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.
106 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
VEP flyer emphasizing the importance of voting. 1 page.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
"Don't Crush Your Chances for Change", circa 1983
Date Created
1980/1986
Description
VEP flyer emphasizing the importance of voting. 1 page.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Political posters, Voter registration, Voting
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Report on the VEP being dedicated to promoting participatory democracy among minorities in the southern states, where historical discrimination has excluded Blacks and Chicanos from government processes, and seeks to increase minority political participation through various means such as voter registration, advocacy, research, and public support, despite facing challenges from those in power who view it as a threat to the status quo, and aims to eliminate barriers to minority political power through persistent organizing efforts and financial resources, with the ultimate goal of achieving unrestricted minority political participation for the benefit of future generations. 22 pages.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
"Barriers to Minority Political Progress in the South" by Archie E. Allen, circa 1981
Date Created
1978/1984
Description
Report on the VEP being dedicated to promoting participatory democracy among minorities in the southern states, where historical discrimination has excluded Blacks and Chicanos from government processes, and seeks to increase minority political participation through various means such as voter registration, advocacy, research, and public support, despite facing challenges from those in power who view it as a threat to the status quo, and aims to eliminate barriers to minority political power through persistent organizing efforts and financial resources, with the ultimate goal of achieving unrestricted minority political participation for the benefit of future generations. 22 pages.
Subject
African Americans--Civil rights, Voter registration, Voting, Race discrimination
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Alabama Secretary of State Don Siegelman expressed distress over the appointment of Ku Klux Klansman Billy Hendrix as a deputy voter registrar in Randolph County, which has historically been known for not appointing Black deputy registrars, but acknowledged that there is no state law to prevent such appointments. 1 page.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
"Klansman's Job Irks Siegelman", circa 1980
Date Created
1977/1983
Description
Alabama Secretary of State Don Siegelman expressed distress over the appointment of Ku Klux Klansman Billy Hendrix as a deputy voter registrar in Randolph County, which has historically been known for not appointing Black deputy registrars, but acknowledged that there is no state law to prevent such appointments. 1 page.
Subject
Voter registration, Voting, Race discrimination
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
A flyer encouraging people to vote in specific counties in southern states.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
100 Plus Project Flyer, circa 1980
Date Created
1975/1985
Description
A flyer encouraging people to vote in specific counties in southern states.
Subject
Voter registration, Voting
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Portrait of Vivian Malone Jones. Written on recto: Vivian Malone Jones, Executive Director, Voter Education Project, INC.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Vivian Malone Jones, circa 1980
Date Created
1975/1985
Description
Portrait of Vivian Malone Jones. Written on recto: Vivian Malone Jones, Executive Director, Voter Education Project, INC.
Subject
Voter registration, Voting
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
The Voter Education Project urges people to attend their statewide Voting Rights Conference at Southern University to address the low voter turnout of Black registered voters in Louisiana, where only 143,000 of 850,000 eligible Black voters voted in the 1982 elections. 1 page.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
VEP Public Service Announcement, 1983
Date Created
1905--06-05
Description
The Voter Education Project urges people to attend their statewide Voting Rights Conference at Southern University to address the low voter turnout of Black registered voters in Louisiana, where only 143,000 of 850,000 eligible Black voters voted in the 1982 elections. 1 page.
Subject
Political participation, Voting, Voter registration
Collection
Voter Education Project Organizational Records