forces, many of whom participated in the Somme, St. Mihiel and
Meuse-Argonne Forest campaigns. Most of the Virginia troops fought
with the 80th Infantry Division of the American Expeditionary
Forces. This division was called the Blue Ridge Division because
the Blue Ridge Mountains are located in the home states of the men
from Virginia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania who made up this
division. Noted for their bravery, this division was the only
division to enter the front lines three times during the offensive
and the only one to advance a maximum distance of twenty-two miles
against the enemy between the first offensive and the Armistice.
Many members of the 29th Infantry Division were Virginians who
served in France, particularly during the Meuse-Argonne Forest
campaigns. Thirty-six Virginians received the Distinguished Service
Medal of the United States Army, the French Legion of Honor or the
Croix de Guerre.
On the home-front, World War I caused a tremendous increase in
business and, in some instances, prompted the construction of war
camps in various parts of the state. Camp Lee, near Petersburg,
was used as an infantry training base for 50,000 soldiers; Camp
Stuart at Newport News was used chiefly as an embarkation point and
Camp Humphreys, near Alexandria, was used as a training center for
engineers. Langley Field, near Hampton, was used as training grounds
for pilots; the Hampton Roads area was utilized for construction of
numerous United States ships and as naval and military bases.
The present city of Hopewell actually owes its city status and
growth to World War I and the construction of a huge munitions
plant on Hopewell Farm by the E. I. DuPont de Nemours Company. As a
matter of fact, the manufacture of fertilizer from nitrogen in the
air still accounts for the great industrial activity at Hopewell at
the present time. During World War I also, the famous Tredegar Iron
Works in Richmond manufactured projectiles, explosives, shrapnel
shells and other war materials of necessity.
Among prominent Virginians who played a major role during World War
I was Admiral David Watson Taylor. Admiral Taylor was chief of the
Naval Bureau of Construction and Repair (1914-1922) at Washington.
He had responsibility for the design and construction of naval
aircraft and he developed a type of flying boat during World War
I. His contributions were later acknowledged by the establishment
of the David Taylor Model Basin, a naval activity at Carteret,
Maryland, near the Virginia border.
Health, too, was a critical problem on the home front during the
war. For example, a dreadful influenza epidemic occurred followed
by a severe fuel shortage due to a railroad strike. This condition
caused many "flu" patients to develop pneumonia and to die. In
Richmond alone, approximately eight hundred people succumbed during
this epidemic period.
As a reminder of the sacrifices of Virginians during World War I, at
William Byrd Park in Richmond, is a 240-foot tower constructed of
pink brick. It is called the Carillon Tower and was erected in 1932
as a memorial to the war dead.
In 1918, women received special recognition in the state. For the
first time, women were admitted to the College of William and
Mary and to the graduate and professional schools of the state
university, the University of Virginia. It is interesting to note
that, in contrast to the educational status accorded women, the
state refused to ratify the proposed Nineteenth Amendment to the
United States Constitution. Contrary to this negative attitude
expressed in Virginia toward giving women the right to vote, the
Constitutional Amendment was officially ratified and adopted
nationwide in 1920. One of the first effects of this amendment in
Virginia was a legislative enactment requiring all women to pay the
poll tax.
Virginia continued to play a key role in international events
during this period. For example, in 1926, Navy Lieutenant-Commander
Richard Evelyn Byrd, a native of Winchester, made the first polar
flight by flying over the North Pole and back in fifteen and a half
hours. He then flew over the Atlantic Ocean the following year with
Bert Balcher, Bert Acosta and George Noville. In 1929, he made the
first return flight over the South Pole. Rear Admiral Byrd led
four expeditions to the Antarctic and, just prior to his death in
1957, he was the leader of another expedition to Antarctica called
"Operation Deepfreeze" at which time he was consulted concerning
many ideas of importance to the safety and progress of the
expedition. During World War II, he did secret work for the United
States Government and furnished much valuable information concerning
terrain of the land which he had mapped on his third Antarctic
expedition. He wrote "Skyward," "Little America," "Discovery,"
"Exploring with Byrd" and "Alone" describing his various
explorations. Richard Evelyn Byrd will always be remembered as one
of the greatest explorers in United States history. An eight-foot
high bronze statue of the late Admiral Richard E. Byrd was recently
erected on the Virginia side of the Potomac River between the
Arlington Cemetery and the Memorial Bridge. The statue depicts him
in his middle thirties when he was at the height of his exploration
career. He is clad in a fur outfit and is mounted on a four foot
pedestal with fitting carved maps of the Arctic and Antarctic
regions and an eagle as a background symbolizing his achievements.
In 1926, the famous project now known as the Restoration of
Williamsburg began. The original purpose of the restoration was to
benefit the people of the present in "That the Future May Learn
from the Past." Dr. W. A. R. Goodwin, the late Rector of Bruton
Parish Church in Williamsburg, was responsible for interesting John
D. Rockefeller, Jr. in such a project. To date, not only have 350
buildings been reconstructed, 82 buildings been restored and 619
buildings been torn down, but also many of the early crafts such as
wigmaking, millinery-making, silversmithing, printing, shoe-making
and repairing, cabinetmaking, blacksmithing and glassmaking have
been revived. These craft shops are open to the public. A visit to
the Wren Building at the College of William and Mary, the Bruton
Parish Church (Episcopal), the Public Gaol, the Magazine, the
Raleigh Tavern, the Capitol or the Governor's Palace provides an
appreciation of life as it existed in the colonial period.
During the early 1920's there was much discussion within the state
concerning the need for government reorganization at the state
level. During the governorship of Harry F. Byrd (1926-1930),
considerable effort was made to reorganize the state government
with the objective of increasing its efficiency. The Reorganization
Act of 1927 provided that only the executive offices of Governor,
Lieutenant-Governor and Attorney-General were to be elected by
popular vote; that the state legislature was to have the authority
to elect the auditor and that the Governor was to appoint other
executive officials with confirmation by the General Assembly. The
structure and functions of the various state departments were also
changed by this act to make each department more effective. Twelve
administrative departments were created, and, in most instances,
department heads were made appointive positions rather than elective
ones. The twelve departments created were: Finance, Taxation,
Agriculture and Immigration, Workmen's Compensation, Corporations,
Highways, Conservation and Development, Health, Public Welfare,
Education, Law, and Labor and Industry.
During this same period, the "Pay-as-You-Go" system for roadbuilding
was adopted. This system means that, instead of floating large
bond issues to raise revenue for roadbuilding, the state pays for
the roads as they are built, with some of the revenue obtained
from gasoline taxes and fees from motor vehicle licenses. During
the first few years of the system while adequate funds were being
accumulated, the state did not have the total mileage of modern
roads which would have been built more rapidly through borrowing;
however, as the funds increased, the state was able to develop an
excellent system of state and local highways. The "Pay-as-You-Go"
system has reflected favorably on the state's financial reputation.
Virginia made national headlines in the Presidential election of
1928. For the first time since 1872, the Republican set of electors
in Virginia was chosen by a majority of the Virginia voters.
Consequently, the Republican Presidential candidate that year,
Herbert Hoover, received the twelve electoral votes of Virginia.
Virginia was fortunate in escaping the most severe pangs of the
depression years of the 1930's. The great variety of industries
and occupations kept the Commonwealth from becoming severely
economically stricken as was the case of states having one
specialized type of economic activity. Surprisingly enough, some
industries such as the tobacco industry and the rayon and cellophane
industries expanded considerably. In conjunction with the federal
government's construction program during the depression years as an
attempt to create new job opportunities, numerous bridges, public
school buildings and other structures--such as the Museum of Fine
Arts in Richmond--were built. Economy in government administration
was stressed and Governor John G. Pollard (1930-1934) reduced his
own salary ten per cent for one year as a part of the economy
program. Virginia was one of the three states which was successful
in maintaining a balanced budget in the depression years of the
1930's. Although the relief cost in Virginia was below the national
average relief, at one point during the depression, over 50,000
families and single individuals had become dependent upon the dole
system--especially industrial workers in the cities. Job-finding
committees were organized in many sections of the state to stimulate
re-employment.
After the national census of 1930 had been taken and the results
had been tabulated, the state legislature of Virginia passed an act
dividing the Commonwealth into nine Congressional districts instead
of its previous ten districts. This decrease took place because of
a smaller increase in population in Virginia in proportion to other
states of the United States. This act was found to be objectionable
by some residents who stated that the new seventh district was
disproportionately large. After suit had been filed, the Virginia
Court of Appeals declared the act invalid on the grounds that it
did not provide for equal representation as required by the United
States Constitution. As a result, in the 1932 national election,
all the United States Representatives from Virginia were elected
at-large by the whole state electorate rather than by particular
districts. Subsequently, the legislature redistricted properly,
and at the next election Congressmen from Virginia were chosen by,
and represented, particular Congressional districts. Like a large
majority of the states in the 1932 national election, Virginians
gave Franklin D. Roosevelt a victory at the polls with a plurality
of 114,343 popular votes.
During Governor Pollard's administration, the General Assembly
passed the Optional Forms Act. Under this act, two types of county
government were made available for selection according to local
preference: the county-manager form, usually preferred by urban and
large rural county areas and the county-executive form, generally
preferred by small rural areas. As a result of this act, several
county administrative offices were merged for more efficient and
economical management.
In August 1933, a special session of the Virginia legislature
was held to select delegates for a special convention to vote
on the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution. Although Governor Pollard at first refused to summon
the extra session, he was forced by petition of two-thirds of both
houses of the General Assembly to do so. Subsequently, the delegates
favored the repeal of the amendment by a vote of 96 to 54. The
vote by the people was actually a referendum vote, but ballots for
repeal automatically elected a slate of thirty delegates-at-large
who were pledged to a repeal vote. Later, at a special convention,
the delegates voted to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment by favoring
the Twenty-First Amendment. The General Assembly then created
its own regulations for the sale of liquor and provided for the
establishment of Alcoholic Beverage Control Boards throughout the
Commonwealth.
When President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Claude A. Swanson
of Virginia as the first Secretary of the Navy in his cabinet,
ex-Governor Harry F. Byrd was appointed to succeed Swanson as United
States Senator. Harry F. Byrd was elected United States Senator at
the next national election. Thus, in 1933, Senator Byrd began one
of the longest periods of continuous service in the United States
Senate.
In 1935, the first national park in Virginia and the second
national park east of the Mississippi River was established. It was
called the Shenandoah National Park and was dedicated by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. This very scenic park, which now includes
the famous Skyline Drive, was made possible by the combined efforts
of many people: Governor E. Lee Trinkle who publicly advocated the
establishment of parks, numerous citizens who willingly donated
property (because Virginia had been informed by the federal
government that it would have to furnish the land), the state which
also contributed land after it had purchased it or condemned it and
the federal government which helped financially with appropriations
and with physical labor furnished by the Civilian Conservation
Corps. This park has attracted tourists from throughout the nation
with its breath-taking mountain scenery and diversity of trees and
wild flowers.
Virginia made a very significant contribution to World War II.
When the nation began to mobilize for war, Governor James H. Price
created the Virginia Defense Council. Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman,
a noted author, was appointed chairman of this council, the first
in the United States. As in previous wars, the Hampton Roads area
became strategically important; navy activities increased rapidly
in this area; various camps including Camp Lee and Langley Field
were re-opened; and production, transportation and consumption
activities created new records in quantity and speed. Activities
at Camp A. P. Hill, Camp Pickett, Newport News, Norfolk,
Alexandria, Williamsburg, Quantico and Hampton Roads reflected much
of the war effort of Virginians in this conflict. The Tredegar
Iron Works in Richmond was consigned again to make munitions for
the armed conflict. Richmond along with Madison, Wisconsin, was
selected as a test city for a scrap aluminum drive. The test proved
most successful, and the scrap aluminum drives were soon extended
throughout the nation. Various federal government offices were
temporarily moved to Virginia, such as the United States Patent
Office which was moved from Washington to Richmond. Since Richmond
is located within a one hundred mile radius of the national capital
and is geographically and strategically situated from a military
viewpoint, it was designated as a "critical area." During the
1940-1945 period, Virginia furnished 137,000 men and 3,757 women to
the Army (including the Air Force) and 71,091 men and 2,055 women to
the Navy (including the Marines). Civilians in Virginia, as in all
other states, contributed much physical, mental and financial effort
during the war in their desire to bring peace again to the world.
[Illustration: VIRGINIA STATE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
_Shrine of Memory: Virginia War Memorial_]
One impact of World War II upon state government was action during
Governor Colgate W. Darden's term to modify the poll tax requirement
as applied to Virginia members of the armed forces on active duty.
A special session of the Virginia legislature in 1944 attempted to
exempt those persons from poll tax requirements but the judiciary
nullified this measure as contrary to constitutional provision.
Subsequently, by referendum, the voters of the state favored the
calling of a limited constitutional convention to accomplish the
objective. A condition of the referendum restricted the delegates to
this convention to act solely upon the soldier vote and to agree not
to consider, adopt or propose any other law, amendment or revision.
The constitutional convention approved a measure which became the
seventeenth article of the Virginia State Constitution: this new
article allowed service men and women on active duty, otherwise
eligible to vote, to vote without payment of a poll tax or without
fulfillment of the registration requirement.
Since the end of World War II, war memorials have been erected
in various communities as an expression of appreciation for war
sacrifices. The most famous such memorial constructed through state
or local action has been the state memorial erected in Richmond. A
million dollar white marble edifice known as the "Shrine of Memory"
consists of a structure twenty-two feet high and includes the names,
etched on glass panels and marble columns, of approximately 10,340
Virginians who died in combat in World War II or in the Korean
conflict. The memorial, located on a four-acre site overlooking
the James River near the north end of the Robert E. Lee Bridge,
is also a tribute to the 360,000 Virginians who participated in
the armed forces during these two conflicts and to the 100,000
Virginia volunteer civilian workers who contributed much in their
various types of activities. At the base of the statue to "Memory"
is a gas-fed torch, called the "Torch of Liberty," which burns
perpetually. Embedded in the floor of the "Shrine of Memory" are
memorial coffers which contain authentic, labeled ground and sea
battle mementos from battleground areas. The leading sculptor for
this unusually beautiful memorial was Leo Friedlander.
The sites of two battles which took place during the War between
the States within the geographical area of Virginia have been
accorded official national recognition within the past few years.
Specifically, the Appomattox Court House National Historical
Monument was granted National Historical Park status in 1954. This
area of approximately 968 acres includes a reproduction of the
Wilmer McLean House in which the Confederate General, Robert E. Lee,
surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to the Union
General, Ulysses S. Grant. The grounds where the two armies opposed
each other for the last time are also included in this park. In the
same year, the Manassas Battlefield of approximately 1,719 acres was
given the status of a National Battlefield Park. This area was the
site of the famous Battles of Bull Run or Manassas.
During the 1950 session of the General Assembly, a bill was passed
which provided for a state tax reduction of approximately one
million dollars whenever the tax revenue exceeded the estimates by
certain amounts, the amount depending upon the state budget. This
law was later revised to the effect that if the general fund revenue
received from income taxes exceeded the estimates by five percent,
a tax reduction would automatically result. Since passage of the
act, Virginia taxpayers have benefitted considerably through its
provisions. On the other hand, several attempts have been made to
repeal the general poll tax. The United States Supreme Court has
upheld the legality of the poll tax by refusing to review a suit
against some local officials who had barred individuals from voting
because of non-payment of the poll tax.
At the Democratic National Nominating Convention held in Chicago in
1952, the Virginia delegates under the leadership of Governor John
S. Battle refused to accept the "loyalty" pledge adopted by voice
vote in the convention. This "loyalty" pledge or "majority rule"
pledge required that each delegate agree to "exert every honorable
means" to have the names of the Democratic Party's Presidential
and Vice-Presidential nominees included on the Democratic ballot
of each state. President Harry S. Truman had encouraged federal
measures dealing with fair employment practices, the passage of
federal non-segregation laws and the enforcement of a strong federal
civil rights program. Some of the delegates who knew that many of
the Southern states did not approve of the Democratic legislative
program believed that the states of Virginia, South Carolina and
Louisiana would refuse to accept the "loyalty" pledge because
of this program. Consequently, when delegates from these states
refused to accept the pledge, they were not initially seated at
the convention. Southern delegates, however, protested that state
party rules or state laws prohibited them making such a commitment.
Governor Battle, the leader of the 28 member delegation from
Virginia, stated that a state law assured the inclusion of the names
of the Democratic Party nominees on the Virginia Democratic ballot
and that they rejected the pledge only as a matter of principle.
Ultimately, Virginia delegates as well as those of South Carolina
and Louisiana were given seats and full voting rights at the
convention.
The Republican nominee for the Presidency in 1952, 1956 and 1960
carried the state, contrary to previous usual voting results in the
state. In the 1952 election the Republican candidate, Dwight D.
Eisenhower, received 349,037 popular votes from Virginia and the
Democratic candidate, Adlai Stevenson, received 268,677 popular
votes. Thus, the Republican Party won the twelve electoral votes
of the state. In 1956, 386,320 popular votes from Virginia were
cast for the Republican electors and 264,110 popular votes for the
Democratic electors who represented the same Presidential candidates
as in 1952. In the 1960 election the Republican nominee, Richard
M. Nixon, won the popular vote of the state over the Democratic
nominee, John F. Kennedy. Virginia again cast her twelve electoral
votes for the Republican candidate. However, during this period, the
Governor, the two United States Senators from Virginia, eight of the
ten Virginia members of the United States House of Representatives
and a majority of the General Assembly continued to be members of
the Democratic Party, illustrating the traditional role of the
Democratic Party in the state since the Reconstruction Era.
Public education has received much attention in Virginia, especially
since 1950. On several occasions, for example, the General Assembly
has approved million dollar appropriations of state funds for school
construction projects. The tremendous influx of youth in the public
schools during the decade of the 1950's accentuated the need for
more teachers as well as classrooms throughout the state. Hence,
rising costs of education have become a key matter at each recent
session of the General Assembly. During the last few years, however,
the question of integration of white and of Negro students in the
public schools of the state has been a paramount education issue.