Pamphlet for Dick Gregory's 1968 write-in presidential campaign: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A political brochure from the 1968 Presidential elections supporting Dick Gregory and Mark Lane as write-in candidates for President and Vice President of the United States of America. The trifold brochure is white with black-and-white images and black graphics and text. The front cover features an image of Gregory standing behind a set of microphones. He is shown from the shoulders up, facing the viewer, and looking up into the distance. Large right justified text above the photograph reads [VOTE / FOR / REAL!] with the exclamation point angled slightly to the right. Printed below the photograph is text of varying sizes that reads [Dick GREGORY / FOR PRESIDENT / Mark LANE / FOR VICE-PRES.]. At the bottom is small text centered between two graphics of hourglasses that reads [VOTE COLUMN “H” / Last Column on Voting Machine / FREEDOM & PEACE PARTY]. Printed on the back of the brochure is a four-paragraph text blurb advocating the Freedom and Peace Party as an independent party and introducing their candidates, Dick Gregory and Mark Lane, as an alternative to Richard Nixon, Hubert Humphrey, George Wallace. Printed at the bottom are a list of the party’s state candidates and a repeat of the graphics and voting instructions printed on the front. At the bottom left is a New York union stamp with the number [82] printed next to it. Unfolded, the interior has three panels. The left panel features a smaller photograph of Dick Gregory and political campaign declarations. The middle panel features biographical information about Gregory that includes information about his 1967 Chicago Mayoral run, his role as Co-chairman of the International Committee of Inquiry of the Assassination of President Kennedy, his tenure as a Member of the Board of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, his civil rights and activist arrest record, his foreign government relations, and his self-identification as a social satirist and philosopher. The panel on the right lists the political stances of the Freedom and Peace Party. At the bottom of the center and right panels is a text box that lists Gregory’s sponsors. The list includes Father James Groppi, Ossie Davis, Lincoln Lynch, Stewart Meacham, Reies Tijerina, Dr. Benjamin Spock, Robert S. Browne, David Frost, Herbert Aptheker, Norma Becker, Floyd McKissick, Dagmar Wilson, Allen Ginsberg, Paul Booth, Rev. Stephen H. Fritchman, Rev. William Sloane Coffin, Rev. Thomas Lee Hayes, Pete Seeger, Donna Allen, Prof. Sidney Peck, and W.H. Ferry. When unfolded, the back not only includes the back and front covers on the center and right panels respectively, but also, on the left panel, is a photograph of Mark Lane and biographical information about him that includes information about his role as founder of the N.Y. Reform Democratic Movement, his efforts to expose politicians, his service record in the N.Y. State Legislature, his civil rights and activist arrest record, his stance on Vietnam withdrawal, his book credits, and his political and legal advocacy work.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1968
• Printed by: Unidentified
• Distributed by: Peace and Freedom Party, American, founded 1967
• Subject of: Dick Gregory, American, 1932 - 2017
• Subject of: Mark Lane, American, 1927 - 2016
• Subject of: President Richard M. Nixon, American, 1913 - 1994
• Subject of: George Wallace, American, 1919 - 1998
• Subject of: Hubert Horatio Humphrey Jr., American, 1911 - 1978
• Subject of: James Groppi, American, 1930 - 1985
• Type: brochures
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Closed): 8 9/16 × 3 11/16 × 1/16 in. (21.7 × 9.4 × 0.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Open): 8 9/16 × 11 × 1/16 in. (21.7 × 28 × 0.1 cm)
• Place printed: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Place used: United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Activism
• Topic: Civil Rights
• Topic: Comedy
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Political organizations
• Topic: Politics
• Topic: Social reform
• Object number: 2022.63.4
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No known copyright restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.