Virginia Foster Durr
| Virginia Foster Durr | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | August 6, 1903 |
| Died | February 24, 1999 (aged 95) |
| Nationality | American |
| Spouse(s) | Clifford Durr |
Virginia Foster Durr (August 6, 1903 – February 24, 1999) was an American and a white civil rights activist and lobbyist. She was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1903 to Dr. Sterling Foster, an Alabama Presbyterian minister, and Ann Patterson Foster. At 22 she married lawyer Clifford Durr, with whom she had 5 children, one of whom died in infancy. Durr was a close friend of Rosa Parks and Eleanor Roosevelt, and was sister-in-law (through her sister's marriage) to and a good friend of Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black who sat on many crucial civil rights cases. Her circle of friends extended to Alger Hiss. She was inducted into the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame in 2006.
Durr was born in Birmingham, Alabama, where she was raised by black women but also taught that the Ku Klux Klan were protectors of southern womanhood. One of her grandfathers had owned a plantation and slaves, while the other was a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
Durr attended Wellesley College in Massachusetts from 1920 to 1923. Durr has explicitly acknowledged Wellesley as the catalyst of her moral transformation from a racist to civil rights activist. She came to question segregation after her experience with her college’s dining hall. The dining halls had a rotating tables policy that required students to eat meals with random students regardless of their race. Durr, uncomfortable with this idea, protested this rule, but ended up dealing with it after the head of her house threatened to release her from the university if she didn't embrace the rotating tables policy. This led to a new phrase, "Virginia Durr Moment", which refers to an event that promotes the moral development of an individual.
Durr was forced to withdraw from Wellesley College due to financial reasons in 1923 and returned home to Birmingham, Alabama.
After withdrawing from school in 1923, Virginia Durr returned home to Birmingham, Alabama where she met her future husband Clifford Durr at church. Virginia Durr and Clifford Durr got married in April, 1926, and had five children. Clifford married Virginia Foster Durr in hopes of her being a house wife and great social figure while he became a very successful and influential corporate lawyer. While accepting the role of housewife, Virginia was bothered by the condition many workers and their families were in, which she had noticed while volunteering in social work for churches. Virginia and Clifford Durr gave legal, financial, and moral support to civil rights activists.
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