Government, Politics, and Reform - Overview
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.
"Government, Politics, and Reform - Overview" showing 1161 items.
Page 1 of 117
"Migrant Mother," by Dorothea Lange
- Description
- During the Great Depression, government photographer Dorothea Lange took this picture at a migrant farmworkers' camp near Nipomo, California. Lange's brief caption recorded her impressions of the family's plight: "Destitute pea pickers ... a 32-year-old mother of seven children."
- First published in a San Francisco newspaper, this poignant image became one of the most famous photographs of the Depression era, emblematic of the hardships suffered by poor migrant families. The "migrant mother," anonymous for many years, was later identified as Oklahoma native Florence Thompson.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1936
- maker
- Lange, Dorothea
- ID Number
- 1983.0069.07
- accession number
- 1983.0069
- catalog number
- 83.69.7
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Falsified Passport
- Description
- This Thai passport was seized in the well-publicized 1995 El Monte, Calif., sweatshop raid. The passport is part of a larger Smithsonian collection of artifacts documenting apparel industry sweatshops, focusing on the El Monte operation (72 workers were discovered working as slaves). With a legitimate U.S. visa, the passport looks official. In fact, the El Monte operators doctored a real passport, inserting a new photo into someone else's document, in order to smuggle workers into the country.
- Recruited from Thailand, the El Monte workers were tricked into accepting employment by misrepresentations of their future working and living conditions. They were told they would sew in a clean factory, receive good pay, and have the weekends off. They were even shown photographs of company parties and outings to Disneyland. After signing contracts (indenture agreements) committing themselves to repay 120,000 baht (about $5,000 in 1997 dollars), they were smuggled into the United States on fraudulent passports.
- On arrival, the sweatshop operators confiscated the passports and the workers were forced to sew 18 hours a day seven days a week. The debt, a guard force, and threats of physical harm to the workers and their families in Thailand discouraged them from escaping. Although the physical confinement of the work force was unusual, many aspects of the business, such as recruiting and smuggling workers, are relatively common. Less enslaving forms of debt peonage occur surprisingly often in some Asian immigrant communities.
- Sweatshops occur in many sectors of manufacturing, but are most often associated with the garment industry. While garments are designed and marketed through big name companies, assembly is often left to contract and sub-contract operations. In these small shops, where profits are razor thin and competition is excessive, abuses are rampant.
- ID Number
- 1997.0268.01
- accession number
- 1997.0268
- catalog number
- 1997.0268.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Azada de Mango Corto
- Description
- A short Handled hoe, 1936 hoe. Original owner Librado Hernandez Chavez, (father of Ceser Estrada Chavez). The hoe has a metal blade welded to a metal neck and a wooden handle. The two are attached by a slot screw. The top edge of the blade is similar to the two curves at the top of a valentine hear. Blade recently sharpened.
- The short-handled hoe brings back memories of back-breaking labor for generations of Mexican and Mexican American migrant workers who sustained California's booming agricultural economy. Since the late 1800s, its expansive fields of produce have relied on a cheap, mobile, and temporary workforce. The short-handled hoe required workers to bend painfully close to the ground to weed and thin crops. The state abolished the short-handled hoe in 1975, ruling it an occupational hazard after a seven-year legal battle. During this period of political mobilization, the predicament of the migrant farm worker became emblematic of the limited opportunities and the cycle of poverty that trapped many Mexican Americans. In 1966, when Mexican and Filipino American farm workers were brought together under the banner of the United Farm Workers of America, the struggle for labor rights was understood by its supporters as part of the much larger civil rights movement. It was not just important for Mexican Americans but also other low-paid workers. The hoe pictured here belonged to Librado Hernandez Chavez, father of civil rights leader and farm worker organizer, Cesar Estrada Chavez.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1936
- user
- Chavez, Librado Hernandes
- Chavez, Cesar Estrada
- ID Number
- 1998.0197.01
- accession number
- 1998.0197
- catalog number
- 1998.0197.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
AIDS Memorial Quilt Panel
- Description
- This panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt honors activist Roger Lyon, who died of AIDS in 1984. Shortly before his death, Lyon testified before Congress to appeal for funding to combat the growing epidemic.
- One of the greatest challenges in the fight against AIDS was changing public attitudes toward the disease and its victims, who were predominantly homosexual men. To awaken a seemingly uncaring nation to the magnitude of the crisis, activists created the AIDS Memorial Quilt. Through its thousands of panels, each with a personal story, the quilt has served as a call for compassion, education, and action.
- Date made
- 1985-1990
- referenced
- Lyon, Roger
- maker
- McMullin, Gert
- ID Number
- 1998.0254.01
- accession number
- 1998.0254
- catalog number
- 1998.0254.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Braceros Waiting to Board Bus
- Description
- Photograph: Braceros returning home wait in line to board a bus in Stockton, California.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date photographed
- 1956
- photographer
- Nadel, Leonard
- ID Number
- 2004.0138.19.02
- accession number
- 2004.0138
- catalog number
- 2004.0138.19.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Braceros Waiting to Board Bus
- Description
- Photograph: Braceros returning home wait to board a bus in Stockton, California.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date photographed
- 1956
- photographer
- Nadel, Leonard
- ID Number
- 2004.0138.19.03
- accession number
- 2004.0138
- catalog number
- 2004.0138.19.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Braceros Waiting to Board Bus
- Description
- Photograph: Braceros returning home wait to board a bus in Stockton, California, as officials distribute documents.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date photographed
- 1956
- photographer
- Nadel, Leonard
- ID Number
- 2004.0138.19.04
- accession number
- 2004.0138
- catalog number
- 2004.0138.19.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Braceros Waiting to Board Bus
- Description
- Photograph: Braceros returning home wait to board a bus in Stockton, California, as officials distribute documents.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date photographed
- 1956
- photographer
- Nadel, Leonard
- ID Number
- 2004.0138.19.05
- accession number
- 2004.0138
- catalog number
- 2004.0138.19.05
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Braceros Waiting to Board Bus
- Description
- Photograph: Braceros returning home wait to board a bus in Stockton, California, as officials distribute documents.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date photographed
- 1956
- photographer
- Nadel, Leonard
- ID Number
- 2004.0138.19.06
- accession number
- 2004.0138
- catalog number
- 2004.0138.19.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Braceros Waiting to Board Bus
- Description
- Photograph: Braceros returning home line up with their belongings and wait to board a bus in Stockton, California.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date photographed
- 1956
- photographer
- Nadel, Leonard
- ID Number
- 2004.0138.19.07
- accession number
- 2004.0138
- catalog number
- 2004.0138.19.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center