(POLITICS) Voter registration flier from Oliver White Hills

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(POLITICS.) Voter registration flier from Oliver White Hill's landmark campaign for the Virginia legislature. Printed handbill, 9 x 6 inches; light fold, toning. [Richmond, VA, April 1947]

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In 1947, Oliver White Hill (1907-2007), a Howard University graduate and civil rights lawyer, mounted a campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates, as part of a broader effort to increase voter registration and participation among African Americans. The Virginia state poll tax was still in place, an obstacle this flier attempted to overcome:
"Take heed! Pay attention!! The month of April has been designated . . . as Poll Tax Month. What we do, must be done quickly, this is our decisive moment. May 5, is the dead line to pay taxes in order to be able to vote in the August Primary. Mr. Oliver W. Hill, attorney, is running this year as a representative to the State Legislature. Every Negro in Richmond eligible to vote will want to share in this opportunity . . . there has not been a Negro for the past forty or fifty years." The three-year tax was $4.98, not an insignificant sum for a working family during that period.
Hill just barely missed a nomination for the 1947 general election, but was elected to the Richmond City Council the following year.