Martin Luther King Jr Plaza in Norfolk, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Evelyn Thomas Butts

(1924-1993)

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, January 27, 2022

1. Evelyn Thomas Butts Marker

Inscription. Evelyn Butts, civil rights activist and community organizer, worked to secure voting rights for African Americans. In 1963 she initiated a federal lawsuit asserting that Virginia’s poll tax, which citizens had to pay before they could register to vote, violated the U.S. Constitution. The case, combined with a similar suit filed in Fairfax County, reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in Harper v. State Board of Elections (1966) that the poll tax requirement in state elections was unconstitutional. Butts conducted voter registration drives and helped establish Concerned Citizens of Norfolk, which resulted in the election of African Americans to public office.

Erected 2020 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number KV-35.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Civil Rights • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1966.

Location. 36° 51.186′ N, 76° 16.838′ W. Marker is in Norfolk, Virginia. It is in Martin Luther King Jr Plaza. It is at the intersection of East Brambleton Avenue and Church Street, on the right when traveling east on East

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Brambleton Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Norfolk VA 23510, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Hampton Roads,

specifically in Coastal Virginia,

and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

and in the Tidewater.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Hospital of St. Vincent dePaul (within shouting distance of this marker); Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (within shouting distance of this marker); St. John’s African Methodist Episcopal Church (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Plummer Bernard Young Sr. (1884-1962) (about 800 feet away); Eureka Lodge, Inc. of Norfolk (about 800 feet away);

Photographed by Brandon D Cross, January 27, 2022

2. Evelyn Thomas Butts Marker

Norfolk Unit of Virginia Union University (about 800 feet away); First Baptist Church (approx. 0.2 miles away); First Baptist Church, Bute Street (approx. 0.2 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Norfolk.

Also see . . . Evelyn Butts. (Submitted on February 7, 2022, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on February 1, 2023. It was originally submitted on February 7, 2022, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. This page has been viewed 621 times since then and 29 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on February 7, 2022, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.