Letter from Timothy Percy Patterson to President Coolidge
10/16/1923
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Election laws and procedures implemented by Southern states often kept black men from voting despite the 14th and 15th Amendments. In 1923, World War I veteran Timothy Percy Patterson wrote to President Calvin Coolidge regarding racial injustice in the United States, stating that he was still fighting for his constitutional rights after returning home from the war.
Transcript
Justice[upper right corner]
Box 188
Birmingham, Ala.
Oct 16 1923
[stamp]
RESPECTFULLY REFERRED FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND CONSIDERATION. C.B. SLEUIP Secy. to the President
Hon. Calvin Coolidge
President of U.S.A.
White House,
Washington D.C.
[oval stamp]
THE WHITE HOUSE
Oct 19 1923
RECEIVED
Dear President,
I am a law abiding citizen of the U.S.A.. I served Eighteen months in the World's War. On the 11th day of Nov. 1918, on the Battle field in France. I held much discussion about we being at peace. I beg to inform that I still have no peace. I am left fighting for Constitutional rights and beg that you assist me in getting them.
I am a Member of the Ex-soldiers Cooperative Association and beg that you give all petitions coming from this said organization every consideration passable.
Yours most Respectfully,
[stamp] OCT 29, 1923
Timothy Percy Patterson
[written in ink] 180337-1-2-2
[faded stamp]
file
[illegible]
This primary source comes from the General Records of the Department of Justice.
National Archives Identifier: 6207372
Full Citation: Letter from Timothy Percy Patterson to President Calvin Coolidge Regarding Racial Injustice in the United States following World War I; 10/16/1923; 72-1-1; Class 72 (Elections and Political Activity) Litigation Case Files and Enclosures, 1919 - 1980; General Records of the Department of Justice, Record Group 60; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/patterson-coolidge, January 22, 2025]Activities that use this document
- African American Soldiers and Civil Rights During WWI
Created by the National Archives Education Team
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