Virginia Commemorates 50th Anniversary Of State Constitution

VIRGINIA — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Tuesday commemorated the 50th anniversary of the current Virginia Constitution, which replaced the old state constitution that included provisions intended to disenfranchise Black voters and prohibit racially integrated public schools.

The previous constitution was enacted in 1902 and remained in effect in Virginia until voters approved the new constitution, which took effect on July 1, 1971.

In the years after the Civil War, the brief period of Reconstruction saw state and federal laws expand the rights and freedoms of citizens. But Virginia leaders re-wrote the state constitution explicitly to restore white supremacy.

The 1902 constitution required schools to be segregated by prohibiting the teaching of Black and white children in the same school. While some of the most discriminatory provisions of the 1902 constitution were reversed by federal law or court decisions, it remained in effect until 1971.

“The 50th anniversary of Virginia’s 1971 Constitution is an important opportunity to acknowledge how our Commonwealth has evolved,” Northam said in a statement Tuesday. “Virginia has 400 years of history — good and bad — and it is important that we tell the accurate, honest story of our past. Understanding our full history means learning about these events and the ways they are connected to the present day, so we can work together to build a better future for all Virginians.”

The 1971 Virginia Constitution renounced the constitution that had been in place since 1902 by eliminating the poll tax, enshrining a ban on racially segregated schools, providing free public education for every school-aged child, and prohibiting governmental discrimination based on race, color, national origin, or sex.

Work on the 1971 Virginia Constitution began in 1968 when Gov. Mills Godwin, Jr. appointed a commission to revise the 1902 document. This action came in response to the social changes of the 1960s, including the passage of the Civil Rights Act and other laws that superseded discriminatory provisions in state constitutions, including that of Virginia.

A.E. Dick Howard, a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law, served as executive director of Godwin's commission 50 years ago and directed the referendum campaign for the ratification of a new constitution.

“In 1971, the revision commission’s purpose was to repudiate the racism of the 1902 constitution, and to put Virginia on a sound and progressive footing," Howard said in a statement Tuesday. "I consider Virginia to have been well served by the commission."

Virginia adopted its first constitution on June 29, 1776, declaring the total dissolution of the rule of Great Britain and its monarch over the citizens of the commonwealth. The public can view original copies of Virginia’s Constitutions of 1776, 1869, 1902 and 1971 on Wednesday and Thursday at the Library of Virginia in Richmond.