Vivion Lenon Brewer Papers, 1947-1991
General International Standard for Archival Description
Sophia Smith Collection Smith CollegeNorthampton, MA
Finding aid encoded using Perl scripts and edited in XMetal 2.0. Encoded by Laura Cutter. 2003-07-11
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Vivion Lenon Brewer Papers
Creation of Vivion Lenon Brewer Papers
Time of Creation of Vivion Lenon Brewer Papers
Brewer, Vivion Lenon
Biographical History for: Vivion Lenon Brewer Papers
Biographical Note Vivion Lenon Brewer was born on October 6, 1900 in Little Rock, Arkansas to Clara Mercer and Warren E. Lenon, a prominent local Democrat who served as Little Rock's mayor from 1903-1908. After graduating from Little Rock High School, Brewer left the South to attend Smith College, where she majored in sociology. She returned to Little Rock after her graduation from Smith in 1921 and, until 1923, worked as her father's secretary. During the period 1924-26 Brewer worked briefly as a bookkeeper and a gift shop owner before she left to spend a year traveling through Europe. In 1926 Brewer returned to Little Rock once again, resumed working in her father's bank by day, and began working toward her law degree at night. She graduated from Arkansas Law School in 1928, the same year she was elected Vice President of the bank. Despite passing the Arkansas bar exam in 1929, Brewer chose to continue at the bank rather than working as an attorney. Joe and Vivion Brewer, August 1959 In 1930 Vivion Lenon married Joseph Brewer, the nephew of Senator Joseph T. Robinson who had run for Vice President alongside Democratic Presidential candidate Al Smith in 1928. The couple lived in Washington, D.C. for sixteen years as Joe Brewer held a succession of Federal government positions including secretary to his uncle, then the Senate Majority leader, and executive positions in the Department of Justice and Department of the Interior. During her time in Washington, D.C., Vivion Brewer endured both a serious four-year-long illness and the birth and death of her only child in 1933. She also became close to an African-American woman she employed and, through that friendship, gained new insights about the destructive impact of racism and segregation in the U.S. In 1946, following Joe's return from military service during World War II, the Brewers decided to return to Arkansas. Joe accepted a job as the personnel officer at the North Little Rock Veterans Administration Hospital and the couple settled on a piece of old Brewer family property in Scott, Arkansas. Over the next decade Vivion spent her time renovating the Brewer property and participating in organizations such as the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters. It was not until 1958, when the crisis erupted over the issue of integrating Little Rock's high schools, that Brewer finally acted on the anti-racist impulses she had discovered in herself twenty years earlier. When Governor Orval Faubus chose to close Little Rock public schools rather than integrate them, Brewer, along with several other prominent local women, organized the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools and became some of the most visible white advocates of integration. After the Little Rock schools re-opened and the Women's Emergency Committee disbanded Brewer continued her activism by organizing educational programs for African-American children. Smith College recognized her work by awarding her an honorary doctorate in 1961. After Joe Brewer died in 1988 Vivion went to Pasadena, California to live with her niece. She died there in June, 1991, at age 90.
Scope and Contents of the Collection The Vivion Lenon Brewer Papers include material from 1947 to 1991, with most items dating from 1956 to 1965. The collection contains biographical material, including her 1973 typescript account of the fight for integration, "The Embattled Ladies of Little Rock" (published in 1998), and other writings, clippings, and photographs; correspondence; organizational material from the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools; subject files; and printed material related to segregation. Major subjects reflected in the collection include the school desegregation crisis in Arkansas and other Southern states, the Civil Rights movement in the U.S., the activities of white racists in the U.S., and the history of Little Rock, Arkansas. Organizations represented include the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters, and the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools, as well as numerous local political and charitable organizations through which Vivion Brewer worked to aid the African-American population of Little Rock. The papers shed some light on Vivion Brewer's life; they also offer insight into larger questions about the motives and experiences of white Southerners who defied their culture by opposing racism and segregation.
African Americans--Civil rights--Arkansas--Little Rock--History--20th century--Sources
lcsh
Businesswomen--United States--History--20th century--Sources
Civil rights movements--Arkansas--Little Rock--History--20th century--Sources
Segregation in education--United States--History--Sources
School integration--Arkansas--History--Sources
lcnaf
Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (Little Rock, Ark.)--History--Sources
Little Rock (Ark.)--History--20th century--Sources
series
SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
This series contains a variety of material by and about Vivion Lenon Brewer that documents her life, especially her participation in the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools and other organized volunteer efforts to promote racial integration in Little Rock, AR. It includes the following subseries: Desk diaries from 1959 and 1960; correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs that document her receipt of an honorary degree from Smith College in 1961; and Writings about VLB including articles, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and notes by VLB and others that provide basic information about her life and achievements. This series also contains information about Brewer's Family, including correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes and testimony documenting the Arkansas Veterans Administration's harassment of Joseph Brewer between 1958-61; and letters of support and rebuke that Brewer and her husband received from members of her extended family. The bulk of this series consists of Brewer's 1973 typescript of her Memoir: The Embattled Ladies of Little Rock [See also published book on shelf], which documents both the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools and her other contributions to the fight against segregation. Photographs contains images dating from 1959-63 of Brewer alone, with her husband, and with Lew Irwin of ABC-TV news; Brewer's home; and Brewer with her fellow Women's Emergency Committee organizers Adolphine Terry, Pat House, Velma Powell, and Jo Jackson.
SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE
This series is arranged in three subseries: General, Fan mail, and Individual. General correspondence is arranged chronologically and consists of incoming and outgoing correspondence between Vivion Brewer and various people, some private individuals and others representing organizations. Some of this correspondence includes hate mail from segregationists. Fan mail dates from 1958-60 and includes letters to Brewer from individuals who lauded her work for integration. Individual correspondence is arranged alphabetically and consists of letters to Vivion Brewer from prominent individuals including Arkansas Senator J.W. Fulbright, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Senator and former presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson.
SERIES III. ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES
This series, the largest in the collection, documents Brewer's personal and volunteer activities from 1957-69. It is arranged alphabetically by the name of the event or organization. Except for the American Association of University Women and the League of Women Voters all of the events and organizations represented in this series relate to Brewer's Civil Rights work. There is a large amount of material from the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools and from other organizations that Brewer helped to organize, such as Project Happy Time and Project Worthwhile. There is a smaller amount of material from groups such as the Arkansas Committee for Public Schools, the Arkansas Council on Human Relations, and the Louisiana Save Our Schools movement. Types of material include organizing statements, correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, publicity, reports, agendas, minutes, speeches, and photographs.
SERIES IV. SUBJECT FILES
This series is arranged alphabetically by subject and includes topics in which Brewer had a particular interest including Arkansas elections, school integration, Little Rock's history and demographics, and segregationism. Though the series contains a few newspaper clippings and magazine articles from the late 1940s and the early 1970s, the vast majority of the material dates from the late 1950s and early 1960s. The series contains numerous types of material including advertisements, articles, campaign buttons and literature, leaflets, maps, newspaper clippings, polls, posters, reports, typescripts, and miscellaneous printed material.
Desk diaries, 1959-60
Smith College: correspondence, honorary degree, newspaper clippings, and photograph, 1960-61
Writings about VLB: article, correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes, obituary, and profile, 1961-91, n.d.
Family
Harassment of JB by Veterans Administration: correspondence [including Senator J.W. Fulbright], exhibits, newspaper clippings, notes, and testimony, 1958-61
Letters of rebuke and support from VLB's family , 1958-59
Memoir: The Embattled Ladies of Little Rock, 1973
[See also Books on Shelf, The Embattled Ladies of Little Rock, 1958-63: The Struggle to Save Public Education at Central High, 1999]
Chapters 1-5
Chapters 6-8
Chapters 9-13
Appendices: biographies of founders, correspondence, crank leaflets, lists, newsletters, notes, publicity, speeches, and surveys, 1958-60, 1973
Photographs
Vivion and Joe Brewer, Aug 1959
Lew Irwin of ABC-TV News and Vivion Brewer, Pasadena, CA, 21 Aug 1959
Brewer home, Scott, Arkansas, n.d.
Vivion Brewer, Adolphine Terry, and Pat House, 1963
Vivion Brewer, Velma Powell, Jo Jackson, and Adolphine Terry, 1963
General
n.d.
Fan mail, 1958-60, n.d.
Individual (alphabetical)
Fulbright, J.W., 1956
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 1959
Stevenson, Adlai, 1959
American Association of University Women: agendas, newspaper clippings, policies, and statements, 1959-60, n.d.
Arkansas Committee for Public Schools: correspondence, lists, memoranda, minutes, publicity, and statements, 1959-61
Arkansas Council on Human Relations: correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes, publicity, statement of purpose, and segregationist response, 1958-64
Arkansas Gazette Pulitzer Prize Recognition Dinner: correspondence, invitation, lists, programs, seating plans, and telephone messages, 1958
Community Unity conferences: correspondence, publicity, and reports, 1960
League of Women Voters: campaign literature, questionnaires, and proposed national program, 1960-62, n.d.
"Loretta Young Show": correspondence, newspaper clippings, profiles of W.E.C. leaders, publicity, speech, and typescripts, 1959-61
Louisiana Save Our Schools movement: publicity and reports, 1961
Project Happy Time: lists, publicity, typescript, and photographs, 1968
Project Worthwhile: correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes, photographs, publicity, reports, and student work, 1967-68
Women's Emergency Committee To Open Our Schools
History
Organizing statements: drafts, notes, and typescript, 1959-61
Newspaper clippings, 1958-70
Organizational histories: lists, notes, speech, and typescripts, 1959-69, n.d.
[See also SERIES I. BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS-Memoir The Embattled Ladies of Little Rock]
Interview with Vivion Brewer: cassette and reel-to-reel tape, 11 Oct 1959
Administration
Agendas, 1958-59, n.d.
Committees: lists, circa 1958, n.d.
Minutes, 1958-60
Notes, 1958-60, n.d.
Activities
Campaign for support among ministers: lists, notes, and statements, 1958-59
[See also SERIES II. CORRESPONDENCE]
Workshop on Public Education: memoranda, notes, program, and publicity, 1963
Correspondence, 1958-61, n.d.
Financial documents: blank check, budgets, correspondence, invoices, lists, and notes, 1958, n.d.
Publicity
Leaflets, circa 1958
Mass mailings, 1959-62
Newspaper advertisements, 1958-59, n.d.
Newsletters, 1959-63
Speeches: manuscripts, notes, transcripts, and typescripts, 1959-60, n.d.
Surveys: drafts, newspaper clippings, reports, and summaries, 1960, n.d.
Report: "Little Rock Report: The City, Its People, Its Business, 1957-59," compiled by the Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools, Aug 1959
Arkansas elections
Special school election: campaign literature, instructions, lists, polls, poster, publicity, transcripts, and typescript 1958
Little Rock School Board elections: advertisements, lists, newspaper clippings, and notes, 1958
Little Rock recall election: advertisements, button, leaflets, maps, newspaper clippings, notes, printed material, and typescripts, 1959
[See also Flat File]
Arkansas Democratic primary: advertisements, campaign literature, lists, notes, sample ballots, and newspaper clippings, 1960
Constitutional Amendment 52 Election
Newspaper clippings, 1959-61
Publicity: campaign literature, lists, notes, printed material, reports, and typescripts, 1960
Speeches: notes and transcripts, 1960
"Workfolio" for County Committee Against Amendment 52: lists and printed material, 1960
Bond issue: correspondence, memoranda, newspaper clippings, printed material,. publicity, and statements of opposition, 1961, n.d.
Miscellaneous: lists, newspaper clippings, and printed material, 1960, n.d.
Integration
School integration controversies
Alabama: newspaper clippings, 1959-61
Arkansas
Newspaper clippings
Local, 1956-63
National, 1948-66
States' Rights Digest, 1959-60
Study material, 1957-72, n.d.
Florida: newspaper clippings, n.d
Georgia: newspaper clippings, reports, and typescripts, 1959-61
Tennessee: newspaper clippings, 1962
Virginia: newspaper clippings, notes, and press releases, 1958-61, n.d.
Washington, D.C.: newspaper clippings, pamphlets, and reports, 1957-59
Civil Rights movement and integration: newspaper clippings, 1958-63
Pamphlets, 1947-62, n.d.
Little Rock, AR
History: newspaper clippings, notes, reports, and typescripts, 1957-67
Businesses and segregation: report, resolution, and statement, 1959, n.d.
Court decisions and legislation affecting Little Rock: briefs, lists, memoranda, newspaper clippings, notes, printed material, transcripts, and typescripts, 1957-65
Desegregation proposals: lists and typescripts, 1959-61, n.d.
Carl T. Rowan: biographies, correspondence, and clippings, 1962, n.d.
Conference on Community Unity: report, 1960
Jan-Mar, 1960
Apr-Jun, 1960
Jul-Sep, 1960
Oct-Dec, 1960
Case studies: correspondence, printed material, and typescripts, 1957-61
Miscellaneous: lists, notes, and printed material, 1958-68, n.d.
Segregationism
Crank mail, 1958-60, n.d.
Articles, 1958-60, n.d.
Advertisements, 1958-59, n.d.
OVERSIZE MATERIALS
Little Rock recall election: advertisement, 1959
Arkansas Democratic primary: list, 1960
School desegregation controversies
National: Editorial cartoon by Clifford H. "Baldy" Baldowski, from Atlanta Constitution, Atlanta, GA, November 21, 1958.
BOOKS ON SHELF
Bates, Daisy. The Long Shadow of Little Rock: A Memoir. David McKay Company, Inc., New York 1962.
Blossom, Virgil T. It HAS Happened Here. Harper & Brothers, New York, 1959.
Brewer, Vivion Lenon. The Embattled Ladies of Little Rock, 1958-1963: The Struggle to Save Public Education at Central High, 1999. [Browsing Collection]
DVDs ON SHELF
The Giants Wore White Gloves: The Women's Emergency Committee to Open Our Schools (written, produced, and directed by Saundra Hubbard, 2004)2004