Joel McLendon Oral History
Object number2007.001.0021
Date03/29/2007
ClassificationsOral Histories
Oral history interview subject
Joel McLendon
Oral history interviewer
Stephen Fagin
ObjectOral history
Credit LineOral History Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza
MediumHi-8 videotape
DimensionsDuration: 36 Minutes
Collections
DescriptionVideotaped oral history interview with Joel McLendon. The longest-running tenant at the Dallas Trade Mart, McLendon was among the first to open an office and showroom when the facility opened in 1958. He was a guest at the presidential luncheon at the Trade Mart on the day of the Kennedy assassination.
Interview conducted on March 29, 2007 at The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza by Stephen Fagin. The interview is thirty-six minutes long.
Curatorial CommentaryJoel McLendon had a long career in the retail business after starting as an employee of Sears, Roebuck and Co. in 1929. After World War II, he founded his own housewares distribution company, McLendon Wholesale Distributors (later The McLendon Company), and was among the first tenants at the Dallas Trade Mart when the facility opened in 1958. McLendon maintained an office and showroom at the Trade Mart for the rest of his life, making him the single longest tenant in the Trade Mart's history. He passed away at the age of 98 on February 27, 2012. - Stephen Fagin, Curator
Dallas Morning News Photographer
11/04/1960
