Evelyn Thomas Butts (May 22, 1924 - March 11, 1993) was an African American civil rights activist and politician in Virginia.

[1][2][3] When she was ten years old, her mother, Lottie Cornick Thomas, died and she was adopted and raised by a politically active aunt.

[4] When Charles retired due to a war-injury, Butts worked as a seamstress and took in boarders to make money.

[4] Butts and her lawyer, Joseph A. Jordan Jr., sued the state of Virginia for requiring the poll tax, filing in November 1963.

[8] Butts' case was that the tax was unconstitutional since it imposed an "undue financial burden" that violated the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment.

[9] The case, Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections, was decided in March 1966, making poll taxes unconstitutional.

[9] After the Supreme Court decision, Butts went on to register black voters in Norfolk, signing up 2,882 "in one six month period.