State Capitation Tax receipts [poll tax receipts]

Files

M68 Box 11 Edward H Peeples papers_Poll Tax 1948 bill alt rsz.jpg
M68 Box 11 Virginia Poll Tax 1946 47 48 alt rsz.jpg
M68 Box 11 Poll Tax 1970 adj rsz.jpg

Title

State Capitation Tax receipts [poll tax receipts]

Description

Virginia State Capitation Tax receipts from the various years. 

Note: Names and addresses have been removed from these receipts. 

Poll taxes have a long and contentious history in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Payment of the tax first became a requirement for voting in 1876, as part of an effort to make it more difficult for African Americans and poor whites to participate in elections. Beginning in 1904, Virginians could not register to vote without presenting proof of having paid the poll tax for each of the three years preceding an election.

In March of 1966, in the case of Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the poll tax was unconstitutional. In 1970, the Virginia Constitution omitted authorization of the General Assembly to make payment of a poll tax a prerequisite for voting.

Creator

Commonwealth of Virginia

Source

M 68, Box 11, Edward H. Peeples, Jr. Papers, n.d., 1910, 1943-1994. Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library

Contributor

Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, VCU Libraries

Rights

NO KNOWN COPYRIGHT

The organization that has made the Item available reasonably believes that the Item is not restricted by copyright or related rights, but a conclusive determination could not be made. Please refer to the organization that has made the Item available for more information. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. 

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/

Notes

Learn more: 
Tarter, B. Poll Tax. Encyclopedia Virginia 
Poll tax, Social Welfare History Image Portal 
Suffrage in the South: The Poll Tax (1940), Social Welfare History Project 
Nurturing the Roots: 90for90 and Black Political Power. The Progressive, July 15, 2016.

Citation

Commonwealth of Virginia, “State Capitation Tax receipts [poll tax receipts],” Social Welfare History Image Portal, accessed November 5, 2024, https://images.socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/items/show/463.