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Pearl Frances Runyon

American politician (1913–1989)

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionApr 24, 2026
Entity authorityQ121898461
Source-derived summary

Pearl Frances Runyon (1913 – March 17, 1989) was an American politician who served as Kentucky State Treasurer from 1949 to 1956. She was a member of the Democratic Party.

Biography

Pearl Frances Runyon was born in 1913, in Belfry, Kentucky. She first became involved in politics at the age of 8, when her father, a merchant, lumber dealer, and building contractor who was active in politics, arranged for her to babysit the children of voters. In 1931, she graduated at the top of class at Belfry High School, and went on to graduate from a business school in Charleston, West Virginia.

Runyon began her career in politics in 1934, when she was elected deputy Pike County court clerk, a position she held for 14 years. In 1947, governor Earle Clements appointed her assistant secretary of state of Kentucky. In 1949, Edward F. Seiller died, leaving the office of treasurer vacant, she was appointed by governor Clements to fill the vacancy. In 1952, she was elected treasurer for a second term, becoming the second woman to be elected to the office.

Death

Runyon died on March 17, 1989, at Mountain Manor Nursing Home in Pikeville, Kentucky, at the age of 76.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Pearl Frances Runyon” as american politician (1913–1989). This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Pearl, Frances and Runyon.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1913, 1989, 1949, 1956—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1913-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Pearl, Frances and Runyon providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Pearl Frances Runyon”, the useful work is to connect “american politician (1913–1989)” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q121898461. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1913, 1989, 1949 and 1956.

Critical limits

Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
Verify next

Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Pearl Frances Runyon”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Pearl Frances Runyon primary sources, Pearl Frances Runyon archive and Pearl research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Pearl Frances Runyon”?
  2. How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
  3. Which claims depend on a single source or contested interpretation?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Pearl Frances Runyon” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.