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 fish-shaped can opener went to Africa with Theodore Roosevelt. A keen enthusiast of “vigorous blood-stirring out of doors sport,” Roosevelt began planning his African safari well before he retired from the presidency in 1909.
Description
This fish-shaped can opener went to Africa with Theodore Roosevelt. A keen enthusiast of “vigorous blood-stirring out of doors sport,” Roosevelt began planning his African safari well before he retired from the presidency in 1909. Roosevelt specified the contents of each provision box, as he had for his hunting trips in the Dakota Territory as a young man. He ordered up cans of Boston baked beans, California peaches, and tomatoes, all “in memory of my days in the West.”
An essential tool from the journey that Roosevelt had long imagined, the can opener is of cast iron, inset with a steel blade. The original finish appears to have been golden paint, worn by heavy use.
Smithsonian African Expedition, 1910
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1910
associated person
Roosevelt, Theodore
ID Number
PL.259159
catalog number
259159
accession number
51304
This campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1917. The Scovill Company was established in 1802 as a button manufacturer and is still in business today.
Description (Brief)
This campaign medal was made by the Scovill Manufacturing Company of Waterbury, Connecticut around 1917. 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 Woodrow Wilson facing left. The legend reads: Woodrow Wilson/27th President/1913-1917/USA.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1917
depicted
Wilson, Woodrow
maker
Scovill Manufacturing Company
ID Number
1981.0296.1566
accession number
1981.0296
catalog number
1981.0296.1566
On the eve of the First World War a statue of Joan of Arc was raised in New York City. The cast-bronze figure was placed atop a pedestal fitted with stones recently excavated from the castle in which Joan had been imprisoned and led to the stake in 1431.
Description
On the eve of the First World War a statue of Joan of Arc was raised in New York City. The cast-bronze figure was placed atop a pedestal fitted with stones recently excavated from the castle in which Joan had been imprisoned and led to the stake in 1431. The statue and its symbolic pedestal were the inspiration of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, led by George Frederick Kunz, a gemologist with Tiffany and Company.
In 1909, Kunz chartered a statue committee to commemorate the upcoming 500th anniversary of Joan’s birth in 1412. The committee chose the young sculptor Anna Vaughn Hyatt to create the figure of an armor-clad Joan astride a horse.
In 1912, learning that the dungeon was being excavated to make way for a modern building in Rouen, France, Kunz and the statue committee purchased the lot of 229 blocks, some 36,000 pounds of stone. The stones left Rouen for New York in June 1914. Today they form the decorative elements of the pedestal of the statue at Riverside Drive and 93rd Street.
Gift of the Joan of Arc Statue Committee through George F. Kunz, 1915
date made
1915
associated date
1915-12-06
associated person
Joan of Arc
ID Number
PL.015842
catalog number
15842
accession number
59181
On the day before the 1913 presidential inauguration, more than 5,000 women marched up Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote. Women from around the country came to Washington in a show of strength and determination to obtain the ballot.
Description
On the day before the 1913 presidential inauguration, more than 5,000 women marched up Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote. Women from around the country came to Washington in a show of strength and determination to obtain the ballot. More than 10,000 spectators crowded the parade route. Some were simply boisterous but others were hostile. They spilled past the barriers and off the sidewalks, clogging Pennsylvania Avenue. Police officers were unable or unwilling to hold back the crowds and after the first four blocks the parade stalled as the marchers couldn’t pass through the mob. A cavalry unit from Fort Myer was finally called in to restore order and the parade finished hours late. The public was horrified, and a one-day event became an ongoing story, with demands for an investigation of the police department’s failure to protect the women.
The Senate held eleven days of hearings and gathered contradictory testimony from more than 150 witnesses. The committee decided that the police had not done an adequate job of protecting the parade or clearing the parade route. But although some officers had behaved badly, there had been no official policy to harass the marchers or leave them unprotected.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1913
associated date
1913
associated institution
National Woman's Party
ID Number
1987.0165.093
catalog number
1987.0165.093
accession number
1987.0165
In the early 1900s, union organizers overcame the seemingly impossible task of uniting employees in factories and small scattered shops. Surmounting ethnic divisions and hostile owners, workers built lasting labor unions within the major divisions of the garment industry.
Description
In the early 1900s, union organizers overcame the seemingly impossible task of uniting employees in factories and small scattered shops. Surmounting ethnic divisions and hostile owners, workers built lasting labor unions within the major divisions of the garment industry. The International Ladies’ Garment Workers Union organized women’s and children’s apparel workers; the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America focused on men’s clothing employees; and the United Garment Workers of America centered primarily on makers of work clothing.
With President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation granting unions legal protection to organize, membership in needle trade unions rose to more than 400,000 out of a garment industry work force of more than 600,000 in 1934.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1916
associated date
May 3, 1916
ID Number
1986.0710.0043
accession number
1986.0710
catalog number
1986.0710.0043
On January 11, 1914 Elizabeth Kent of the Congressional Union for Woman’s Suffrage presented Alice Paul with a silver loving cup "in affectionate recognition of her wisdom, her devotion and her courage." It was Paul’s twenty-ninth birthday.
Description
On January 11, 1914 Elizabeth Kent of the Congressional Union for Woman’s Suffrage presented Alice Paul with a silver loving cup "in affectionate recognition of her wisdom, her devotion and her courage." It was Paul’s twenty-ninth birthday. At this meeting Alice Paul announced her daring new strategy: campaigning to defeat members of the political party in power (at that time the Democratic Party) until that party officially supported woman suffrage. This change from the more conservative state-by-state lobbying efforts fractured the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association and the Congressional Union for Woman’s Suffrage. Paul split off from the National American Woman Suffrage Association and eventually formed the National Woman’s Party.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1914-11-01
referenced
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.158
accession number
1987.0165
catalog number
1987.0165.158
Alice Paul saved this fragment of one of the most controversial banners used by the National Woman’s Party in picketing the White House. The note on the fragment reads, "'Kaiser’ Wilson Banner East Gate White House Monday, Aug.
Description
Alice Paul saved this fragment of one of the most controversial banners used by the National Woman’s Party in picketing the White House. The note on the fragment reads, "'Kaiser’ Wilson Banner East Gate White House Monday, Aug. 13, 1917".
In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) posted pickets at the White House gates—the first people to ever picket the White House. These "silent sentinels" stayed on duty in all weather and in the face of threats, taunts, and physical violence. Using their banners and their quiet courage they asked, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait for their Liberty?" and "Mr. President What Will you do for Woman Suffrage?" Hoping to provoke a response, the language on the banners became more inflammatory. They used the president’s own words against him and pointed out the hypocrisy of his leading the country into the First World War to defend freedom while denying it to the women of his own country. This fragment is from a banner that read, "Kaiser Wilson Have You Forgotten Your Sympathy With the Poor Germans Because They Were Not Self-Governed? 20,000,000 American Women Are Not Self-Governed. Take the Beam Out of Your Own Eye." Crowds that believed the pickets’ activities were disloyal in a time of war attacked the suffragists and destroyed their banners but the picketing continued.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1917
associated institution
National Woman's Party
commemorated
Wilson, Woodrow
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.113.1
catalog number
1987.0165.113.1
accession number
1987.0165
Enameled pin worn by supporters of woman suffrage."Votes for Women" was one of the most popular and recognizable slogans used by members of the woman’s suffrage movement.
Description
Enameled pin worn by supporters of woman suffrage.
"Votes for Women" was one of the most popular and recognizable slogans used by members of the woman’s suffrage movement. Purple, white, and yellow were the colors of the National Woman’s Party founded in 1913 by Alice Paul.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
ID Number
PL.242991.009
catalog number
242991.009
accession number
242991
date made
ca 1910
ID Number
PL.242991.126
accession number
242991
catalog number
242991.126
Button worn by supporters of woman suffrage.The four stars represent the number of states in which women had full suffrage at the time it was made.
Description
Button worn by supporters of woman suffrage.
The four stars represent the number of states in which women had full suffrage at the time it was made. The first four states to extend suffrage to women were Wyoming (1869), Colorado (1893), Utah (1896), and Idaho (1896).
"Votes for Women" was one of the most popular and recognizable slogans used by members of the woman’s suffrage movement.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
ID Number
PL.242991.051
accession number
242991
catalog number
242991.051
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
1964
associated; depicted
Goldwater, Barry
Johnson, Lyndon B.
ID Number
PL.227739.1964.U05
This gold fountain pen was used by both Vice President Thomas Marshall and Speaker of the House Frederick Gillett on June 4, 1919 to sign the Joint Resolution of Congress recommending a constitutional amendment extending the right of suffrage to women.
Description
This gold fountain pen was used by both Vice President Thomas Marshall and Speaker of the House Frederick Gillett on June 4, 1919 to sign the Joint Resolution of Congress recommending a constitutional amendment extending the right of suffrage to women. The amendment was ratified in August of 1920.
Location
Currently not on view
used date
June 4, 1919
June 5, 1919
referenced
Marshall, Thomas R.
ID Number
PL.026179
accession number
64601
catalog number
026179
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
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
circa 1910
ID Number
PL.242991.043
A Lewis Hine silver print from about 1906–1918, this image of a young boy working at a loom in a cotton mill in Rhode Island is one in a series of photographs made by Hine for the National Child Labor Committee.
Description
A Lewis Hine silver print from about 1906–1918, this image of a young boy working at a loom in a cotton mill in Rhode Island is one in a series of photographs made by Hine for the National Child Labor Committee. The photographs document child labor throughout America in the early 20th century. As a "sociological photographer" and one of the earliest practitioners of what has come to be known as photojournalism, Hine used his photography to raise public consciousness about the inhumane and dangerous working conditions to which children were being exposed every day. His work was instrumental in bringing about child labor laws and raising safety standards in the American workplace, a social movement that would secure the promise of childhood for future generations.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1906-1918
maker
Hine, Lewis
ID Number
PG.72.78.10
accession number
302041
catalog number
72.78.10
This tin blue bird sign was issued by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association to support a 1915 state referendum to give Massachusetts women the vote. On July 19, 1915, “Suffrage Blue Bird Day,” approximately 100,000 blue birds were pinned up around the state.
Description
This tin blue bird sign was issued by the Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association to support a 1915 state referendum to give Massachusetts women the vote. On July 19, 1915, “Suffrage Blue Bird Day,” approximately 100,000 blue birds were pinned up around the state. The Massachusetts referendum failed. Massachusetts women did not gain the vote in until the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920.
date made
1915
associated date
November 2, 1915
associated institution
Massachusetts Woman Suffrage Association
ID Number
PL.242991.260
catalog number
242991.260
accession number
242991
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1916 09 06
user
Catt, Carrie Chapman
ID Number
PL.042091
catalog number
042091
accession number
147840
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1914
unspecified
National Woman's Party
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1991.3016.582
nonaccession number
1991.3016
catalog number
1991.3016.582
The coat-of-arms of the Belgian province of West Flanders is depicted on this Mechlin bobbin lace piece. It was made by Belgian lace makers during World War I and was most likely intended to be inserted into a larger item. See a similar motif in TE*E383965.Currently not on view
Description
The coat-of-arms of the Belgian province of West Flanders is depicted on this Mechlin bobbin lace piece. It was made by Belgian lace makers during World War I and was most likely intended to be inserted into a larger item. See a similar motif in TE*E383965.
Location
Currently not on view
made during
1914-1918
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T16115G
catalog number
T16115G
accession number
297965
Though distancing themselves from Carry A. Nation’s “hatchetations,” the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and other organizations could hardly ignore the hatchet as a symbol of teetotaling activism and popular engagement.
Description
Though distancing themselves from Carry A. Nation’s “hatchetations,” the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) and other organizations could hardly ignore the hatchet as a symbol of teetotaling activism and popular engagement. Somewhat at odds with this message, this wooden WCTU hatchet’s head is decorated with the emblem of a box turtle, an icon of dryly unexcitable endurance.
date made
c. 1910
associated date
1904
ID Number
PL.323503.01
catalog number
323503.01
accession number
323503
This fan leaf was designed for the Belgian Lace Committee by Belgian painter Charles Michel. His name is worked in needle lace into the ground (reseau) along the inner edge.
Description
This fan leaf was designed for the Belgian Lace Committee by Belgian painter Charles Michel. His name is worked in needle lace into the ground (reseau) along the inner edge. The central motif of helmet, swords and weaponry is flanked on either side by the war years 1914 and 1915. The rising sun, laurel leaves and other floral motifs are also included. Brussels bobbin lace was mainly used for the motifs and connected with Point de Gaze type needle lace. Belgian lace makers made this fan leaf during World War I. It has never been mounted to fan sticks.
Location
Currently not on view
made during
1915-1916
part of design
1914
1915
maker
unknown
designer
Michel, Charles
ID Number
TE.T14505
catalog number
T14505
accession number
273245
This lion-and-crown motif was designed to represent the coat-of-arms of the Belgian province of Luxembourg. The Mechlin bobbin lace medallion was made by Belgian lace makers during World War I, and was likely intended to be inserted into a larger item.
Description
This lion-and-crown motif was designed to represent the coat-of-arms of the Belgian province of Luxembourg. The Mechlin bobbin lace medallion was made by Belgian lace makers during World War I, and was likely intended to be inserted into a larger item. See a similar motif in TE*E383965.
Location
Currently not on view
made during
1914-1918
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T16115H
catalog number
T16115H
accession number
297965
This object is an original pen and ink political cartoon hand drawn on white paper by Clifford Berryman circa 1912 in Washington, D.C. during the 1912 Presidential Campaign.
Description
This object is an original pen and ink political cartoon hand drawn on white paper by Clifford Berryman circa 1912 in Washington, D.C. during the 1912 Presidential Campaign. It depicts Theodore Roosevelt who is climbing up a pole for safety from Woodrow Wilson, who is driving a roadster-type automobile at high speed and stirring up clouds of dust. Roosevelt, who wears a hat with "Business" on the ribbon, says "I thought he'd called for low speed." In the car with Wilson are two scrolls, one labeled "Anti-Trust," and the other labeled "Trust Regula[tory] Program.” The drawing is signed "Berryman" in the lower right area of the illustration.
This object is an original pen and ink political cartoon hand drawn on white paper by Clifford Berryman circa 1912 in Washington, D.C. during the 1912 Presidential Campaign. It depicts Theodore Roosevelt who is climbing up a pole for safety from Woodrow Wilson, who is driving a roadster-type automobile at high speed and stirring up clouds of dust. Roosevelt, who wears a hat with "Business" on the ribbon, says "I thought he'd called for low speed". In the car with Wilson are two scrolls, one labeled "Anti-Trust," and the other labeled "Trust Regula[tory] Program”. The drawing is signed "Berryman" in the lower right area of the illustration.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
circa 1914
circa 1912-1914
circa 1912
ca 1912
Associated Date
circa 1912
depicted
Roosevelt, Theodore
Wilson, Woodrow
maker
Berryman, Clifford
Berryman, Clifford
ID Number
PL.322733.003
catalog number
322733.003
accession number
322733
This object is an original pen and ink political cartoon hand drawn on white paper by Clifford Berryman circa 1908-1912 in Washington, D.C. It depicts Robert M.
Description
This object is an original pen and ink political cartoon hand drawn on white paper by Clifford Berryman circa 1908-1912 in Washington, D.C. It depicts Robert M. LaFollette wearing a badge with a button reading "OK Supreme Court" above a prominent ribbon that reads "LaFollette is the real thing!" There are three beleaguered men slumped to the floor, one of whom appears to be William Howard Taft. It is stamped in blue ink with Berryman's number 30915 in the upper right corner and is signed "Berryman" in the lower right area of the illustration.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908-1912
ca 1912
depicted (sitter)
La Follette, Robert M.
maker
Berryman, Clifford
ID Number
PL.322733.012
catalog number
322733.012
accession number
322733

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