literary property rights should be directed to the Special Collections Librarian.
Size
Number of containers: 74 document cases, 1 Hollinger box, 1 oversize box
Size: 33 linear ft.