League of Women Voters and state politicians in Virginia
Clark talks about Virginia politicians, notably Harry Byrd and George Walter Mapp. Clark explains that in 1925, the League of Women Voters supported Mapp in the gubernatorial election (he ultimately lost to Byrd), because he had been supportive of women's suffrage as a state senator. Clark explains that Byrd had not supported women's suffrage, although she does explain in detail how he later agreed to sponsor the League's Child Code Commission and its legislative measures.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with Adele Clark, February 28, 1964. Interview G-0014-2. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- WINSTON BROADFOOT:
-
I would imagine at that time that the present Senator Harry Byrd was then
certainly a beginning force in politics, and could you tell me anything
of your relations or the suffragette or League of Women
Voters' relations with Mr. Byrd or any other prominent
people? Specifically, I was thinking in your mentioning the gentleman
from Harrisonburg, was there an attempt in the ordinary political way of
doing things to reward one's friends and try to vote your
enemies out of office? Could you give us anything of the byplay of
personality, in other words, from some of the political leaders of the
day?
- ADELE CLARK:
-
Yes, I'd be very glad to. You've reminded me
particularly about Senator Harry Byrd of two
things. The gentleman I mentioned, George Walter Mapp, who was a
suffrage leader in the Senate all during the ratification days, ran for
the governorship in 1925 against Harry Byrd. And most of us as
suffragists supported Mapp very actively. Now mentioning the Byrds, I
think, is rather interesting. When Harry Byrd came to the Senate of
Virginia in 1916—his son resembles him very strongly; his son
is a state senator now—the undercurrent of political talk in
the legislature of Virginia was to call him the crown prince. His father
was Speaker of the House, Richard Byrd. His son Richard Evelyn Byrd, who
was the , was named for his father. And Richard
Evelyn Byrd was Speaker of the House of Delegates, and Congressman
Harold Flood of Appomattox had been Congressman for a long, long time,
and they were the pulse of the Virginia machine. And Harry Byrd was
called the crown prince
[laughter]
when he first came in. He never voted for suffrage. Strangely
enough, his father had supported the equal suffrage movement. His
father, Richard Evelyn Byrd, had been one of the men who voted for it in
1912 and 1914 when he was Speaker of the House. I don't
remember which year he was Speaker, but I know he was in 1912. But his
son did not follow in his footsteps on that. But we went to Senator Byrd
(then state senator) in 1922 and asked him to be a patron of the Child
Labor Bill. Senator Mapp had suggested it, because Senator Byrd was a
very strong person in the Senate right from the beginning. And Senator
Byrd said that he would be a patron of it. He read the bill, and of
course we had exempted children in agriculture, as all child labor bills
have done. Because you couldn't
regulate that; they worked on the farms anyway. And Senator Byrd said
that he would vote for it if we exempted the work of children in
orchards. And we pointed out to him that agriculture covered orchards,
and he said probably it did, but he would like that specific amendment
made, and Mr. Mapp made no objections so we let orchards be put in,
feeling anyway that they fell under the term
"agriculture." So with that exception—he
being a large orchard grower and not wanting to be embarrassed about the
employment of underaged children occasionally in his
orchards—he was the sponsor of one of the strongest child
labor bills in the South, and one that stayed and has never been
contested, although the federal bill was. But Senator Byrd had never
voted for suffrage. Now Senator Mapp was one of our leaders. As I
mentioned, Senator John Paul of Harrisonburg was a Republican. Senator
Swanson, who was our United States Senator, was definitely an
anti-suffragist. We never could get him to the point of voting. And I
went to see him about a federal bill when I was President of the state
League of Women Voters. I think it was around 1925. There was some bill
in the Senate of the United States we wanted to talk to him about. He
was a very genial man, a very pleasant man, and he said to me,
"I'm supporting Harry Byrd for Governor of the
state. How do you ladies feel?" And I said, "Well,
with Senator Walter Mapp running against him, I'm supporting
Senator Mapp, and I think most of the women will." And Senator
Swanson said, "I understand thoroughly. If we
haven't gratitude in politics, what have we? I
wouldn't expect you to do otherwise," which I
thought was a wonderful sideline on the political
attitudes of their day.