Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Barbara Whaley Bitters Hall Papers, 1975-1997. Accession 37027, Personal Papers Collection, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Gift of F.B. van Reekum, thru Samuel Ervin Hall, 16 December 1999.

Biographical/Historical Information

Barbara Whaley Bitters Hall, was born in Richmond, Virginia, on 31 July 1930. She was educated in Hanover County and Richmond. In 1952 she married Frido Bitters, a Dutch tobacconist, and lived in Laren, Netherlands until 1966. She returned to Virginia and married Samuel Ervin Hall. Barbara Hall was a pioneer in consumer advocacy in Virginia for well over 20 years. She served on numerous consumer panels and advisory boards, including AT & T (1980-1990's), Virginia Power (1981-1986), C & P Telephone (1979-1993), Conference of Consumer Organizations (1976-1997), U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (1979- 1981), Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1974-1997), Virginia Association for Biological Farming (1977-1997), and Virginia Alliance for Health Care Freedom (1996-1997). She was a co-founder of the Consumer Education and Information Association (1978), the Women's Bank in Richmond, and the Consumer Congress (1974). In addition she worked to organize the farmers who sold produce at Richmond's Farmers Market. She died in Richmond on 21 December 1997.

Scope and Content Information

Papers, 1975-1997, of Barbara Whaley Bitters Hall of Richmond, Virginia, documenting her work with consumer advocacy groups in Virginia and nationwide. The collection reflects a wide variety of consumer topics, including product safety, telephone and utility regulation, alternative medicine and farming, automotive safety, food products, and banking.

Series I: AT & T Consumer Advisory Panel

This series is arranged alphabetically in 21 archival boxes and contains annual reports, clippings, correspondence, legislative updates, memoranda, meeting agendas and minutes, newsletters, press releases, publications and promotional materials, reports, and speeches. The Consumer Advisory Panel was formed in the 1970's and consisted of members of consumer interest groups and representatives of AT & T. Hall served on the committee from 1987 until the mid-1990's, as a member of the panel and chairperson. The panel addressed issues regarding billing and collection; competition; consumer outreach; directory assistance; equal access for the disabled, minorities and non-English speaking consumers; leased products; long distance prices; privacy; regulation and legislation. The collection includes reports by the Joint Telecommunication Project, an organization consisting of members from AT & T, AARP, and CFA, on services for low-income families and the elderly in California, Florida, New York, and Texas. The collection also contains copies of comments, petitions, clarifications, motions, and proposals before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), copies of the "FCC News," and brief summaries of FCC orders, events or other actions. The promotional materials contain mailings, booklets, and flyers regarding AT & T calling cards, long distance programs, credit cards, and gift certificates.

Series II: C & P Telephone : Virginia Consumer Council

This series is arranged alphabetically in 5 archival boxes and contains advertisements, clippings, correspondence, guidelines and procedures, legal materials, membership lists, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, publications, press releases, reports, and surveys. The Consumer Council board was formed to develop and recommend policy changes to the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company and consisted of members from business, consumer groups, senior citizens, disabled and grassroots groups. Hall served on the committee from 1982-1992. Issues addressed by the Council include deregulation of the telephone industry, rate increases, telemarketing fraud, and services for the disabled. Included are acts regarding telephone solicitation and pay per call services before the Virginia General Assembly, and comments by the Virginia State Corporation Commission concerning the AT & T and Department of Justice consent decree. Also included are minutes, reports, and surveys of the Lifeline Telephone Service Committee, a committee formed to study providing low-cost telephone services and low connection fees for the elderly and poor in Virginia. The series also contains information on a variety of C & P telephone services, including caller id, extended local area calling, and operator assistance. Also includes the C & P newsletters, "Fast Facts," "C & P Scene," and "Bell Atlantic Times."

Series III: Conference of Consumer Organizations

This series is arranged alphabetically in 4 boxes and contains clippings, correspondence, conference materials, leaflets, minutes, newsletters, publications, reports and speeches. COCO was established in 1973, as a spin-off of the Consumer Federation of America, to improve communication and cooperation in the consumer actions programs throughout the country. The organization assisted local and state consumer groups, provided consumer education, and sponsored numerous consumer-industry panels and roundtables. Starting in 1975 COCO began an association with AT & T which led to, in the late 1980's, the creation of the AT & T Consumer Advisory Panel. Barbara Hall was a member and secretary of COCO from 1976-1997. Of note within the series are the programs, pamphlets, and lists of participants of the numerous conferences sponsored by COCO, including the COCO National Conference held in Richmond, Virginia in 1985. The series also contains copies of COCO's newsletter, "Intercom," 1978-1996.

Series IV: General

This series is arranged alphabetically in 13 boxes and contains annual reports, bylaws, clippings, correspondence, newsletters, minutes, pamphlets, membership directories, legislative bills, reports, publications, memoranda, and speeches. This series contains information on a variety of organizations and subjects including, Alternative Medicine, Consumer Education & Information Association of Virginia (CEIAV), Farmers Market (Richmond, Va.), Fluoride, Occupational licensing, Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE), Virginia Pharmaceutical Association (VPhA), and the Women's Bank (Richmond, Va.). Included in the VCE section is information on the Virginia Agricultural Sustainability Leadership Council (VASLC) and the Family and Consumer Science Leadership Council (FCS). Hall served on the board, lobbied, and was a co- founder of many of the organizations.

Series V: United States Consumer Product Safety Commission

This series is arranged alphabetically in 3 boxes and contains annual reports, clippings, correspondence, membership lists, memoranda, newsletters, press releases, publications, and reports. Hall served on the Product Safety Advisory Council of the USCPSC from 1979-1981. The USCPSC was organized in 1972 by Congress to protect and inform consumers on the hazards associated with consumer products, assist customers in evaluating the safety of consumer products, develop uniform safety standards, and promote research and investigations. The collection contains information regarding the safety advisories, recalls, and repairs issued by the USCPSC during Hall's association. The commission addressed issues relating to burn and poison prevention, toy and household product safety. The collection contains a number of fact sheets and publications relating to household safety with bicycles, lawn mowers, Christmas lights, skateboards, and skis. Also included are classroom activity workbooks on poison prevention and toy safety, and an issue of "Sprocket Man," a comic book which addressed bicycle safety. Also includes opinions and speeches given by members of the USCPSC, a report issued by the Carter Administration on regulatory reform, staff briefing packages, report on the Recall Effectiveness Task Force, and agendas and minutes from the Product Safety Advisory Council.

Series VI: Virginia Association of Biological Farmers

This series is arranged alphabetically in 5 boxes and includes clippings, correspondence, minutes, newsletters, publications, and reports. The V.A.B.F. was founded in 1977 to provide information and services to farmers, gardeners, and consumers about biological agriculture in Virginia. The series contains copies of the by-laws, directories of biological farmers, shippers, grocers, and restaurants in Virginia, minutes, agendas, and financial statements of the organization. The publications include brochures, catalogs, and pamphlets on a wide range of subjects, from the proper way to cure hams Virginia style, to nutrition guidebooks. The series also contains copies of the V.A.B.F. newsletter from 1984-1997, and other miscellaneous newsletters such as, "The Rural Virginia" and "Southern Sustainable Farming."

Series VII: Virginia Citizens Consumer Council

This series is arranged alphabetically in 6 boxes and includes annual reports, by-laws, correspondence, clippings, memoranda, minutes, reports, publications, newsletters, and speeches. The VCCC is a non- profit volunteer association founded in 1966 to promote and represent the rights and interests of the consumer in Virginia. Hall served as vice president and lobbyist from 1974-1997. The series documents the history of VCCC's contribution to Virginia consumer rights, including the enactment of the Virginia Consumer Protection Act, the establishment of local consumer protection offices, the U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the advertising of prescription drugs, passage of a strong new-car "lemon law," successful challenges to laws restricting physician and attorney information to the public, and reform of infant formula, milk, and ground beef labeling. The series contains information on the lobbying efforts of the VCCC in the Virginia General Assembly and includes copies of bills supported by the council. Also included are copies of the VCCC newsletter entitled, "Voice of the Virginia Consumer," 1978-1997, reports on healthcare, food labeling, finance loans, and electric utilities, and speeches by members of the VCCC, including Barbara Hall, before the Virginia State Corporation Commission.

Series VIII: Virginia Electric and Power Company Customer Advisory Board

This series is arranged alphabetically in 9 archival boxes and contains clippings, correspondence, membership lists, memoranda, minutes, newsletters, publications, reports, and surveys. The Customer Advisory Board was created in 1980 and was comprised of eleven members chosen from state and local officials and leaders in business, industry, education, and consumer groups. Hall served on the customer advisory board from 1981-1986. The board reviewed proposed policy changes, new customer programs, service practices, customer regulations, and corporate communications. Included are reports from the board regarding bill payment options, discounts, and penalties. Also included are proposals and reports from the taskforce that was formed to study the reopening of VEPCO's 12th Street Hydroelectric Plant in Richmond (Va.). The series also contains reports from Virginia General Assembly Joint Subcommittees formed to study coal slurry pipelines in Virginia, high voltage electric transmission lines, utility diversification and deregulation, and the purchase of foreign coal by Virginia electric utility companies.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in eight series:
I. AT & T Consumer Advisory Panel.
II. C & P Telephone: Virginia Consumer Council.
III. Conference on Consumer Organizations.
IV. General.
V. U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
VI. Virginia Association for Biological Farming.
VII. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council.
VIII. Virginia Electric and Power Company Customer Advisory Board.