ANDREWS, VIOLA P.
Viola P. Andrews family papers, 1957-1998

Restrictions on access

Unrestricted access.

Terms Governing Use and Reproduction

All requests subject to limitations noted in departmental policies on reproduction.

Related Materials in This Repository

Benny Andrews papers and Raymond Andrews papers

Source

Gift, 1998.

Citation

[after identification of item(s)], Viola P. Andrews family papers, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, Emory University.

Processing

Processed by Emily Blanck, Student Processing Assistant, January, 1999.

Biographical Note

Viola P. Andrews (1912- ), African-American writer, columnist, and Sunday School teacher, was born the sixth child of nine in Morgan County, Georgia, to John Crawford Perryman and Lula (Allison) Perryman. She was raised in rural Georgia where she attended Guiding Star Elementary School and the Burney Street School through the eighth grade.

In July of 1928, she had her first of ten children, Harvey Christopher. Two years later, she married George Andrews, a sharecropper and folk artist of Morgan County, Georgia. She had nine other children: Benny Andrews (b. 1930), Valeria Belle Andrews (b. 1932), Raymond Andrews (1934 - 1991), Shirley Andrews (b. 1936), Harold Andrews (1938 - 1976), Johnny Andrews (b. 1942), Veronica Andrews (b. 1948), Deloris Andrews (b. 1950), and Gregory Andrews (b. 1953).

In the early years of Viola Andrews' marriage, she and her husband lived as sharecroppers in rural Morgan County, Georgia. By 1953, however, Viola decided to move to Atlanta with her children with the exception of Harvey and Benny who had already left home. Her husband did not go with them to Atlanta. The remaining children were raised in Atlanta and graduated from high school. All of her boys joined the military and went to college, and her daughters all also attended college. Her sons Benny and Raymond have been recognized for their accomplishments as artist and writer respectively.

When Viola moved to Atlanta, she attended Beaumont's School of Vocational Nursing. She was a nurse at McClendon Hospital for several years. Later, in 1971, after all of her children had graduated high school, she continued her education at the Atlanta School of Biblical Studies. She taught Sunday School at Hunter Hill Baptist Church since the early 1950s and integrated the white Lakewood Presbyterian Church when she began to teach evening Sunday School there in 1972.

In addition to her religious activities, Viola Andrews wrote short stories and a newspaper column. In January 1971, the literary magazine, Time Capsule, published her short story "Go Down Moses." In addition, Viola Andrews served as Religious Editor at the Metro Atlanta Community Bulletin and wrote a weekly column on religion. Her column especially focused upon eschatology, or the study of the end of the world. In addition to these published writings, Viola Andrews wrote an autobiography, several other short stories, and a book of poems entitled, "Body, Spirit, and Soul."

Scope and Content Note

The collection consists of papers of the Viola P. Andrews family from 1957-1998. The papers include writings, correspondence, photographs, religious material, scrapbooks, and other miscellaneous papers.

The majority of the correspondence consists of letters from her children Benny, Gregory, Harvey, Raymond, Valeria, and Veronica from 1957 to the present. The most extensive correspondence is with her daughter Veronica. Between 1965 and 1973, photocopies of correspondence to Veronica from Viola is also included. These letters from her children primarily focus upon family events and business, although they occasionally include reactions to current events. Letters from grandchildren are included with the parent's correspondence.

Viola Andrews constructed notebooks dedicated usually to saving greeting cards and other important papers of different members of her family. The children represented by notebooks are Benny, Deloris, Gregory, Harold, Harvey, Johnny, Raymond, Shirley, Valeria, and Veronica. Of special note, the Benny II Notebook includes a portfolio with some of Viola's religious notes. Also, her daughter Deloris frequently wrote extensive notes within her greeting cards, making them another form of correspondence. Each notebook has an introduction to each of her children.

There are extensive writings by Viola Andrews in this collection. In addition to her published column and short story, Andrews has written an autobiography, poetry, several other short stories, and family histories. There are three drafts of her autobiography: the handwritten original, a typed rough draft of Part I, and a typed draft of her whole life story. In addition there are several folders of selected documents to be included in her autobiography when published.

The audio-visual materials consist of a videotape and photographs of Viola Andrews and her family. The photographs are individual or arranged in scrapbooks. The scrapbooks were put together by Mrs. Andrews, and she devotes a small scrapbook to each of her children.

Other materials in the collection include: magazines and art exhibit catalogs by and about the Andrews family, Viola Andrews' religious materials including full-size Sunday School pedagogical posters, miscellaneous pamphlets from Morris Art museum, wedding invitations, and newspaper clippings.

Arrangement Note

Organized into (1) Audio-visual materials, (2) Correspondence, (3) Exhibit catalogs: Benny Andrews, (4) Notebooks, (5) Subject files, (6) Religious materials: Viola Andrews, (7) Writings by and about the Andrews family, (8) Writings by Viola Andrews, published, (9) Writings by Viola Andrews, unpublished, (10) Collected material.