Exhibit: All Politics is Local: Prominent National, State, and Local Political Figures in Muncie’s History
Just can’t get enough politics during this political season? Come see posters, bumper stickers, photographs, and more historical memorabilia and documents in All Politics is Local: Prominent National, State, and Local Political Figures in Muncie’s History, an exhibit presented by Ball State University Libraries’ Archives and Special Collections, Bracken Library, Room 210. 
The late Tip O’Neill, former Speaker of the U. S. House of Representatives, is famously quoted as saying, “All politics is local.” After losing a local election, O’Neill’s father reminded him that all politics are of great importance at the local level, no matter how big the election. That concept has been evident locally as many prominent national political figures visited and campaigned in Muncie throughout its history. In addition, Muncie has served as home base for politicians who made impacts on local, state, and national levels. Muncie has been a political backyard where “all politics is local.”
The exhibit highlights campaigns and visits by presidents and presidential candidates such as William Jennings Bryan, Thomas Dewey, Harry S Truman, John and Robert Kennedy, Ford, and Richard Nixon, Gerald, and others. Other influential national, state and local political figures such as Otis Bowen, Rollin Bunch, J. Roberts Dailey, George Dale, Hurley Goodall, and Phil Sharp are also included in the exhibit.
QR codes are provided on several of the exhibit cases that will take you directly to relevant digital items in the Libraries’ Digital Media Repository, including video and audio of speeches given in Muncie by Senator Birch Bayh, President Gerald Ford, Senator Richard Lugar, Presidential Candidate Robert F. Kennedy, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The exhibit on the 2nd floor of Bracken Library runs from October 15, 2012 to January 4, 2013, and is open to the public. For more information, contact Archives and Special Collections, libarchives@bsu.edu, 765-285-5078.
Photo: John F. Kennedy visits the Warner Gear factory in Muncie, Indiana.