Use Restrictions

The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to the James Madison University Special Collections Library. For more information, contact the Special Collections Library Reference Desk (library-special@jmu.edu).

Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research. Researchers must register and agree to copyright and privacy laws before using this collection. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the James Madison University Special Collections Library to use this collection.

Preferred Citation

[identification of item], [box #, folder #], Quiet T. Please Manifestos, 1979-1996, SC 0294, Special Collections, Carrier Library, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA.

Acquisition Information

The Quiet T. Please Manifestos were donated by Nick Whitmer, former employee of the Massanutten Regional Library, who collected Please's writings. Two additional manifestos were donated by Alice Knicely of Charlottesville in August 2019.

Processing Information

Nick Whitmer's typed recollections of Quiet T. Please, dated May 2019, were donated with the manifestos. They are retained in the collection control file and are available upon request.

Bio/Historical Note

Quiet T. Please (1935-2019), born Stanton Paul Chassaignac Jr. in New Orleans, Louisiana, was the son of Stanton Paul Chassaignac Sr. and Katherine O'Brien Chassaignac. Please was a long-time Harrisonburg resident, activist, and visionary, and was passionate about human rights and environmental issues. Please was educated in New Orleans Catholic schools and attended Louisiana State University and Tulane, and possibly the University of Virginia and Princeton University, though specific dates of attendance are unclear. Please moved to Harrisonburg sometime around 1975, but never took up permanent residence, instead he slept in fields and other secluded areas. Per a manifesto dated May 4, 1990, Please was attracted to the Harrisonburg area because of the abundance of turkey feathers and because he was offered a job disassembling an eighteenth-century building. In 1979, Please ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign for Rockingham County Sheriff, but he was unable to secure a spot on the ballot due to his lack of a fixed address. In June 1986, Please also ran for a local government position, receiving only one vote. Please was known in Harrisonburg for writing and distributing manifestos related to topics of feminism, community, politics, sex, and the military, often written in a stream-of-consciousness style prose.

The donor's reminiscences of Please, which include personal stories and allude to Please's eccentric personality, are retained in the collection's control file.

Scope and Content

The Quiet T. Please Manifestos, 1979-1996, comprise 38 pages of manifestos, varying in size, written by Please, long-time Harrisonburg resident and eccentric. Many of the manifestos are oversized photocopies/photostats (copied on the back of architectural drawings and dot matrix printings of real estate records). The manifestos also comprise silk-screen prints. One page is written in his hand. Also included is a newspaper clipping from the Daily News-Record reporting Please's 1979 run for Rockingham County sheriff. Topics discussed in his often times disjointed and incoherent writings include abortion, government power, religion, race, global political events and international relations (Middle East, Israel, Vietnam), and local current events with commentary on industry (Valley Mall, Coors). Please frequently used acronyms in his writings.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the order in which it was received from the donor.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Harrisonburg (Va.) -- History
• Harrisonburg (Va.) -- Social life and customs
• Knicely, Alice S.
• Manifestos
• Newspaper clippings
• Political activists
• Whitmer, Nick