Robert G. Cunningham
Robert (Bob) G. Cunningham: 23rd mayor of Muncie. Read our article about his term “Man of the Hour: How Bob Cunningham Fought Muncie’s Political Duopoly.”
His administration was part of the “Democratic landslide” years that lasted between 1967 and 1979 where his party had major control of the seats. As a person, Cunningham was one of the most humble and dedicated members of the Muncie community. Whether it was as a grocer giving out food to those in need or his beliefs in human rights that were reflected in his political career, he always put others first before himself.
He was born in 1928 here in Muncie. As a kid he attended Muncie Central High School and went on to graduate from Washington School of Arts. He served in Germany during WW2.
After his time overseas, the only time he would leave Muncie would be to visit family in Tennessee. Otherwise, he was only ever interested in staying in the city. In 1948 he opened the Red Front Grocery and later ran Cunningham’s Market from 1969 to 1976.
He later served as Township Assessor between 1983 and 1993. For years he was a cartoonist, both for the Muncie Evening Press and his own self-published material, and involved in historic preservation. The latter included compiling city election results, donating his collection of historic documents to Ball State University, and advocating for historic buildings to be preserved. He died at Ball Memorial Hospital on May 31st, 2005.
City Council Years
Cunningham was first elected to council in 1955 for the 6th district. From there he served on and off again, as he lost his primary in ’59, was elected again in ’63, won his bid for Council-At-Large in ’67, but then lost a mayoral primary to Paul Cooley in ’71. He was appointed council president in ’68 but was replaced by Roscoe Turney in ’69. In ’74 he was appointed to the council after former Council-president Orville Rodeffer died December 1st the year prior.
The council in 1964 approved an ordinance creating Muncie’s own Human Rights Commission. Years later when the Civil Rights Act of 1968 passed, it included a Fair Housing Act that strengthened regulations to stop discriminatory practices in the housing market. The ordinance itself granted the HRC the authority to investigate such discrimination practices and cite individuals for practicing it. An attempt was made the year prior for the ordinance but it was accidentally filed then withdrawn, and Cunningham was interviewed by WLBC-TV on the issue. You can watch at the tail end of this interview where Cunningham says he believes everyone should have the right to live where ever they want to, something radical to say in the time period.
D-Primary '55
D-General '55
D-Primary '59
D-Primary '63
D-General '63
D-Primary '67
1975 Mayoral Election
Cunningham’s term in office was the last of the Democratic landslide years that lasted for multiple elections between the ‘60s and ‘70s, but he represented a different side of the party than his rival Paul Cooley. According to his grandson, he viewed political parties as a way of organizing thoughts on policy, but otherwise had little affinity for the establishment of his party. Jerry Thornburg, who for many years was considered part of the dissident faction of Democrats, was part of his campaign team.
Cunningham’s best political connection came from Jean Hemmert, who at different times served as a precinct committee woman, Delaware County Voters Registration, and Secretary in his administration. She helped Cunningham in every election he ran for and acted as his watchdog against anyone trying to politically maneuver him. She was active in politics in a lowkey way like many others, but her own family included Harry Kleinfelder, her father who served in council (’42 to ’47), as well as acted as building examiner during the George Dale administration.
Thomas Moran writes: “The 1975 election was an election of changing roles in municipal politics. The people of Muncie elected a common man with no special endowments. Cunningham pledged only to do the best job possible. He had risen from the grocery business on the south side, and the Democrat was elected by those people. Because the poor people of Muncie had become a major political block, their role in Muncie’s future was now more decisive.”
Cunningham and his supporters on election night. Courtesy of Ball State Archives and Special Collections.
Cunningham's Administration 1976-1979
Cunningham in his office with three unknown men. Special thanks to the Cunningham family for providing this and other photos.
Although Cunningham was in many ways a radical for his time, he also focused on limiting government spending. He refused a pay increase for three years in a row and he had no deputy mayor in his administration. Many responsibilities were done by his Secretary Jean Hemmert, instead of having party members appointed to several positions. He was personally proud of his term for fighting to keep public utility costs low, granting 26% in public salary increases total, getting Muncie federal funds for public and elderly housing, and the reconstruction of Broadway and Madison.
Cunningham in City Hall. Special thanks to the Cunningham family for providing this and other photos.
Reconstruction of Broadway and Madison
Blizzard of '78
Started January 25th to 27th. There was little warning beforehand and highways and most other roads were closed. As well as plenty of school closings and the only way Cunningham himself could make it to City Hall was by a snowmobile. Additionally, the blizzard caused a gas line explosion that caused a fire at High Street United Methodist Church.
Firemen's Strike
July 20th, 1977 was the Firemen’s Strike against the city. Member of the police and fire departments desired a 12% salary increase, but were told it would only be 10% instead. It was reported that for them it wasn’t about the 2% extra pay increase, but the respect of having the city stick with bargaining agreements. According to Cunningham, he was sympathetic to their demands but could only provide them what council would allow. He said “It was a good decent offer — 10 percent. Ten per cent is the best offer in the history of the City of Muncie. We would like to give them more but we can’t. This is the highest piece of cake these people have ever gotten and you would think people would be happy with it.” Over a week prior Cunningham announced that anyone working at City Hall would have to work for the department in some capacity during a strike if one were to happen. The strike lasted one day and in the end it was agreed by both parties that bargaining rights should be better insured on a state level. Cunningham himself like many City Hall employees manned a fire station, and after the night said “you guys deserve every penny you get.”
City Planning
Middletown researcher Dwight Hoover summarized city planning in those years:
“The Barton-Aschman Associates had input into the ordinance of 1973 and the Delaware-Muncie Comprehensive Plan of 1976. The latter begins apologetically, saying that it has taken seven years to prepare and has cost over $600,000. However, most of the work was done by a consulting firm, Barton-Aschman, two-thirds of the cost was borne by the federal government, and the one-third local cost was in-kind contribution.
Both the plan of 1976 and that presented by Barton-Aschman the following year had common elements. Both involved considerable community input; the plan commission asked more than 50 communityleaders and about an equal number of local groups to list objectives while the transit plan had the support of a task force composed of 9 local agencies in deriving a scheme to transport elderly and handicapped citizens. 41 Both continued the emphasis upon boosting the community first noted by Lynd in 1935. The 1976 plan had as its first goal “to promote the improvement of Delaware County’s economic base by encouraging order·ly industrial growth,” while the rationale for the Barton-Aschman plan was to guide desired growth and to maintain eligibility for federal funds. Both assumed continued growth, estimating that the population of the SMA would increase by 30,000 by the year 2000 and that manufacturing and industrial jobs would lead the way in employment.”
^ SOURCE: “City Planning in Middletown, U.S.A.: Muncie, Indiana, 1920-1990,” undated, Box: 14, Folder: 18. Center for Middletown Studies records, RG-05-02-10. Ball State University Archives.
1980-1993
He later ran for Center Township Assessor and won in 1982. In 1987 he ran in the Democratic primary against Carey once again. Carey won with 3,174 votes above Bob Cunningham, especially big compared to his last win against Cunningham that was only in the hundreds. Carey and his campaign team also knew that support in the general election would be high considering Cunningham was his only opponents in the party, while in ’79 and ’83 Carey had nine opponents in both. Cunningham brought up the Jail Center tax increases as well as the City Hall and Civic Center projects. His opposition to the new City Hall in particular was interesting, as he believed the building at the time should’ve been renovated instead of being moved into the Ball Store. According to the Evening Press: “Cunningham said his work as assessor made him question projects that displaced viable businesses and replaced them with parking lots or headquarters for tax-exempt organizations.” The next day in the Star, Cunningham also went on to talk about the city’s reduced tax base and how the reduction of this for businesses and non-profits caused it.
Out of the 3,839 votes Cunningham received, it’s hard to say if they were part of a uniform dissident faction of Democrats or were purely fans of Cunningham himself. Jerry Thornburg, who first helped Cunningham in ’75 and ran against him in ’79, was now supporting Carey in this primary. Carey had larger support from the party than he ever had previously and went on to win against Republican candidate Phyllis J. Marlowe.
Retirement from Politics
After his time serving as Town Assessor, he retired from politics in 1993. He continued writing books on Muncie, one of which was his second edition of Muncie City Elections in 1995, available right before the general election where Dan Canan won his first term. Just like he had done for most of his public life, he focused on the preservation of historical buildings and documents.
