Thomas W. Gavett, Chairman of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, Papers
Collection
Collection Number: A&M 1887
This collection contains the papers of Dr. Thomas William Gavett, collected and created while he was chairman of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission between 1961 and 1966. Subjects of interest include equal employment opportunities, discriminatory application practices, instances of racial discrimination throughout West Virginia, and actions taken by the WV HRC to combat racial discrimination.
Materials include correspondence, newspaper clippings, reports, meeting minutes and agendas, pamphlets, and brochures. Correspondents include W.W. Barron, Rabbi Samuel Cooper, Paul Crabtree, Rev. C. Anderson Davis, Ken Hechler, Paul Kaufman, Paul A. Miller, Julius W. Singleton, H.C. Smith, and Howard W. McKinney.
The collection is divided into three series:
Series 1. General
Series 2. Localities
Series 3. Subjects
No special access restriction applies.
Researchers may access digitized materials by requesting to view the materials in person by appointment or remotely by contacting the West Virginia & Regional History Center reference department.
Permission to publish or reproduce is required from the copyright holder. For more information, please see the Permissions and Copyright page on the West Virginia and Regional History Center website.
Thomas William Gavett was born January 16, 1932, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to parents Harold and Verona Gavett. He was educated at the University of Wisconsin, ultimately graduating with a Ph.D. in Economics in 1957.
After briefly working as a part-time lecturer at Marquette University in Wisconsin, Gavett began work as an assistant professor of Economics at West Virginia University (WVU), a position he would remain in until his departure in 1966. In 1958, he became the director of WVU’s Institute of Industrial Relations.
In 1961 he was appointed as the first chairman of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission, which was organized that same year by the West Virginia legislature to work towards an end of racial discrimination. The original members of the commission, besides Gavett, included J.C. Kingslow, James J. Haranzo, H.R. Richards, Samuel Cooper, Robert Welch, James M. Elliott, Marty Wilson, and Harry H. Jones.
In 1965, his book, Development of the Labor Movement in Milwaukee, was published.
In 1966, Gavett left West Virginia and took up a position with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He retired in 1979 as the director of program evaluation and coordination. He died in 1982 in Bethesda, Maryland.
He had been married to Patricia A. Gavett, former executive director of the Religious Coalition for Abortion Rights and state voter registration chairman for the West Virginia League of Women Voters. Patricia A. Gavett died in 1983.
2.63 Linear Feet (6 document cases, 5 in. each; 1 flat storage box, 1.5 in. )
511 Gigabytes (4,889 .tif files)
English
This collection contains the papers of Dr. Thomas William Gavett, collected and created while he was chairman of the West Virginia Human Rights Commission between 1961 and 1966. Subjects of interest include equal employment opportunities, discriminatory application practices, instances of racial discrimination throughout West Virginia, and actions taken by the WV HRC to combat racial discrimination.
West Virginia and Regional History Center / West Virginia University / 1549 University Avenue / P.O. Box 6069 / Morgantown, WV 26506-6069 / Phone: 304-293-3536 / URL: West Virginia & Regional History Center
Gift of Thomas W. Gavett, 1966 July 14.
Part of the West Virginia and Regional History Center Repository