The Voter Education Project (VEP) began in 1962 as part of the Southern Regional Council. Initially VEP granted funds to civil rights organizations to support voter education, voter registration drives, and voting-related research. In 1964, Vernon Jordan, the second executive director of the VEP, expanded the programs goals to include citizenship training, voter education, and leadership training in the southern United States, while continuing to provide funds to independent voter and civil rights groups, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the League of Women Voters. The VEP’s work with the League of Women Voters is highlighted in the materials below. In 1971, VEP under the leadership of John Lewis, became an independent organization and functioned as a research center and became known as an authoritative source for statistics on southern elections and voter registration in general. Lewis also forged the VEP into an activist organization, launching Voter Mobilization Tours with Georgia state legislator and civil rights advocate Julian Bond. At the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library we are always striving to improve our digital collections. We welcome additional information about people, places, or events depicted in any of the works in this collection. To submit information, please contact us at DSD@auctr.edu.
Sep 4, 2020

Voter Education Project Organizational Records

The Voter Education Project (VEP) began in 1962 as part of the Southern Regional Council. Initially VEP granted funds to civil rights organizations to support voter education, voter registration drives, and voting-related research. In 1964, Vernon Jordan, the second executive director of the VEP, expanded the programs goals to include citizenship training, voter education, and leadership training in the southern United States, while continuing to provide funds to independent voter and civil rights groups, including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the League of Women Voters. The VEP’s work with the League of Women Voters is highlighted in the materials below. In 1971, VEP under the leadership of John Lewis, became an independent organization and functioned as a research center and became known as an authoritative source for statistics on southern elections and voter registration in general. Lewis also forged the VEP into an activist organization, launching Voter Mobilization Tours with Georgia state legislator and civil rights advocate Julian Bond.

At the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library we are always striving to improve our digital collections. We welcome additional information about people, places, or events depicted in any of the works in this collection. To submit information, please contact us at DSD@auctr.edu.
2 Objects displayed
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  1. Browse Repository
  2. Archival Collections
  3. Voter Education Project Organizational Records
For:
  • Decade = 1980-1989
  • Subjects = Voter registration
  • Subjects = African American leadership
Press release from the Voter Education Project discussing VEP Executive Director Geraldine G. Thompson's leadership in a Senate Judiciary Committee Vote, in which the Committee voted 17-1 to approve the Dole-DeConcini compromise of the Voting Rights Act. Geraldine G. Thompson, Executive Director of the Voter Education Project, Inc., hailed the vote as a "resounding victory" for the civil rights community. She urged the Full Senate to swiftly and unanimously pass the bill, calling it an "expression of support for constitutional rights" and a "giant step towards truly making this one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 1 page.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
VEP Press Release, May 4, 1982
Date Created
1982-05-04
Description
Press release from the Voter Education Project discussing VEP Executive Director Geraldine G. Thompson's leadership in a Senate Judiciary Committee Vote, in which the Committee voted 17-1 to approve the Dole-DeConcini compromise of the Voting Rights Act. Geraldine G. Thompson, Executive Director of the Voter Education Project, Inc., hailed the vote as a "resounding victory" for the civil rights community. She urged the Full Senate to swiftly and unanimously pass the bill, calling it an "expression of support for constitutional rights" and a "giant step towards truly making this one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." 1 page.
Subject
Political participation, African Americans--Civil rights, Voter registration, African Americans--Politics and government, African American leadership
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Press release from the Voter Education Project regarding a study conducted by K. Farouk Brimah and Richard A. Hudl. of the Voter Education Project, which found that blacks alone provided enough votes to elect Andrew Young as mayor of Atlanta in the 1981 runoff election. Blacks cast 88% of their votes for Young, while whites cast an even higher percentage of their votes for white candidates than they did in the October 6 election. The study also found that Atlantans could be mobilized, as turnout was higher in the runoff than in the October 6 election. 2 pages.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
VEP Press Release, November 4, 1981
Date Created
1981-11-04
Description
Press release from the Voter Education Project regarding a study conducted by K. Farouk Brimah and Richard A. Hudl. of the Voter Education Project, which found that blacks alone provided enough votes to elect Andrew Young as mayor of Atlanta in the 1981 runoff election. Blacks cast 88% of their votes for Young, while whites cast an even higher percentage of their votes for white candidates than they did in the October 6 election. The study also found that Atlantans could be mobilized, as turnout was higher in the runoff than in the October 6 election. 2 pages.
Subject
Political participation, African Americans--Civil rights, Voter registration, African Americans--Politics and government, African American leadership
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records