Descriptive Summary
Access
Access Restrictions
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Biography / Administrative History
Scope and Content of Collection
Arrangement
Indexing Terms
Other Finding Aids
Descriptive Summary
Title: Virna M. Canson papers
Dates: circa 1900s-2003
Collection number: MS 29
Creator:
Canson, Virna M., 1921-
Collection Size:
.5 linear feet
(1 box + 1 oversized box)
Repository:
African American Museum and Library at Oakland (Oakland, Calif.)
Abstract: The Virna M. Canson papers include photographs, correspondence, programs, certificates, and newspaper clippings documenting
Canson’s activities with the NAACP and credit unions, politics, and her personal and family history.
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
English
Access
No access restrictions. Collection is open to the public.
Access Restrictions
Materials are for use in-library only, non-circulating.
Publication Rights
Permission to publish from the Virna M. Canson Papers must be obtained from the African American Museum and Library at Oakland.
Preferred Citation
Virna M. Canson papers, MS 29, African American Museum and Library at Oakland, Oakland Public Library. Oakland, California.
Processing Information
Sean Heyliger, 05/02/2013.
Biography / Administrative History
Virna Mae Canson (1921-2003) was born on June 10, 1921 in Bridgeport, Oklahoma to William Augustus Dobson and Eula Mae Gross
Dobson. Her father was a veteran of World War I and a graduate of Langston University, the only historically black university
in Oklahoma. Both her parents worked as school teachers, and her father served as mayor of the all-black town of Lima, Oklahoma.
The Dobson family was politically active and participated in the federation of Colored Women’s Clubs, Women’s, Oklahoma Association
of Negro Teachers, and the National Unity of Colored Women.
After graduating from Douglass High School in Wewoka, Oklahoma, Canson attended the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama as a home
economics major. At Tuskegee, she met her husband Clarence Canson, a tailoring major, and the two wed on August 7, 1940. The
following year their son, Clarence Jr., was born and Clarence Canson enlisted in the Air Force with the outbreak of World
War II. After the war, Virna and Clarence became active in the NAACP, Clarence as a legal advisor after earning a law degree
from the University of the Pacific in 1954, and Virna served as treasurer and manager of the Sacramento Branch NAACP Credit
Union (1953-1989), Credit Union & Consumer Education Specialist for State Office of Economic Opportunity (1965-1967), West
Coast Field Director and Legislative Advocate (1967-1974), and West Coast Regional Director (1974-1988). He work was instrumental
in many landmark civil rights and affirmative action cases including two important equal housing cases, Ming v. Horgan and
NAACP v. City and County of Sacramento, which fought to limit racial segregation in housing, and Bakke v. Board of Regents
of the University of California which targeted affirmative action programs.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Virna M. Canson papers include photographs, correspondence, programs, certificates, and newspaper clippings documenting
Canson’s activities with the NAACP and credit unions, politics, and her personal and family history. The papers are arranged
into two sub-groups, Virna M. Canson and Clarence Canson. The bulk of the papers are photographs related to Canson’s family
history in Oklahoma and her participation in politics, civil rights, and credit unions. The papers include some general correspondence
and awards related to her work at the NAACP, her service on various advisory boards, and the NAACP’s Federal Credit Union
annual meetings. The Clarence Canson sub-group includes two certificates from the Tuskegee Institute and his law degree from
the University of the Pacific.
Arrangement
Sub-group 1.Virna M. Canson
Series I. Photographs
Series II. NAACP
Series III. Political activities
Series IV. Credit Unions
Series V. Biographical
Series VI. Newspaper clippings
Sub-group 2. Clarence Canson
Series I. Clarence Canson
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Canson, Virna M., 1921-.
Civil rights--United States--History--20th century--Sources.
Credit unions--California--History.
Other Finding Aids
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Region I, Records, BANC MSS 78/180 c, The Bancroft Library, University
of California, Berkeley.