Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation

MSS 16420, Randy Pendleton papers, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia.

Biographical Note

Randy Pendleton was a journalist during at least the 1960s and late 1990s. His employers included United Press International during the 1960s.

Source: Materials within collection

Scope and Contents Note

The Randy Pendleton papers (1967-2000; 0.04 cubic feet) documents Pendleton's work as a journalist. The collection contains three pieces of ephemera: a Klan business card handed to Pendleton, who was in Birmingham at a Klan convention as a representative of UPI, 1967 or 1968; a press releases handed out at the announcement of Norman Mailer's candidacy for Mayor of New York City dated May 1, 1969 with hand-edits by Pendleton based on Mailer's speech; a "Sore Loserman" sign handed out outside the Florida Supreme Court during the 2000 vote recount.

The addition contains political ephemera gathered by Pendleton when he worked as a journalist in Central Virginia beginning in the 1960s including a playbill for The Inner Circle's "The Golden Touch" Fiftieth Anniversary performance at the New York Hilton on April 15, 1972, a flier created and distributed by the Gay Activists Alliance of New York City, a pamphlet titled "On the Other Side of the War" by Kate Webb, published in 1971 by United Press International and a picture of President John F. Kennedy made from various typeface characters and transmitted by W9HHX, a ham radio group at the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

The rest of the materials were part of a scrapbook and are encased in scrapbook pages. These items include a Western Union telegram dated November 27, 1963, which discusses a bomb report in Jacksonville, Florida. An open letter to citizens of Alabama by U.S. Senate Candidate James E. Folsom outlines his reaction to the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. A U.P.I. Alabama reporter article that outlines Pendleton as "the only wire serviceman on the scene" for a several-hour long fire in Montgomery. A transcript of a speech given by Senator Robert F. Kennedy at the University of Alabama on March 21, 1968. Adjacent to the date of the speech is a handwritten note "assassinated 2 1/2 months later". Remarks by New York City mayor John V. Lindsay outline his thoughts on the death of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the state of the nation following such a high-profile assassination.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• LGBTQ+ activism
• Kennedy, John F., 1917-1963
• Kennedy, Robert F., 1925-1968
• King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968
• Politics and government
• editorial cartoons
• political cartoons
• political posters
• political posters