Dick Mendenhall collection

The first series contains documents varying widely in date and purpose. For some of them, scant information in the accession file has left their provenance unknown. Among the items are War Ration books and other materials pertaining to a Hagarty (alternately spelled Haggerty) family of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania; examples of Confederate currency; photographs and a ticket from the 1929 University of Georgia-Yale University football match, the inaugural game of Sanford Field Stadium; a couple issues of rare newspapers from the late nineteenth century; and three original deeds from Guildford County, North Carolina (one from 1862, two from 1866) pertaining to Mendenhall’s ancestors. The folders in this series are arranged chronologically.

The second series consists of Mendenhall’s autograph collection and some documents relating to it. Much of the series consists of binder sheets containing letters, photographs, postcards, and other printed documents, or scraps of paper, all bearing an autograph of a political leader or other noteworthy person. They have only been removed from the original binder to an archival box with a three-ring binding device. For now, the range of dates for these documents is tentative. Also in this series are empty envelopes in which many of the documents found in the binder originally came; an autographed Lewis Grizzard book; an appraisal of the collection; and, most important, correspondence both directly pertaining to the collection (that is, with the signatures cut out from the letters) and, in a few cases, regarding other matters, but which nonetheless include the signatures of other famous individuals. More information about the collection is available in an inventory prepared by the Heritage Room staff upon initial receipt of these materials in 1998. This inventory is in the accession file, available upon request.

The signed items are split into two sections in the binder. The first section mostly includes letters and photographs. The second mostly includes postcards, scraps of paper, and other items of similar small size. For each section, the autographs are arranged in rough alphabetical order by name. In the second section, often the binder sheets include four pockets; the items held in such sheets are listed in clockwise order. The autographs are as follows. Political leaders are noted by their highest offices attained for executive, legislative, and judicial positions, as applicable.

1. Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of West Germany, on photograph (difficult to read, because it has faded or it is black ink against a dark portion of the photograph) plus a letter from a “Dr. Kulzer,” apparently an assistant to Adenauer;
2. Muhammad Ali, on a Pennsylvania Station (New York City) train schedule;
3. Ivan Allen, Jr., Mayor of Atlanta (1962-1970); three letters;
4. Ellis Arnall, Governor of Georgia (1943-1947); three letters;
5. Griffin Bell, U. S. Attorney General (1977-1979); letter;
6. Two autographs, the first, Himan Brown, producer of radio and television programs, the second, Mercedes McCambridge, actor, on a photocopied Neil Simon letter pertaining to Simon’s play Lost in Yonkers;
7. Smiley Burnette, actor and musician; photograph;
8. Wallace Butts, head football coach (1939-1960), University of Georgia;
9. Albert “Happy” Chandler, Governor of Kentucky (1935-1939; 1955-1959), U. S. Senator from Kentucky (1939-1945), Commissioner of Baseball (1945-1951); two letters;
10. Mark W. Clark, U. S. Army general; letter;
11. LeRoy Collins, Governor of Florida (1955-1961); letter;
12. Bert Combs, Governor of Kentucky (1959-1963), judge of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit; letter;
13. Kenneth A. Cox, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission (1963-1970); letter;
14. Bing Crosby, singer; letter and card;
15. Richardson “Dick” Dilworth, Mayor of Philadelphia (1956-1962); letter;
16. Jim Donnan, head football coach, University of Georgia (1996-2000); letter;
17. Vince Dooley, head football coach, University of Georgia (1964-1988); letter;
18. Tommy Dorsey and Jimmy Dorsey, musicians; photograph;
19. Don Edwards and unidentified second autograph; photograph;
20. Ralph Edwards, radio and television producer and host;
21. Dwight Eisenhower, President (1953-1961) of the United States, U. S. Army general; card;
22. William C. Friday, President of the University of North Carolina System (1957-1986); letter;
23. Al St. John, “Fuzzy”, actor; photograph;
24. Walter George, U. S. Senator from Georgia (1922-1957); letter;
25. Oren Harris, U. S. Representative, Arkansas’s 7th District (1941-1943) and Arkansas’s 4th District (1953-1966); two letters;
26. Gordon Gray, U. S. National Security Adviser (1958-1961), President of the University of North Carolina System (1950-1955); letter;
27. E. William Henry, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (1963-1966); letter;
28. Clyde Hoey, Governor of North Carolina (1937-1941), U. S. Senator from North Carolina (1945-1954), U. S. Representative, North Carolina’s 9th District (1919-1921); scrap of paper;
29. Bess G. Hoey, wife of Senator Hoey; handwritten letter;
30. J Edgar Hoover, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-1972); three letters, one card, and an unsigned F. B. I. Christmas card
31. Allan Jackson, radio commentator; photograph;
32. Graham Jackson, musician and conductor; letter;
33. Jacqueline Kennedy, First Lady of the United States (1961-1963); card; seems to be a signature stamp, not an autograph;
34. Frank Leahy, head football coach, Boston College (1939-1940) and University of Notre Dame (1941-1943; 1946-1953); letter;
35. Walter Lippmann, author, newspaper columnist; letter;
36. Eugene List, musician; photograph;
37. Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr., U. S. Senator from Massachusetts (1937-1944; 1947-1953) and U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1953-1960), South Vietnam (1963-1964; 1965-1967), West Germany (1968-1969), and the Holy See (1970-1977); letter;
38. Groucho Marx, actor and comedian; letter;
39. Pierre Mendès France, Prime Minister of France (1954-1955); letter;
40. Walter Mondale, Vice President of the United States (1977-1981) and U. S. Senator from Minnesota (1964-1976); letter;
41. Peter Nero, musician and conductor; concert program;
42. Edward R. Murrow, journalist; photograph;
43. Mohamed Naguib, President of Egypt (1953-1954); card;
44. Drew Pearson, Washington Merry-Go-Round newspaper columnist, letter;
45. Maxwell M. Rabb, lawyer, Cabinet Secretary (1954-1958) and U. S. Ambassador to Italy (1981-1989); letter;
46. Arthur W. Radford, U.S. Navy Admiral; two letters and a card;
47. Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea; letter;
48. Hyman G. Rickover, U. S. Navy Admiral; letter;
49. Carl Sanders, Governor of Georgia (1963-1967), letter;
50. Richard T. Schulze, U. S. Representative, Pennsylvania’s 5th District (1975-1993); letter;
51. W. Kerr Scott, Governor of North Carolina (1949-1953), U. S. Senator from North Carolina (1954-1958); letter and photograph;
52. Howard K. Smith, journalist;
53. Robert G. Stephens, Jr., U. S. Representative, Georgia’s 10th District (1961-1977);
54.Francis R. Strawbridge III, of Strawbridge and Clothier, a department store in Philadelphia established by his grandfather;
55. Jimmy Stewart and Jessie White, actors, on an issue of Playbill (Volume 7, Issue 3, March 1970) for the Mary Chase play, Harvey;
56. Herman Talmadge, Governor of Georgia (1947; 1948-1955), U. S. Senator from Georgia (1957-1981); three letters;
57. Ernest Vandiver, Governor of Georgia (1959-1963), letter
58. Lowell Thomas, writer, broadcaster
59. Charley Trippi, football player, and Coburn Kelley, Athens Y. M. C. A. director; certificate;
60. Harry Truman, U. S. President (1945-1953), U. S. Vice President (1945), U. S. Senator from Missouri (1935-1945); letter;
61.Grace G. Tully, secretary for U. S. President Franklin Roosevelt; letter;
62. Charles L. Weltner, U. S. Representative, Georgia’s 5th District (1963-1967), Georgia Supreme Court justice (1981-1992); ten letters;
63.Rose Mary Woods, secretary for U. S. President Richard Nixon; letter;
64. Jack Wells, Mayor of Athens (1948-1958; 1962-1964); letter;
65. Charles E. Wilson, Secretary of Defense (1953-1957); letter and card;
66. Bruce Williams; letter;
67. Queen Elizabeth II (no autograph); letter.

In the second section, the format is not specified. A significant number of the items are scraps of paper.

1. Clinton P. Anderson, U. S. Secretary of Agriculture (1945-1948), U. S. Senator from New Mexico (1949-1973);
2. H. H. Arnold, U. S. Army and Air Force general;
3. Red Barber, sports announcer;
4. Alben Barkley, U. S. Vice President (1949-1953) and U S. Senator from Kentucky (1927-1949; 1955-1956);
5. Tommy Bartlett, host of Welcome Travelers radio program and founder of Tommy Bartlett’s Water Ski and Jumping Boat Thrill Show, a tourist attraction in Wisconsin Dells; Les Lear—based on this postcard—also involved in the Welcome Travelers show; and a “Miss Duffy”;
6. Ralph Bellamy, actor;
7. Humphrey Bogart, actor;
8. Owen Brewster, U. S. Senator from Maine (1941-1952), U. S. Representative, Maine’s 3rd District (1935-1941);
9. Omar Bradley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1949-1953);
10. Herbert Brownell, Jr., U. S. Attorney General (1953-1957);
11. Wallace Butts, head football coach, University of Georgia (1939-1960);
12. James F. Byrnes, U. S. Secretary of State (1945-1947), U. S. Senator from South Carolina (1931-1941), U. S. Representative, South Carolina’s 2nd District (1911-1925), Governor of South Carolina (1951-1955);
13. Mike Castronis, coach and teacher, Athens High School and Athens Y. M. C. A.;
14. R. Gregg Cherry, Governor of North Carolina (1945-1949);
15. Tom C. Clark, U. S. Attorney General (1945-1949), U. S. Supreme Court justice (1949-1967);
16. Josephus Daniels, U. S. Secretary of the Navy (1913-1921), owner of the Raleigh News and Observer;
17. Jimmy Conzelman, football player;
18. Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1940-1945; 1951-1955);
19. Dwight Eisenhower, U. S. President (1953-1961), U. S. Army general;
20. Bob Davis, football player for Georgia Tech and, in the N. F. L., the Boston Yanks; later, Mayor of Columbus;
21. George V. Denny, Jr., host of America’s Town Meeting on the Air;
22. Lew Valentine, host of Dr. I. Q.;
23. Thomas Dewey, Governor of New York (1943-1954), Republican presidential nominee (1944, 1948);
24. John Foster Dulles, U. S. Secretary of State (1953-1959);
25. James E. (Jim) Folsom, Governor of Alabama (1947-1951; 1955-1959);
26. James Forrestal, U. S. Secretary of Defense (1947-1949);
27. Henry Ford II, son of Edsel Ford, grandson of Henry Ford, head of the Ford Motor Company, succeeding his grandfather, who had returned to control after Edsel’s death;
28. Arthur Godfrey, radio and television presenter;
29. Barry Goldwater, U. S. Senator from Arizona (1953-1965; 1969-1987), Republican presidential nominee (1964);
30. Invitation to Mikhail Gorbachev speech (no autograph);
31. Red Grange, football player;
32. Alfred Gruenther, U. S. Army general, NATO commander;
33. Harry James, musician;
34. Charlie Justice, football player for the University of North Carolina and the Washington Redskins;
35. Mackenzie King, Prime Minister of Canada (1921-1926; 1926-1930; 1935-1948);
36. Julius Krug, U. S. Secretary of the Interior (1946-1949);
37. John L. Lewis, president of the United Mine Workers of America and the C. I. O.;
38. Vera Lynn, singer;
39. Douglas MacArthur, U. S. Army general;
40. Connie Mack, baseball manager;
41. Alice Marble, tennis player;
42. George Marshall, U. S. Secretary of State (1947-1949), U. S. Secretary of Defense (1950-1951), U. S. Army general;
43. Joseph McCarthy, U. S. Senator from Wisconsin (1947-1957);
44. Dimitri Mitropoulos, conductor, New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera;
45. Ralph McGill, editor and publisher, the Atlanta Constitution;
46. Richard Nixon, U. S. President (1969-1974), U. S. Vice President (1953-1951); U. S. Senator from California (1950-1953); U. S. Representative, California’s 12th District (1947-1950);
47. William O’Dwyer, Mayor of New York (1946-1950);
48. C. W. Nimitz, U. S. Navy admiral;
49. Artie Pew, football player, University of Georgia;
50. Jeanette Rankin, U. S. Representative, Montana’s District-at-Large (1917-1919) and Montana’s 1st District (1941-1943);
51. James P. Richards, U. S. Representative, South Carolina’s 5th District (1933-1957);
52. Roy Rogers, actor;
53. Eleanor Roosevelt, First Lady of the United States (1933-1945), Chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (1946-1952);
54. Kenneth Royall, U. S. Secretary of the Army (1947-149)
55. Richard Russell, U. S. Senator from Georgia (1933-1971);
56. Jane Russell, actor;
57. Babe Ruth, baseball player;
58. Archibald Rutledge, poet;
59. Eric Sevareid, journalist;
60. John Snyder, U. S. Secretary of the Treasury (1946-1953);
61. Bob Steele, actor;
62. Robert T. Stevens, U. S. Secretary of the Army (1953-1955);
63. Adlai Stevenson, Governor of Illinois (1949-1953), Democratic presidential nominee (1952, 1956), and U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations (1961-1965);
64. Bill Stern, N. B. C. sports broadcaster;
65. Frank Sinkwich, football player, University of Georgia;
66. Lowell Thomas, journalist, writer;
67. Harry Stuhldreher, football player, Notre Dame;
68. Robert Taft, U. S. Senator from Ohio (1939-1953);
69. M. E. Thompson, Governor of Georgia (1947-1948);
70. Bess Truman, First Lady of the United States (1945-1953);
71. Strom Thurmond, U. S. Senator from South Carolina (1954-1956; 1956-2003) and Governor of South Carolina (1947-1951);
72. Arthur Vandenberg, U. S. Senator from Michigan (1928-1951);
73. Henry A. Wallace, U. S. Vice President (1941-1945) and U. S. Secretary of Agriculture (1933-1940);
74. Doak Walker, football player;
75. Lewis Schwellenbach, U. S. Secretary of Labor (1945-1948) and U. S. Senator from Washington (1935-1940);
76. Ted Williams, baseball player;
77. Earl Warren, Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court (1959-1963) and Governor of California (1943-1953);
78. Edward VIII (Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor) and Wallis Simpson (Wallis Windsor);
79. Invitation to 1945 inauguration luncheon at the White Hose, sent to Wilkins Horton, North Carolina Lieutenant Governor (1937-1941) who ran for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1940 but lost and also served in the North Carolina Senate (not an autograph);
80. Ticket for Andrew Johnson impeachment trial, May 18, 1868, signed by George T. Brown, Sergeant at Arms of the U. S. Senate (1861-1869).

The following autographs are to be found in the Correspondence folder. They are arranged as such: first, autographs requested by Mendenhall (we do not know why these were separated from the rest of the collection); second, beginning with no. 11, autographs from secretaries and other individuals working for those receiving autograph requests; and third—not listed here—letters with autographs having been cut out of them.

1. J Edgar Hoover; four letters;
2. Pierre Mendès France; letter;
3.Herbert Hoover, U. S. President (1929-1933), U. S. Secretary of Commerce (1921-1928); two letters;
4.Vigo Kampmann, Prime Minister of Denmark (1960-1962); letter;
5. Howard K. Smith; letter;
6. J. W. Fanning, Vice President for Services, University of Georgia (1965-1971), who was involved with Georgia’s Agricultural Extension Service as well as the Leadership Georgia and Leadership Savannah programs; scrap of paper;
7. Unknown; handwritten letter on WPIV (Philadelphia) stationery;
8. Leo D. McDermott, Democratic candidate for U. S. Representative, Pennsylvania’s 5th district, 1974, who lost to Richard T. Schulze (see above); letter;
9. John H. Ware III, U. S. Representative for Pennsylvania’s 9th District (1970-1973) and Pennsylvania’s 5th District (1973-1975); letter;
10. Buzz Aldrin, astronaut; letter;
11. William D. Hassett, secretary for Harry Truman;
12. G. J. Matte, secretary for Mackenzie King;
13. O. H. Finney, Jr., secretary for James Folsom;
14. Nelson Newton, secretary for W. Averell Harriman;
15. W. H. McGrillis, secretary for Julius Krug;
16. E. Chance, secretary for Alben Barkley;
17. Patrick J. Gibbons, writing on behalf of Douglas MacArthur;
18. C. Craig Cannnon, aide to Dwight Eisenhower;
19. Ray Kiermans, secretary for Joseph McCarthy;
20. Loretta Camp, secretary for Herbert Hoover;
21. Sidney L. Huff, writing on behalf of Douglas MacArthur;
22. Robert D. Ladd, secretary for Richard Nixon;
23. Yu Chang Jun, secretary for Syngman Rhee;
24. G. Frederick Mullen, Director of Public Information, Department of Justice;
25. John P. Meagher, Chief, Public Services Division, Department of State;
26. Paul P. Basco, secretary for Douglas MacArthur;
27. J. W. Ehrlich, lawyer.

Finally, the autographed Lewis Grizzard book is separate.

The third series consists of ten cassettes with a total of 18 episodes of WGAU programs, 17 of which are of the Dick Mendenhall Show, one of Open Line, co-hosted with Barbara Dooley. The Dick Mendenhall Show was an interview program, often featuring one-on-one conversations between the host and the guest. Several of these episodes have been roughly dated, while some cannot be dated (at least not without listening to the episodes in their entirety) and a few were dated in the collection’s accession file, information presumably provided by Mendenhall himself. The interviewees are: radio personality and WGAU owner H. Randolph Holder (three times: May 1st, 1995; August 12th, 1996; and March 17th, 1997); University of Georgia agriculture professor J. W. Fanning (May 19th, 1995); Athens Observer reporter, editor, and columnist Phil Sanderlin (unknown date); University of Georgia biologist Eugene Odum (twice: July 26th 1995 and September 12th, 1998); Tim Johnson, executive director of Community Connection (unknown date); U. S. Representative Charlie Norwood (unknown date); Oconee County Sheriff Scott Barry (unknown date); University of Georgia head football coach and athletic director Vince Dooley (November 12th, 1999); Athens Mayor and lawyer Upshaw Bentley (September 1st, 1999); local realtor, biking enthusiast, and author Fred Birchmore (February 6th, 1995); U. S. Representative John Linder (unknown date); and University of Georgia football player Charley Trippi (October 8th, 1999). Another undated episode features a roundtable discussion among Clarke County Sheriff Jerry Massey, Chief of Police Ronald Shandler, University of Georgia Director of Public Safety Asa Boynton, and University of Georgia Chief of Police Chuck Horton. And the single episode of Open Line features Mendenhall and Dooley taking calls from listeners, as would seem to be the standard content of that program.