The Jack Rabin Collection on Alabama Civil Rights and Southern Activists

 

Series II: Southern Activists

 

Sub-series 3: Clifford and Virginia Durr, 1941-2004

 

Appendix II.3A: itemized list of contents pertaining to the Durrs on microfilm reels  3 and 4.

 

 

Microfilm reel 3: The originals of the majority of these documents are in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library. An asterisk beside the date indicates a document that appears to be unique to the Rabin Collection.

 

 

  1. Report: A 4-page typed report regarding the Cox Affair.  The Honorable Eugene E. Cox, the Chairman of the Select Committee of Carrolton Georgia, opened public hearings to investigate the Federal Communication Committee on Friday *July 2, 1942.
  2. Correspondence:

·        *October 14, 1941 to President Franklyn Roosevelt from Lyndon Johnson regarding the appointment of Clifford Durr to the Federal Communications Commission

·        April 11, 1959 to Virginia Durr from Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) regarding LBJ not wanting to run for President

·        February 6, 1960 to Virginia Durr from LBJ regarding overcoming poverty, opportunity, and freedom in the United States

·        March 16, 1960 to Virginia Durr from LBJ regarding their friendship and an editorial she sent to him

·        June 27, 1960 to Virginia from LBJ thanking her for sympathizing with his goals

·        June 29, 1960 to Virginia from LBJ regarding Virginia’s support

·        August 27, 1960 to Clifford and Virginia Durr from Lady Bird Johnson, who mentions Aubrey Williams

·        September 28, 1960 to Virginia from Lady Bird, who describes Virginia’s description of Alabama as foreboding, and writes about her and LBJ’s upcoming tour of Alabama.

·        October 6, 1960 to Virginia from LBJ thanking her for describing the status of Alabama and for sending the “Bob Duke piece”

·        November 2, 1960 to Virginia from Lady Bird thanking her for three clippings on Alabama

·        November 17, 1960 to Clifford and Virginia from LBJ, a thank you letter

·        *March 14, 1960 to Lady Bird Johnson from Virginia regarding the book To Kill a Mocking Bird; Alabama people rejecting Hugo Black; and John Patterson.

·        *March 14, 1961 to Senator John Sparkman from Virginia regarding her disapproval of his support of Charles Meriwether and his comparison of Meriwether to Hugo Black.

·        *March 20, 1961 to Senator John Sparkman from Virginia regarding the above matter

·        April 8, 1961 to Virginia from Lady Bird regarding an editorial on Hugo Black in The Montgomery Advertiser that aggrieved her

·        May 1, 1961 to Virginia from Lady Bird regarding Eleanor Roosevelt

·        June 2, 1961 to Virginia from Lady Bird regarding people setting the Durr’s car on fire as a result of “the trouble in Alabama”

·        August 15, 1961 to Virginia from LBJ regarding Aubrey Williams

·        September 1, 1961 and September 8, 1961 to Virginia from LBJ regarding the Civil Rights Commission legislation

·        December 2, 1963 to Virginia from Lady Bird regarding a memorial to President John F. Kennedy

·        March 14, 1963, *March 18, 1963, and *August 21, 1963 to Virginia from Lady Bird regarding Hugo Black

·        *August 22, 1967 to Virginia from Robert H. Bahmer, archivist of the U.S. for the National Archives regarding depositing her personal papers in the LBJ Presidential Library

·        *January 24, 1968, *March 11, 1968, and *March 29, 1968 to Virginia from Herman Kahn, assistant archivist for Presidential Libraries, regarding transcript of an oral history interview

·        *April 3, 1968 National Archives gift of personal statement of Virginia Durr to the LBJ Presidential Library

·        *January 15, 1973 to Virginia from Justice William O. Douglass of the U.S. Supreme Court regarding Henry Wallace and an inquiry about LBJ: “the big and complicated problem”

  1. Newspaper Clipping: *January 28, 1973, Montgomery Advertiser, regarding the death of LBJ, which mentions the Durrs
  2. Correspondence:
    • January 24, 1964 to Virginia from Lady Bird
    • June 15, 1964 to Virginia from Elizabeth Carpenter, Lady Bird’s Press Secretary and Staff Director, thanking her for her periodic reports and for keeping them “tied to grassroots”
    • October 3, 1964 to Virginia from Bess Abell, Social Secretary of the White House, regarding the Southeastern States Workshop for the League of Women Voters
    • *1971, Invitations to the opening of the LBJ Library
    • April 23, 1973 to Virginia from Lady Bird regarding coping with Lyndon’s death and depositing his papers
    • May 31, 1973 to Virginia from Carole Bryant, Secretary to Lady Bird
    • *June 4, 1973 to the Durrs from Tom Johnson, the former Special Assistant to LBJ extending an invitation to become charter members of the “Friends of the LBJ Library,” and July 9, 1973 to Tom Johnson from the Durrs accepting the invitation
    • July 9, 1973 to Virginia from Harry J. Middleton repeating the invitation to become charter members of the “Friends of the LBJ Library”
    • July 10, 1973 to Virginia from Middleton regarding the Zale Award for Civil Rights, awarded to Roy Wilkins
    • September 17, 1973 to the Durrs from Lady Bird
    • September 12, 1973 to Virginia from Lady Bird regarding national health insurance
    • November 29, 1973 and January 29, 1974 to Virginia from Lady Bird

      5.   Happy Birthday note from Lyndon Johnson (generic; not personalized)

 

 

Microfilm reel 4:

            Typescript Letter/Report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice to Honorable James Lawrence Fly, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), on *March 28, 1942.  This twelve page report (the original cover letter is missing), concerns an FBI background investigation of Clifford J. Durr and Virginia Durr.

 

 

 

 

Microfilm reels 3, 4, and 15 also include films of books, some of which presumably came from the Durrs’ personal library. One such book carries the signature “C J Durr” and others have handwritten dedications to the Durrs. For printouts of these signature and dedication pages, see, in the Jack Rabin Collection, Series III: Center for the Study of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, the folder containing a bibliography of the Center’s books and periodicals.