This web page is intended for use by the students of Prof. Cassandra Newby-Alexander, Norfolk State University, for the Fall Semester. This site will no longer be active after this semester.
Samuel Francis Coppage Papers
Manuscript Number: EM 5
Size: 3.6 linear feet
Date Range: 1920s-1970s
Dr. Coppage, a dentist who practiced in Norfolk, Virginia, graduated from Howard University in 1912 and began his professional career in 1914. He was an advocate of civil rights for African Americans and a leader in numerous local and state organizations. The collection includes correspondence, minutes, memoranda, and printed materials covering his civic and professional activities in Norfolk. Materials range from the 1920s to the 1970s.
The Coppage collection was borrowed and digitally scanned in the early 1990s. The original materials were returned. Each "folder" below includes images of individual documents which made up the original "folders" of materials that were digitally scanned. To view the material in the collection, click on a particular folder. Each folder has images of documents listed sequentially in the order they were scanned. View the images sequentially, as if you are going from the first page of document to the last.
To be able to read an image document, you may have to zoom in on the document. Adobe Photoshop and other viewers allow this. The images presented here are jpg images and some of the newspaper clippings may be hard to read. If you need to see a better image of a particular newspaper clipping, email Special Collections and Archives. It may be possible that we could provide a more readable image.
Unfortunately, when the collection was originally scanned, some of the edges of documents were not scanned and therefore words or parts of words on several documents are missing. Also, none of the newspaper clippings were identified before they were scanned. Researchers may want to contact local libraries to see if clipping file collections on individual subjects exist for the subjects being researched.
n.d. = no date (materials that are undated)
If you have any questions, please contact Special Collections and Archives.
Folder Name - Description of items (images) in folders.adv_co01 - Advisory Commission to the Director of Public Welfare, Norfolk 1950s
asnlh01 - Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, correspondence, 1969
bishop01- Richard P. Martin, Rector, Grace Protestant Episcopal Church, Norfolk, correspondence 1940s-1950s
black_01 - Black organizations, including Conference of Black Local Officials, Urban Coalition, United Negro College Fund, Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, correspondence late 1960s-Early 1970s [includes syllabus for a course on Black History]
citize01 - Citizen's Advisory Committee on Schools, Norfolk 1940s-1950s [includes a Pepsi-Cola publication "Leaders in the Field" - Profiles of prominent African Americans]
citize02- Citizen's Sports Club - Correspondence and Notes, late 1940s
citize03 - Citizen's United for Representative Government [Norfolk and Tidewater Area - local, state, and national politics, mid-1960s]
commit01 - COPE, Committee On Political Education, 2 page, AFL-CIO endorsement of Carter/Mondale ticket
commun01 - Community Boy's Club, Norfolk, correspondence and notes, [Coppage served as one of the organizers and president] 1951-1960s
commun02 - Community Boy's Club, Norfolk, includes material on Youth Citizenship Project [Coppage served as Honorary Chairman] 1960s
commun03 - Community Boy's Club, Norfolk, correspondence, notes, and undated newspaper clippings 1950s-1960s
commun04 - Community Boy's Club, Norfolk, re-incorporation materials 1964
commun05 - Community Boy's Club, Norfolk, reports with names, and amounts, of contributions, constitution n.d.
commun06 - Community Boy's Club, Norfolk, incorporation correspondence, constitution, other correspondence n.d., 1964-1967
commun07 - Community Democratic Club, correspondence, notes, member lists 1949-1960s
commun08 - Community Democratic Club, correspondence, notes n.d., 1960s
commun09 - Community Democratic Club, correspondence, notes, speech n.d., 1940s-1960s
consti01 - [one page document in this folder - image of a title page (?) to proposed constitutional amendments to the Commonwealth of Virginia constitution at the 1969 session of the General Assembly.]
coppag01 - Miscellaneous correspondence with various organizations, including universities and the NAACP, also includes the text of a speech n.d., 1975-1976
corres01 - Tidewater Voter Registration Program early 1960s
corres02 - Miscellaneous correspondence with various organizations, including the Eastern Light Lodge #4, Tidewater Zimbabwe African National Union, CORE, NAACP, a report of the Norfolk Community Hospital and a flyer announcing school desegregation workshops for 1958 n.d., 1950s-1970s
corres03 - Grace Protestant Episcopal Church 1940s [folder also contains undated document concerning veteran employment rights]
corres04 - Various correspondence with national and Virginia political and civil rights organizations, both national and Virginia 1940s-1960s
corres05 - Miscellaneous correspondence with various organizations, including Eastern Light Lodge n.d., 1970s
east_g01 - Community Boys Club, Norfolk, correspondence and notes n.d. 1960s
eliza_01 - Material concerning Eliza Ann Coppage n.d., 1921, 1935
fair_e01 - Fair Employment Practice Committee -- correspondence and related materials concerning passage of this federal legislation 1940s
fronti01 - Frontiers International Club, Tidewater -- correspondence, notes, publications n.d. mid-1960s
fronti02 - Frontiers International Club, Tidewater -- notes n.d.
fronti03 - Frontiers International Club, Tidewater -- n.d., 1940s, 1960s
fronti04 - Frontiers International Club, Tidewater -- n.d. [one document]
grace_01 - Grace Church n.d., 1940s-1960s
histor01 - History of Church Street [Norfolk]: A Decade of Decay During the Brick- and-Mortor Administration compiled and edited by Lawrence H. Coleman n.d.
howell01 - Henry E. Howell (state senator and later candidate [Democrat] for governor of Virginia] correspondence and publications n.d., 1960s
hunton01 - Hunton's Young Man Christian Association, Norfolk undated publication
hunton02 - Hunton's Young Man Christian Association, Norfolk, 1960s
jordan01 - Joseph A. Jordon (vice mayor of Norfolk, seeking Norfolk judgeship) 1970s
lodges01 - Eastern Light Lodge 1970s
lott_o01 - Lott Carey Laymen's League of the Lott Carey Missionary Convention, Norfolk, Virginia 1952
miscel01 - Miscellaneous Publications
miscel02 - Miscellaneous Correspondence, Notes and Newspaper Clippings [Correspondence includes State Democratic Party, NAACP, Omega Psi Phi, Liberty Club Committee, Norfolk Community Hospital and others] n.d. 1918-1960s
miscel03 - Community Democratic Club of Norfolk, Virginia notes, correspondence n.d., 1940s
miscel04 - [a one page document -- a press release concerning the Democratic Party of Virginia, 1950]
miscel05 - Miscellaneous publications and other materials, most dealing with Civil Rights and Elections, includes a Southern Patriot publication, material on Joe Jordon, Virginia Voters League, and other topics n.d., 1940s
miscel06 - Veterans Assistance Committee (correspondence and publications, 1940s) Old Dominion Dental Society (publication 1960s)
miscel07 - Norfolk Community Hospital fundraising drive 1967 and materials on the topic of education
miscel08 - Miscellaneous Correspondence and other materials relating to the topics of education, Civil Rights, and religion -- groups represented include SCLC, NAACP, Norfolk Community Hospital, and the Old Dominion Dental Society n.d., 1960s
miscel09 - Miscellaneous Correspondence and other materials, mostly published materials, on political (local and Virginia) and church issues n.d., 1960s
miscel10 - Miscellaneous political materials n.d., 1960s
miscel11 - Miscellaneous newspaper clippings n.d.,
n_a_a_01 - N.A.A.C.P. - Correspondence, notes, and other materials n.d., 1950s-1970s
norfol01 - Norfolk Community Council - n.d., 1940s
norfol02 - Miscellaneous publications and correspondence focusing on Norfolk Community Council, Norfolk Community Hospital, Norfolk Mission College n.d., 1970s
norfol03 - Norfolk Community Hospital 1930s
norfol04 - Norfolk Community Hospital 1950s
norfol05 - Norfolk Community Hospital 1938 history of the hospital, reports 1960s
norfol06 - Norfolk Community Hospital Annual Report 1965
norfol07 - Norfolk Community Hospital Annual Report 1968
norfol08 - Norfolk Community Hospital 1969
norfol09 - Norfolk Community Hospital Annual Report 1974
norfol10 - Norfolk State College one letter 1971
norfol11 - Norfolk YWCA one page document 1957
pamph01 - Miscellaneous materials including publication on the NAACP, Universal Life, and Joe Jordan n.d.
politi01 - Miscellaneous materials on various political matters, mostly civil rights n.d., 1960s
politi02 - Miscellaneous materials on various political matters, mostly civil rights n.d., 1960s
politi03 - Miscellaneous materials on various political matters, mostly civil rights n.d., 1940s
politi04 - Political Materials -- correspondence and notes, including state and local politics, Virginia Crusade for Voters (Coppage was chairman) n.d., 1960s, 1970s
public01 - Various Publications (including Hunton Branch of YMCA, NAACP, Hampton Bulletin) n.d., 1946, 1976
sclc_n01 - Norfolk Christian Leadership Conference n.d., 1960s
sclc_n02 - State and local branches of Southern Leadership Christian Conference (SCLC) n.d., 1960s
http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/vbha/coppage.html