Mary Dunn papers
Abstract
The Mary Dunn papers (dated 1970-1999, undated; 1.3 cubic feet; 1 box, 1 flat box, 2 photo boxes) primarily comprise clippings, newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, agendas, meeting minutes, and ephemera that document Mary Dunn's involvement with Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Convention as well as her activities with political action groups the Democratic Socialists of America and the National Rainbow Coalition.
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Mary Dunn papers
- Date
- 1970-1999, undated (inclusive)
- Extent
- 1.33 Cubic Feet
- Subjects
- Community activists
- Lexington (Ky.)
- Public policy and politics
- Arrangement
- Collection is arranged by format.
- Preferred Citation
- 2021ms044 : [identification of item], Mary Dunn papers, 1970-1999, University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center.
- Repository
- University of Kentucky
Collection Overview
- Biography / History
- Mary Dunn was born September 19, 1930, in Nashville, TN, to Dr. Raphael Semmes Duke and Louise (Potter) Duke. Mary graduated from Ward Belmont in Nashville, TN, and moved to Lexington in 1948 to study at the University of Kentucky. After graduating, Mary remained in Lexington. She married university administrator Keller Dunn and had two daughters. In the 1960s, as issues of civil rights, feminism, and the Vietnam War were in the national spotlight, Mary became more politically aware. In 1967, she joined the Lexington Peace Council, which prepared education resources in opposition to the Vietnam War. During this time, through exposure to national conversations and events as well as books such as Marilyn French's The Women's Room, she became more active in the feminism movement. Around this time, she and her husband divorced; Mary attributed this separation to their different goals in life.
- Mary was very active in various political movements and conversations both in Lexington and nationally. She was very vocal in opposition to the purchase of South African granite for use in a Lexington library building and, in response, worked with local groups to raise money to send to South African refugee camps in South Africa. She was also vocal about the prevalence of prejudice and racism in Lexington. She was an outspoken critic of Gov. A.B. "Happy" Chandler following his using a racial slur at a University of Kentucky Board of Trustees Committee meeting and advocated for his resignation. Additionally, following the renaming of Walnut Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and she warned against interpreting the decision as evidence that racism does not exist in Lexington. Nationally, she became heavily involved with the Democratic Socialists of America and served on the group's national executive board. She was active in the National Rainbow Coalition and the formation of a Kentucky chapter of the organization. She was also a vocal opponent of U.S. involvement in Central America. She campaigned for Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential bid and served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention that year. She was also involved with the National Abortion Rights Action League.
- Mary died on June 24, 2022.
- Sources: Lexington Herald-Leader, June 30, 2022 https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/kentucky/name/mary-dunn-obituary?id=35429524
- Scope and Content
- The Mary Dunn papers (dated 1970-1999, undated; 1.3 cubic feet; 1 box, 1 flat box, 2 photo boxes) primarily comprise clippings, newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, agendas, meeting minutes, and ephemera that document Mary Dunn's involvement with Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign and the Democratic National Convention as well as her activities with political action groups the Democratic Socialists of America and the National Rainbow Coalition.
- The collection is arranged by format into two series. The Political activism subject files series comprises the bulk of the collection and includes clippings, newsletters, pamphlets, brochures, agendas, meeting minutes, and ephemera that document Mary Dunn's political and social activism. The Photograph series comprises eight photographs documenting Mary Dunn's political action, including a Rainbow Coalition meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church in Lexington, a Lexington Peace Council group protest in downtown Lexington, and other political action events. Two photos feature Michael Wilson, a former city councilman, at a Rainbow Coalition meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church in Lexington. One photo also features Theodore Berry, who founded the Black Student Union at the University of Kentucky.
Restrictions on Access and Use
- Conditions Governing Access
- Collection is open to researchers by appointment
- Use Restrictions
- The physical rights to the materials in this collection are held by the University of Kentucky Libraries Special Collections Research Center.
Contents of the Collection
Political activism subject files, 1973-1999, undated
Amber Moon correspondence, undated
Assorted Lexington event brochures, 1987-1988, undated
Assorted Lexington related newspaper clippings, 1982-1989
Assorted newspaper clippings, 1986
Central America awareness and protest newspaper clippings, [1980s]
Central America awareness event flyers, undated
Central America conflict and military presence newspaper clippings, 1981, 1985
Central Kentucky Council for Peace and Justice by-laws, correspondence, newsletter, list, clipping, 1987
Central Kentucky Democratic Socialists of America event flyers, 1988, undated
Correspondence with Joseph T. Burch. University of Kentucky Dean of Students, 1986
Correspondence with Mary Dunn related to DNC delegation, 1988
Correspondence with state officials on Kentucky National Guard in Central America, 1985-1986
Dekalb County Democratic National Convention pin, 1988
Democratic National Convention (DNC) delegate badges, 1988
DNC delegate correspondence, agenda, lists, 1988
DNC newspaper clippings, 1988
DNC newspaper clippings, 1988-1999
DNC notes, [1988]
DNC packet contents, 1988
DNC planning bulletins, correspondence, lists, seating chart, 1988
DNC schedule, candidacy form, DSA agenda, flyer, 1988
Dollars and Sense magazine article, Democrats and Reagan, 1987
Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) brochure and event flyers, [1988]
DSA flyers, 1985, undated
DSA newsletters, 1983-1985
DSA strategic planning reports, Jesse Jackson campaign, 1986
Extra! newsletter (FAIR), 1988 March/April
Fayette County Challenger's certificates, 1984, 1987
Flyers related to National Guard in Central America, undated
Frontline: a line of march publication, vol.6 no.4, 1988 August 1
Jesse Jackson campaign advertisement, 1988
Jesse Jackson campaign at DNC, platform, bulletin, correspondence, 1988
Jesse Jackson campaign brochures and sticker, 1988
Jesse Jackson campaign clippings, 1988
Jesse Jackson campaign correspondence, mailers, memo, 1987-1988, undated
Jesse Jackson campaign event bulletin, photo, 1984, undated
Jesse Jackson campaign flyers and mailers, 1987-1988
Jesse Jackson campaign newspaper clippings, 1984, 1988
Jesse Jackson campaign schedules and lists, 1988
Jesse Jackson campaign, strategic planning lists, agendas, reports, 1988
Jesse Jackson pin, 1988
Justice for Janitors: Service Employees International Union" pin, undated
Kentucky Democratic Party correspondence to DNC delegates, 1988
Kentucky Fair Tax Coalition event flyers, ticket, 1987
Kentucky Rainbow Coalition at DNC event flyer and speech, 1988-1989
Kentucky Rainbow Coalition membership application slip, undated
Kentucky Task Force on Hunger bulletin and correspondence, 1988
March on Washington bumber sticker, sticker, 1983
March on Washington newspaper clippings, schedule, map, 1987
Mary Dunn delegate pin, undated
Mary Dunn nametag with Democratic Socialists of America emblem, undated
Mary Dunn newspaper clippings, Amber Moon and Red Star Sisters, 1973-1991
Michael Dukakis, Bentsen campaign mailer, 1988
Michael Dukakis campaign mailer, 1988
Michael Dukakis campaign newspaper clippings, 1988
Michael Dukakis campaign newspaper clippings, 1988
Minority reports and proposed amendments to the platform, 1988
National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) by-laws and request for chapter status, 1986-1987
NARC clippings and articles, 1984-1988, undated
NARC correspondence, report, 1987-1989
NARC event flyer, undated
NARC meeting and convention agendas, minutes, flyers, pamphlets, 1984-1989
NARC newsletters and publications, 1986-1989
NARC statement on war in Central America, 1986
NARC strategic planning reports, mailers, correspondence, Jesse Jackson campaign, 1987, undated
National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) Choice delegate pin, 1988
National Abortion Rights Action League at DNC, correspondence, bulletin, brochures, 1988
Planned Parenthood at DNC folder contents, 1988
Protest posters, undated
Public Citizen magazine, founded by Ralph Nader, 1988
Rainbow News: Oregon Rainbow Coalition, 1986 November
Service Employees International union correspondence, pamphlet, 1988
Socialist feminist bibliography list, undated
"Songs for Socialists" booklet, undated
Southern Organizing Committee for Economic and Social Justice newsletter, 1989
State Representative Larry Jones Hopkins financial disclosure statement, 1984
The Guardian: independent radical newsweekly, 1988 August 3
UAW Ammo pamphlet, anti George H.W. Bush, 1988
"Watermelon Agenda" related to sit in at Rep. Larry Hopkins office, [1985]
"Watermelon" newspaper clippings related to sit in, 1985
Women's International League for Peace and Freedom event flyer, brochure, undated
Photographs, 1970-1988, undated
Group at picnic, back reads,"Sat. Picnic - [Priority Caravan] - Unitarian Church - July 1970", 1970
Group on steps, back reads, "Pat Gregory - 1970", 1970
Group protest, back reads, "April 15, 1970 - Courthouse - Lex. KY. - Lex. Peace Council + UK Student mobilization committee", 1970
Group protest, back reads, "Lexington Peace Council - UK SMC - Thursday May 1970 - Lex. Theol. Seminary lawn", 1970
Group walking, back reads, "4 [priority caravaners] at picnic on Sat. at Unitarian Church - Mike Mosher - Jean Robertson - Kathy - Karen Bigelow", undated
Mary Dunn (far left), Theodore Berry (far right), Michael Wilson (center right), and unidentified individual, Rainbow Coalition meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church, Lexington, KY, [1988]
Mary Dunn with group, Michael Wilson far left, Rainbow Coalition meeting at Shiloh Baptist Church, Lexington, KY, [1988]
Unidentified group, Rainbow Coalition meeting, Lexington, KY, [1988]
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Table of Contents
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UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center is open Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 4:00pm. Appointments are encouraged but not required. Schedule an appointment here.
Researchers must have an SCRC Researcher Account to request materials. View account set-up and use instructions here.
Questions? Contact SCRC via our Contact Form.
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You may come across language in UK Libraries Special Collections Research Center collections and online resources that you find harmful or offensive. SCRC collects materials from different cultures and time periods to preserve and make available the historical record. These materials document the time period when they were created and the view of their creator. As a result, some may demonstrate racist and offensive views that do not reflect the values of UK Libraries.
If you find description with problematic language that you think SCRC should review, please contact us at SCRC@uky.edu.
