Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Use Restrictions

See the University of Virginia Library’s use policy.

Preferred Citation

Libertarian Party Papers, 1973-1980, Accession #10187 through 10187-i, 10429, Special Collections, University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, Va.

Acquisition Information

The Libertarian Party papers were given to the Library by a number of donors between 1976 and 1980. Accession numbers and donors are listed below.

10187: Libertarian Party, Washington, D.C., 1976 December 15
10187-a: Libertarian Party, Washington, D.C., 1977 January 25
10187-b: Roger Lea McBride, Charlottesville, Va., 1977 February 4
10187-c: W. Morris, Wilmington, Delaware, 1977 February 4
10187-e: Stewart L. Engel, Newport, R. I., 1977 July 7
10187-f: Southern Libertarian Messenger, S. C., 1977 July 7
10187-g: Alyn W. Hess Milwaukee Wisconsin, 1978 December 6
10187-h: Roger L. MacBride, Charlottesville, Va., 1979 June 14
10187-i: Libertarian Party, Washington, D.C., 1979 August 2
10429: Ed Clark, San Marino, California, 1980 December 12

Biographical/Historical Information

The Libertarian Party was founded in California in 1971 to provide a political vehicle for Americans who value the supreme importance of individual liberty, both civil and economic. The Libertarians ran candidates for president and vice-president of the United States in 1972--Dr. John Hospers, director of the School of Philosophy at the University of California, and Tonie Nathan, a broadcast journalist from Eugene, Oregon. They received one electoral vote from a Republican elector in Virginia, Roger MacBride, who broke his pledge to support Richard Nixon, thereby making the Libertarian Party the only minority party to receive any electoral votes in 1972.

Roger MacBride, a Virginia businessman and co-producer of the television series "Little House on the Prairie." was selected as the party's presidential candidate in 1976 and campaigned extensively throughout the United States, particularly in the western states. The Libertarians were on the ballot in thirty-two states in 1976, more than the Independent candidate Eugene McCarthy or any other minority party. The Libertarians received 173,019 votes. MacBride's strength wan centered in the west where he received five and one-half percent of the vote in Alaska and one percent or more in Arizona, Hawaii, and Idaho. His running mate was David P. Bergland, a California lawyer.

The candidate was a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School. Upon graduation from law school he was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study comparative and constitutional law in the Philippines. In 1960 he moved to Vermont to practice law and was elected to a number of local offices and then to the Vermont state legislature. In 1968 he moved to Virginia and began operation of a farm called "Esmont." MacBride is the author of five books on politics. His libertarian beliefs were first inspired by Rose Wilder Lane, the daughter and sole heir of Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the "Little House on the Prairie" books. He served as Ms Lane's attorney and business agent for many years and when she passed away she willed him the literary rights to her mother's books.

MacBride also acquired from Ms Lane a strong belief in individual responsibility and minimal government, two hallmarks of Libertarian philosophy. The party favors: repeal of laws against victimless crimes such as those involving pornography, drug use, and homosexual activity; the abolition of all federal police agencies; and the elimination of all government subsidies to private enterprise. In foreign and military affairs, the Libertarians advocate the removal of U. S. troops from abroad, a cut in the defense budget, and the emergence of the United States as a kind of "giant Switzerland" with no international treaty obligations. In addition, the Libertarians oppose legislation which they feel hinders individual or corporate action. They oppose gun control, civil rights laws, price controls on oil and gas, labor protection laws, federal welfare and poverty programs, forced busing, compulsory education, social security, national health care, federal land use restrictions, the fifty-five miles per hour speed limit, and motorcycle helmet laws.

Scope and Content Information

The Libertarian Party Papers consist of ca. 3500 items (11 boxes, 3.5 linear shelf feet), 1973-1980, correspondence, party papers, printed material, and memorabilia of the Libertarian Party at state and national levels. The collection is comprised primarily of material relating to the 1976 Presidential campaign of Roger Lea MacBride; papers of the Wisconsin Libertarian Party from Alyn Hess, president of the Wisconsin Gay Peoples Union; printed material of Ed Clark's 1980 presidential campaign as the Libertarian Party candidate; and state and national newsletters, as well as circular letters of the Libertarian Party.

The first series, papers of Roger MacBride, includes correspondence, Libertarian Party organization papers, campaign material, photographs, and memorabilia. Primary correspondents include Edward H. Crane III, national chairman of the Libertarian Party; Robert H. Meier, 1976 national campaign director; Linda Webb, administrative assistant and press secretary; and Roger MacBride. Principle topics of correspondence include: Secret Service protection for minor party candidates; state and local party organization; fund raising; the discriminatory nature of the Federal Elections Campaign Act; and Libertarian publications. There is also a great deal of correspondence on campaign matters including scheduling, balloting information, and thank-you letters for contributions. The Libertarian Party organization papers consist of general party literature, position papers on various domestic issues, materials on the yearly Libertarian conventions, press releases, and newsclippings.

MacBride's campaign materials include biographical material on the candidates, petitions, sample ballots, vote tallies, MacBride's appointment book for July through December of 1975, posters, invitations, menus, postcards, travel information and bumper stickers. The photographs in the collection are both color snapshots and black-and-white photographers' prints, primarily of MacBride's daughter, the different campaign sites visited by MacBride, and the 1975 Libertarian Party convention. There is also a small section of memorabilia which includes campaign buttons, medallions, balloons, luggage tags, ribbons, souvenir pens, a Libertarian straw hat, and a tee shirt. Also included are posters and broadsides from the 1976 campgaign, five videotapes of MacBride speaking on various issues, a cassette tape of his acceptance speech in February 1975 for the Libertarian Party presidential nomination, and a 16 mm. movie film.

The second series--correspondence and papers of the Wisconsin Libertarian Party--is primarily the papers of Alyn Hess, president of the Wisconsin Gay Peoples Union, concerning invitations to speak before Libertarian gatherings and on Milwaukee public television on the subject of personal rights. Hess was active in the Wisconsin Libertarian Party from 1973 to 1977 and soon became one of its most articulate spokesmen on Libertarian beliefs. His correspondence contains a discussion of the problems facing third parties in the United States such as the difficulty in gaining equal news coverage, Libertarian party candidates for state and national office, and the difficulties in developing a new organization. Also included is Hess's letter to the executive director of the Wisconsin Libertarian Party in January 1978 criticizing certain aspects of the Libertarian Party. In addition to Hess's correspondence, papers regarding Wisconsin Libertarian Party conferences, party memoranda and circular letters, the Libertarian constitution, and printed party literature can be found. Also included is a file of newspaper clippings saved by Hess, 1975-1977, on Libertarian issues, many concerning Roger MacBride's 1976 presidential campaign.

The third series, material regarding Ed Clark's 1980 presidential campaign as the Libertarian candidate, is comprised solely of printed material. Included are position papers, newsletters, press releases, pamphlets, a poster, a bumper sticker, a campaign button, and the book, A New Beginning, by Ed Clark.

Newsletters and circular letters comprise the fourth series. Included are incomplete runs of numerous state newsletters as well as the Libertarian News, the national newsletter of the Libertarian Party, and the Southern Libertarian Messenger, published in Florence, South Carolina. Circular letters are primarily from the national headquarters of the Libertarian Party.

Organization

The collection is arranged in six series: I. Material regarding Roger Lea MacBride, II. Material regarding the Wisconsin Libertarian Party, III. Material regarding Ed Clark, IV. Newsletters and Circulars, V. Oversize Material, and, VI. Videotapes, Tape Recordings, and Films.

The first series is divided into correspondence, Libertarian Party literature, campaign material, photographs, and memorabilia. The correspondence is foldered according to topic. The folders are then arranged in chronological order. The Libertarian Party organization papers are divided into four categories: Libertarian Party literature, Libertarian Party conventions, newspaper and magazine clippings, and miscellaneous. Within these categories these materials are foldered according to topic and arranged chronologically. The campaign material is divided into speeches, press, schedules and itineraries, campaign literature, and miscellaneous. Again, material in each of these categories is foldered according to topic and arranged chronologically. The photographs are in chronological order. The memorabilia is in no specific order, with campaign buttons in one envelope and all other memorabilia in another.

The second series, material regarding the Wisconsin Libertarian Party, is arranged in chronological order with Hess's correspondence and papers preceding the Wisconsin Libertarian Party material. Clippings are placed at the end of this section.

The Ed Clark campaign material, Series III, is in chronological order within one folder.

The newsletters and circular letters comprising Series IV are open accessions as additions are constantly being added. They are organized into four main categories: general Libertarian newsletters, many of which are issued by Libertarian Party headquarters; state newsletters; the Southern Libertarian Messenger; and circular letters. The general party newsletters are foldered according to the title of the newsletter and arranged chronologically. The state newsletters are foldered by state and arranged in alphabetical order. The circular letters are in chronological order.

Oversize material and the videotapes, movie film, and recording are listed separately in chronological order.