Conditions Governing Use

Before reproducing or quoting from any materials, in whole or in part, permission must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, and the holder of the copyright, if not Swem Library.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open to all researchers. Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, such as the Virginia Public Records Act (Code of Virginia. § 42.1-76-91); and the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (Code of Virginia § 2.2-3705.5). Confidential material may include, but is not limited to, educational, medical, and personnel records. If sensitive material is found in this collection, please contact a staff member immediately. The disclosure of personally identifiable information pertaining to a living individual may have legal consequences for which the College of William and Mary assumes no responsibility.

Preferred Citation

Lillian Randolph autograph albums, Special Collections Research Center, William & Mary Libraries.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Purchased with the Nelle Richardson Tonkin Fund

Biographical / Historical

Lillian V. Randolph attended Armstrong High School in Richmond, Virginia and registered to vote in 1938 after paying a poll tax.

Armstrong High School was orginally named Richmond Normal and High School when it was founded in 1867 by the Freedman's Bureau as the first high school for African Americans in Richmond, Virginia. It was later renamed for General Samuel Chapman Armstrong who was a white commander of a United States Colored Troops regiment during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Armstrong also founded the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, now known as Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. Armstrong High School began with an all white faculty until 1915 when the staff was replaced by an all African American faculty of ten women and five men. The school was integrated in 1971.

Among the autographs in the books is one extensive entry from Randolph's teacher, Lavinia J. Banks. After teaching at Armstrong High School for at least thirty years, Banks was an advocate during the Civil Rights movement. As treasurer of the Virgnia Teachers Association, Banks helped to combine it with the white Virginia Educational Association. Banks was also a proponent of the anti poll tax movement and testified as a representative of the Virginia Teachers Association in a legislative session.

Content Description

Two autograph albums belonging to Lillian V. Randolph with entries from relatives as well as students and teachers at Armstrong High School in Richmond, Virginia. Both albums include photographs.

Arrangement

Lillian Randolph autograph albums are arranged into one series: Serie I. Autograph albums.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• African American women--Education
• African Americans--Education--Virginia
• African Americans--Virginia--Richmond--History
• High school students--United States--Social life and customs--20th century
• Virginia--Social life and customs--20th century
• Women--Virginia--Social life and customs