Government, Politics, and Reform

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln are all represented in the Museum's collections—by a surveying compass, a lap desk, and a top hat, among other artifacts. But the roughly 100,000 objects in this collection reach beyond the possessions of statesmen to touch the broader political life of the nation—in election campaigns, the women's suffrage movement, labor activity, civil rights, and many other areas. Campaign objects make up much of the collection, including posters, novelties, ballots, voting machines, and many others. A second group includes general political history artifacts, such as first ladies' clothing and accessories, diplomatic materials, ceremonial objects, national symbols, and paintings and sculptures of political figures. The third main area focuses on artifacts related to political reform movements, from labor unions to antiwar groups.

This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1840s. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1840s. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing right. The legend reads: HONOR WHERE HONOR'S DUE TO THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE/ GEN WILLIAM H. HARRISON.
Reverse: Image of the Bunker Hill Monument in the center, the legend reads: BUNKER HILL. A NATION’s GRATITUDE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1244
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1244
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GENl W. HARRISON BORN FEB. 9. 1773.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin, with a legend that reads: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE IN THE YEAR 1840.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1154
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1154
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals. This medal’s hole indicates it was worn
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. Legend: MAJ. GEN. W.H. HARRISON/BORN FEB 9, 1773.
Reverse: Log cabin with American flag, and barrel of hard cider. Legend: THE PEOPLES CHOICE/THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1841
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1255
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1255
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce various consumer goods including campaign medals. The medal has a hole in the top, allowing it to be worn.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. Legend: MAJ. GEN. W.H. HARRISON/BORN FEB 9, 1773.
Reverse: Log cabin with American flag, and barrel of hard cider. Legend: THE PEOPLES CHOICE/THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1841
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1249
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1249
This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing right. The legend reads: HONOR WHERE HONOR'S DUE TO THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE/ GEN WILLIAM H. HARRISON.
Reverse: Bust of Henry Clay facing left. The legend reads: HENRY CLAY/ THE FARMER OF ASHLAND/ BORN APRIL 12 1777.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
Clay, Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1239
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1239
This coin was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1930s. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This coin was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut during the 1930s. Scovill was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods. These coins could be mailed to Cracker Jack to become a Mystery Club member.
Obverse: Bust of William Harrison facing forward. Legend: THE PRESIDENT, U.S.A./ 1841- DIED/ WM. HENRY HARRISON.
Reverse:"OLD TIPPECANOE"/ "THE WASHINGTON OF THE WEST"/ JOIN THE CRACKER JACK MYSTERY CLUB SAVE THIS COIN/ THE CRACKER JACK CO. CHICAGO, U.S.A.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1930
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1266
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1266
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill is an important example of early American industrial manufacturing that adapted armory machines to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing right. The legend reads: WILLIAM H. HARRISON,THE HERO & STATESMAN.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin set into the woods with smoke rising from the chimney. Legend reads: CANDIDATE OF THE PEOPLE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1221
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1221
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GENl W. HARRISON BORN FEB. 9. 1773.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin, with a legend: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE IN THE YEAR 1840.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1195
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1195
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GEN. W.H. HARRISON/1841.
Reverse: Spread-winged eagle with shield, clutching a laurel branch and three arrows in its’ talons. In the eagle’s beak is a ribbon that reads: O IT TIP.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1841
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1248
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1248
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1840. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods campaign medals. The medal has a hole so that it could be worn.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GENl W. HARRISON BORN FEB. 9. 1773.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin, and the legend: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE/ THE HERO OF TIPPECANOE.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1840
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1200
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1200
This presidential campaign pin was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1888. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign pin was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1888. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer that is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals. The pin is in the shape of a clover.
Obverse: Bust of Benjamin Harrison facing left. The legend reads: HE’S ALL RIGHT. HARRISON.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1888
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1161
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1161
John Varden began to collect these locks of hair in 1850.
Description
John Varden began to collect these locks of hair in 1850. At the time, he was working as keeper of collections for the National Institute for the Promotion of Science at the US Patent Office, but he considered the hair collection to be his personal property.
Varden presented his first hair display at the Patent Office in 1853, assembled from donations that he personally solicited, purchased, or may have repurposed from existing collections. The presidential locks are now missing from the 1853 collection; Varden moved them to a separate display in 1855. The remaining “Persons of Distinction” include Samuel F. B. Morse, sculptor Clark Mills, Generals Winfield Scott and Sam Houston, Senators Henry Clay and Jefferson Davis, and other luminaries. Varden’s inscription makes a public appeal: “Those having hair of Distinguished Persons, will confere [sic] a Favor by adding to this Collection.”
The 1855 display features the hair of presidents from George Washington to Franklin Pierce.
Transfer from the United States Patent Office, 1883
date made
1855
associated person
Washington, George
Adams, John
Adams, John Quincy
Jefferson, Thomas
Madison, James
Monroe, James
Jackson, Andrew
Van Buren, Martin
Harrison, William Henry
Polk, James K.
Tyler, John
Taylor, Zachary
Fillmore, Millard
Pierce, Franklin
ID Number
PL.016157B
catalog number
016157
accession number
13152
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This presidential campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1841. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today. Scovill was an early industrial American innovator, adapting armory manufacturing processes to mass-produce a variety of consumer goods including buttons, daguerreotype mats, and campaign medals.
Obverse: Bust of William Henry Harrison facing left. The legend reads: MAJ. GENl W. HARRISON BORN FEB. 9. 1773.
Reverse: Image of a log cabin, with a legend that reads: THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE IN THE YEAR 1841.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1841
depicted
Harrison, William Henry
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1228
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1228
Some partisans were content to wear a ribbon. Quilter Abigail Ann Lane and her husband, William Bagley Lane, acquired enough Whig and William Henry Harrison ribbons to sleep in. The quilt is composed of three different ribbon designs.
Description
Some partisans were content to wear a ribbon. Quilter Abigail Ann Lane and her husband, William Bagley Lane, acquired enough Whig and William Henry Harrison ribbons to sleep in. The quilt is composed of three different ribbon designs. The most prevalent ribbon commemorates Harrison’s inauguration as president in March 1841 and his death about a month later, a date printed near the bottom of the ribbon that was not part of the original engraving. The quilt is made of 432 ribbons stitched together and backed with plain white linen. According to family tradition, the Lanes acquired—or were left with—an overstock of ribbons for Mrs. Lane to assemble the quilt.
associated person
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.034124
catalog number
34124
accession number
70903
The Whig campaign of 1840 against incumbent President Martin Van Buren established a pattern of predetermined imagery, from which later campaigns have seldom deviated.
Description
The Whig campaign of 1840 against incumbent President Martin Van Buren established a pattern of predetermined imagery, from which later campaigns have seldom deviated. The Whigs adopted the symbols of the log cabin and hard cider to promote the candidacy of General William Henry Harrison. An outpouring of objects with designs of log cabins, such as this cream and blue log cabin patterned china creamer, soon followed.
associated person
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037347
catalog number
037347
accession number
115031
associated
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037348a
catalog number
37348a
accession number
115031
associated person
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.227739.1840.I06
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1840.I6
accession number
270930
associated person
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037346
catalog number
037346
accession number
115031
associated
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037348b
catalog number
37348b
accession number
115031
associated
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037348d
catalog number
37348d
accession number
115031
associated person
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037349
catalog number
037349
accession number
115031
associated
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037348e
catalog number
37348e
accession number
115031
associated
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
PL.037348c
catalog number
37348c
accession number
115031
associated person
Harrison, William Henry
ID Number
2015.0200.008
accession number
2015.0200
catalog number
2015.0200.008

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