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.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1905
ID Number
2013.3017.01
nonaccession number
2013.3017
catalog number
2013.3017.01
By the end of the 19th century, inexpensive and easily reproducible souvenirs became an acceptable substitute for items made from Mount Vernon itself.Gift of Ralph E. Becker, 1974
Description
By the end of the 19th century, inexpensive and easily reproducible souvenirs became an acceptable substitute for items made from Mount Vernon itself.
Gift of Ralph E. Becker, 1974
date made
1789
associated person
Washington, George
ID Number
PL.227739.1789.S04
catalog number
227739.1789.S04
accession number
299199
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1909
associated date
1809 - 02-12
1865-04-15
depicted (sitter)
Lincoln, Abraham
ID Number
PL.227739.1865.S11
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1865.S11
This 1906 Christmas postcard features photographs of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, US President Theodore Roosevelt, and Emperor Meiji of Japan. Earlier that year, Roosevelt had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War.
Description
This 1906 Christmas postcard features photographs of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, US President Theodore Roosevelt, and Emperor Meiji of Japan. Earlier that year, Roosevelt had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiating the end of the Russo-Japanese War. According to the Nobel Foundation, "Roosevelt was the first statesman to be awarded the Peace Prize, and for the first time the award was controversial."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1906
associated date
1906-12-25
depicted (sitter)
Roosevelt, Theodore
Nicholas II Emperor of Russia
Meiji Emperor of Japan
ID Number
PL.227739.1906.S02
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1906.S02
By her own account, temperance reformer Carry A. Nation used rocks, a sledgehammer borrowed from a blacksmith, and a bar room billiard ball to destroy five Kansas saloons—before she took up a hatchet to destroy a Wichita, Kansas, saloon on December 27, 1900.
Description
By her own account, temperance reformer Carry A. Nation used rocks, a sledgehammer borrowed from a blacksmith, and a bar room billiard ball to destroy five Kansas saloons—before she took up a hatchet to destroy a Wichita, Kansas, saloon on December 27, 1900. Saloons were illegal under Kansas state law, but tolerated by officials. Explaining her choice of weapon, Nation recalled that the state’s “liquor interests” had nothing to fear from the usual temperance advocates, “but they were not prepared for a furious woman and a hatchet.” Her saloon smashings became known as “hatchetations”—a play on words coined by the publicity-savvy Nation.
A Topeka, Kansas, druggist supplied Nation with little pewter hatchets to sell to cover her legal fines and travel expenses. Nation found that the public clamored for her hatchet souvenirs and readily grasped the meaning of them.
date made
1901
ID Number
PL.227739.1901.S19
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1901.S19
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1909
depicted (sitter)
Roosevelt, Theodore
associated institution
Smithsonian Institution
depicted
Mearns, Edgar Alexander
ID Number
PL.227739.1909.S03
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1909.S03
associated person
Taft, William H.
ID Number
PL.227739.1908.S30
catalog number
227739.1908.S30
accession number
227739
Representations of Theodore Roosevelt with and sometimes as a bear began after he refused to shoot a restrained bear on a 1902 hunting trip to Mississippi.
Description
Representations of Theodore Roosevelt with and sometimes as a bear began after he refused to shoot a restrained bear on a 1902 hunting trip to Mississippi. This eventually led to his famous association with the “teddy bear.” However, the use of that term was promoted not just by a stuffed toy but also in a popular series of children’s books by Seymour Eaton. In 1905 Eaton wrote his first volume about Teddy-B and Teddy-G, the Roosevelt Bears. The characters’ appeal was enhanced by the connection to Roosevelt’s presidency and his campaign as a third-party candidate in 1912. The illustrations of the Roosevelt Bears were so well-liked they were issued as postcards marketed to adults. The image by R.K. Culver on this postcard first appeared in the second volume of Eaton’s series, More About Teddy B and Teddy G, the Roosevelt Bears, published in 1907
associated person
Roosevelt, Theodore
ID Number
PL.227739.1904.S03
catalog number
227739.1904.S03
accession number
227739
This postcard urges support for a coming (successful) vote in California. California granted woman suffrage in 1911.
Description
This postcard urges support for a coming (successful) vote in California. California granted woman suffrage in 1911. The five stars below the banner represent the states which had already granted full suffrage: Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), Idaho (1896), and Washington (1910).
The National American Woman Suffrage Association began a postcard campaign in 1910, partly to raise awareness of the cause and partly as a fundraiser. The cards could be funny, serious, or sentimental. Some employed powerful patriotic symbols and logical arguments to make their case for woman’s right to vote.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PL.257500.19
catalog number
257500.19
accession number
257500
date made
1964
associated date
1964
referenced
Johnson, Lady Bird
ID Number
PL.261093.04b
accession number
261093
catalog number
261093.04.b
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
circa 1909
associated date
1809--02-12
depicted date
1865-12-15
associated date
1865-04-15
depicted (sitter)
Lincoln, Abraham
depicted
Lincoln, Mary Todd
Rathbone, Henry Reed
Booth, John Wilkes
ID Number
PL.227739.1865.S03
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1865.S03
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PL.288174.04
catalog number
288174.04
To the tune of the "Star Spangled Banner", this postcard celebrates the first five states to grant full suffrage: Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), Idaho (1896), and Washington (1910). At the same time it looks forward to a coming (successful) vote in California.
Description
To the tune of the "Star Spangled Banner", this postcard celebrates the first five states to grant full suffrage: Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), Idaho (1896), and Washington (1910). At the same time it looks forward to a coming (successful) vote in California. California granted woman suffrage in 1911.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association began a postcard campaign in 1910, partly to raise awareness of the cause and partly as a fundraiser. The cards could be funny, serious, or sentimental. Some employed powerful patriotic symbols and logical arguments to make their case for woman’s right to vote.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PL.257500.17
catalog number
257500.17
accession number
257500
This postcard honors Susan B. Anthony and urges women to complete her work for suffrage. Anthony died in 1906, fourteen years before passage of the nineteenth amendment giving women the right to vote.
Description
This postcard honors Susan B. Anthony and urges women to complete her work for suffrage. Anthony died in 1906, fourteen years before passage of the nineteenth amendment giving women the right to vote. In her last public speech for woman suffrage she declared that, "Failure is impossible."
The National American Woman Suffrage Association began a postcard campaign in 1910, partly to raise awareness of the cause and partly as a fundraiser. The cards could be funny, serious, or sentimental. Some employed powerful patriotic symbols and logical arguments to make their case for woman’s right to vote.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
March 14, 1910
ID Number
PL.257500.16
catalog number
257500.16
accession number
257500
This postcard urges support for a coming (unsuccessful) campaign by the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association to ratify a state constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote in 1912. Ohio women could not vote until the state ratified the nineteenth amendment in 1919.
Description
This postcard urges support for a coming (unsuccessful) campaign by the Ohio Woman Suffrage Association to ratify a state constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote in 1912. Ohio women could not vote until the state ratified the nineteenth amendment in 1919. The six stars represent the first six states to grant full suffrage: Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), Idaho (1896), Washington (1910), and California (1911).
The National American Woman Suffrage Association began a postcard campaign in 1910, partly to raise awareness of the cause and partly as a fundraiser. The cards could be funny, serious, or sentimental. Some employed powerful patriotic symbols and logical arguments to make their case for woman’s right to vote.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PL.257500.21
catalog number
257500.21
accession number
257500
associated person
Bryan, William Jennings
ID Number
PL.227739.1908.S05
catalog number
227739.1908.S05
accession number
227739
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1896
ID Number
PL.227739.1896.S01
catalog number
227739.1896.S01
accession number
227739
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1909
associated date
1809-02-11
1865-04-15
depicted date
1865-04-20
referenced
U.S. War Department
Stanton, Edwin McMasters
depicted (sitter)
Lincoln, Abraham
ID Number
PL.227739.1865.S07
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1865.S07
This postcard celebrates the passage of full suffrage in California in 1911 by depicting the symbolic adding of that state’s star to a ssuffrage flag." California joined stars representing the passage of suffrage in Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), Idaho (1896), and
Description
This postcard celebrates the passage of full suffrage in California in 1911 by depicting the symbolic adding of that state’s star to a ssuffrage flag." California joined stars representing the passage of suffrage in Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), Idaho (1896), and Washington (1910) on the flag.
The National American Woman Suffrage Association began a postcard campaign in 1910, partly to raise awareness of the cause and partly as a fundraiser. The cards could be funny, serious, or sentimental. Some employed powerful patriotic symbols and logical arguments to make their case for woman’s right to vote.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PL.257500.25
catalog number
257500.25
accession number
257500
associated date
1908
associated institution
Republican National Party
ID Number
PL.227739.1908.S41
catalog number
227739.1908.S41
accession number
227739
Political postcards were very popular in 1908 because of various changes in postal regulations.
Description
Political postcards were very popular in 1908 because of various changes in postal regulations. Two of the most important were lowering the postage cost to a penny and permitting space for both the message and address on one side which made room for a decorative image on the other. This colorful postcard is representative of the hundreds produced for this election.
Republican candidate William Howard Taft had a distinguished career in law and government long before President Theodore Roosevelt identified Taft as his preferred successor. Taft had served as a federal judge, Governor-General of the Philippines, and the first Provisional Governor of Cuba before becoming Roosevelt’s Secretary of War in 1904. In 1908, Taft and his running mate, Representative James Sherman of New York, handed Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan the worst defeat of his three attempts to win the White House. Socialist candidate Eugene V. Debs finished a distant third.
referenced
Taft, William H.
Sherman
ID Number
PL.315264.3133
accession number
315264
catalog number
315264.3133
In 1952, Republican vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon was challenged over his use of campaign funds. On September 23, Nixon delivered a television to address the accusations.
Description
In 1952, Republican vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon was challenged over his use of campaign funds. On September 23, Nixon delivered a television to address the accusations. An avalanche of supportive mail followed and, in turn, a grateful campaign mailed each respondent a thank-you postcard. The mass-mailed postcard had a photo of Nixon, his wife Pat, and their daughters Julie and Tricia as well as a "personalized" note. The speech came to be known as the "Checkers Speech" after a dog that had been sent to the Nixon daughters during the campaign. In the speech, Nixon said they were going to keep the dog.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1952
depicted
Nixon, Patricia
Nixon, Richard M.
Cox, Tricia Nixon
Eisenhower, Julie Nixon
ID Number
2007.0159.01
catalog number
2007.0159.01
accession number
2007.0159
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
referenced
Nixon, Richard M.
maker
Columbia Wholesale Supply
ID Number
2006.0171.01
accession number
2006.0171
catalog number
20006.0171.01
In 1952, Republican vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon was challenged over his use of campaign funds. On September 23, Nixon delivered a television to address the accusations.
Description
In 1952, Republican vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon was challenged over his use of campaign funds. On September 23, Nixon delivered a television to address the accusations. An avalanche of supportive mail followed and, in turn, a grateful campaign mailed each respondent a thank-you postcard. The mass-mailed postcard had a photo of Nixon, his wife Pat, and their daughters Julie and Tricia as well as a "personalized" note. The speech came to be known as the "Checkers Speech" after a dog that had been sent to the Nixon daughters during the campaign. In the speech, Nixon said they were going to keep the dog.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1952
depicted
Nixon, Patricia
Nixon, Richard M.
Cox, Tricia Nixon
Eisenhower, Julie Nixon
ID Number
2007.0159.02
accession number
2007.0159
catalog number
2007.0159.02

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