Biography:

Civil Rights activist. Born–August 6, 1903, Birmingham. Parents– Sterling and Josephine (Rice) Foster. Married– Clifford Judkins Durr, March 5, 1926. Children– Five. Attended Wellesley College, 1921-23. Member of the Southern Conference for Human Welfare (1938) and the National Committee to Abolish the Poll Tax; active in Henry Wallace Campaign for the presidency. Ran for the U.S. Senate from Virginia on the Progressive Party ticket, 1948.  After many years in Washington, moved to Montgomery in 1952 and became active in civil rights activities. Member of the Alabama Council on Human Relations; supported the Montgomery bus boycott; went with E.D.Nixon to get Rosa Parks out of jail. Provided food and lodging to civil rights workers in the 1960’s. Elected to Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame, 2006. Died February 24, 1999.

Source:

Obituary.

Outside the Magic Circle.

Publication(s):

Freedom Writer: Letters from the Civil Rights Years.  New York: Routledge, 2003.

Outside the Magic Circle; the Autobiography of Virginia Foster Durr. University, Ala.; University of Alabama Press, 1965.

Papers; 

The papers of Virginia Foster Durr are held by the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University. An oral history is held by the Columbia University Oral History Collection.