Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Opal David Papers, Accession #10971, Special Collections Dept., University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

This collection was given to the Library by Ms. Opal D. David of Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 3, 1990.

Biographical/Historical Information

Opal David, an Albemarle County (Va.) politician, served as Democratic Party Committee chair, and was the first woman on the County Board of Supervisors. She also served as liason to the Planning Committee responsible for the County Comprehensive Plan, was member of the Virginia Commission on the Status of Women, and served as volunteer or consultant for numerous public service organizations.

Scope and Content Information

This collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Opal D. David (1906- ) of Albemarle County, Virginia, and contains ca. 2500 items (10 Hollinger boxes, ca. 4 linear feet), 1933-1990, including correspondence, explanatory notes concerning the collection, articles, newsclippings, reports, speeches, campaign files, photographs, printed emphemera, transcripts, and political memorabilia.

Opal David was active in local issues and politics, women's issues, and education. The material in this collection concerns her work as the first woman on the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, the chair of the County Democratic Committee, and liaison to the Planning Committee responsible for the County Comprehensive Plan; her participation in the Commission on the Education of Women (American Council on Education), the President's Commission on the Status of Women, and the Virginia Commission on the Status of Women; David's educational background, and other consulting work, government employment and voluntary activities.

Information on David's personal life and general career can be found in the following folders: biographical information, employment (2 folders), miscellaneous activities, and personal papers (2 folders). Mrs. David has also included explanatory notes on green sheets of paper concerning the collection. These have been placed in a folder at the beginning of Box 1.

David has several files pertaining to her work for the University of Virginia, including the working papers and report for the Self-Study done in 1962-1964; correspondence, working papers, first and second drafts of a report for a Twenty-Year Study initiated in 1967 but not used because of changes in the project design; and the Institute of Government Advisory Committee.

Files on local government issues in the miscellaneous topical series include those on Charlottesville Human Resources; Citizens Committee for City-County Co-operation concerning annexation & revenue- sharing agreement, Buck Mountain Reservoir Site Agreement, the County Police Department, SAFE (Stop Annexation Forever); and the McIntire Public Library. Other files about local issues are located in the Albemarle County Board of Supervisors series and are chiefly concerned with the Comprehensive Plan for the County and the Zoning Ordinance.

Organization

This collection consists of two series, with each series' files arranged alphabetically by subject:
Series I: Miscellaneous Topical Files (Boxes 1-7)
Series II: Albemarle County Board of Supervisors
A. Issues (Boxes 7-9)
B. Campaign Files (Box 10)