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.

For:
  • Subjects = African American women
  • Subjects = Voter registration
The 20th Anniversary Commemoration of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery March was successful in generating community support and bringing attention to ongoing issues in voter registration and civil rights, with a delegation of Black leaders meeting with Alabama Governor George Wallace to discuss abolishing at-large election schemes, expanding job opportunities for Blacks, and the upcoming trial of the Perry County 3, while a survey conducted by the Black Women's Voter Project of VEP found that over 90% of Black women interviewed said they have seen the need to continue voter registration efforts because of the march. 3 pages.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
A nonprofit voter registration organization newsletter focusing on decreasing voting gaps between Black and White voters, as well as an increase in women's participation in voting, largely due to organized voter registration efforts by human service agencies and other groups, although some pessimistic views were expressed regarding the overall turnout increase and its implications for declining voter participation trends, and the upcoming 1986 Senate elections were expected to feature hotly contested races with sharp ideological differences. 5 pages.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
The Federal Election Commission authorized the League of Women Voters to sponsor the proposed presidential campaign debates between Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, which are expected to cost $150,000 each and start about the third week in September, but there remains a question regarding the role of independent candidates like conservative Lister Maddox and liberal Eugene McCarthy, who have indicated they will go to court if necessary to force the networks to give them equal time with the two major candidates. 1 page.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Women stand outside of an apartment house.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Women stand outside of an apartment house.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Correspondence between Vernon E. Jordan and Mrs. Lynnette Taylor, Frankie Freeman, and Bernice Turner concerning a Voter Education Project and Delta Sigma Theta collaboration. 12 pages.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Correspondence between Bernice Cook and Vernon Jordan requesting 30 copies of the Orangeburg Report for Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. 2 pages.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Brochure of Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. with the cooperation of The Center for Human Relations and Community Studies of New York University offers a Pre-Regional Conference Sensitivity Training Workshop with the theme "What Does It Mean to be a Negro Woman in a Black Revolution?". 3 pages.
Correspondence between Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. and Allie Hubert concerning a copy of the vita sheet and a glossy print photo for the Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. program. 1 page.
Correspondence between Voter Education Project Director Vernon Jordan and Delta Sigma Theta, Inc. Program Assistant Claudette L. Franklin concerning the Social Action luncheon at the Southwest Regional Conference. 1 page.
Correspondence between Vernon E. Jordan, Jr. and Miss Lynette Taylor with an enclosed list of resource people with public and private information to be used in your Regional Seminar. 4 pages.
Correspondence between Frankie M. Freeman and Vernon Jordan confirming Jordan's participation as a panelist at a forum on Black Power at the ballot box. 1 page.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
An unidentified man holding a "You Too Can Register to Vote" booklet talks with an older woman.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Women hand our voter education flyers in front of a bus alongside John Lewis. Written on verso: John Lewis, circa 1965-1973, Alabama (?).
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
Education leaders hand out materials to young women. Written on verso: Project leaders distribute registration materials to young voters. Rev. Paul McDaniel, Mrs. Charlene Tilley [?].
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
A voter educator talks to a woman and her children outside of a dilapidated home.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
A group of men and women stand outside. Two women hold a poster reading "Push me harder...register and vote".  Written on verso: This marks the instruction that is given during our campaign each day.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records
A woman sits and looks over paperwork in a grocery story with a male grocery employee standing beside her.
Voter Education Project Organizational Records