Letter from E. Bruce Heilman to James V. Larkin

Letter from E. Bruce Heilman to James V. Larkin

This document is a letter from E. Bruce Heilman, the President of the University of Richmond, to James V. Larkin, the Director of Bands, that was sent on January 26. 1973. Heilman told Larkin that it was "good judgment on [his] part to substitute the Pledge of Allegiance" at an unnamed athletic event the night before and that a complaint from Cabell King, whose relation to the university is not named, was not related to this decision. Therefore, Heilman was writing as an expression of King’s attitudes and feelings; he also wrote that he believes that Larkin is doing a good job even if he does not always agree with his decisions. In addition, Heilman had received many complaints about playing "Dixie" in the Robins Center, especially since there were two black players on the team. He did not want to make a decision on this issue but believed that Larkin should be "sensitive to" the issue so the band "do not create reactions negatively."

Letter from E. Bruce Heilman to James V. Larkin, 26 January 1973, RG 6.1.13, University Archives, Virginia Baptist Historical Society.

1973-01-26

English

UA16.1.13-19730126.jpg

Richmond (Va.)