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 1958
depicted (sitter)
Harriman, W. Averell
ID Number
2013.0327.0757
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0757
This brochure listed the available Democratic candidate buttons for sale from the Green Duck company in 1956.
Description
This brochure listed the available Democratic candidate buttons for sale from the Green Duck company in 1956.
associated dates
1956 / 1956
1956 / 1956
ID Number
1995.3108.24
catalog number
1995.3108.24
nonaccession number
1995.3108
date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.294
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.294
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.290
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.290
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.289
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.289
By the 1950s, women comprised half of the voting electorate. To encourage their participation, campaigns produced inexpensive costume jewelry such as this pin promoting Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson.
Description
By the 1950s, women comprised half of the voting electorate. To encourage their participation, campaigns produced inexpensive costume jewelry such as this pin promoting Democratic presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson. Stevenson lost to his Republican opponent Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and again in 1956.
referenced
Stevenson, Adlai
ID Number
1986.1040.803
catalog number
1986.1040.803
accession number
1986.1040
Sample card of metal buttons created by the Green Duck Company around 1956.
Description
Sample card of metal buttons created by the Green Duck Company around 1956.
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.288
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.288
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.292
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.292
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.291
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.291
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.296
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.296
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.297
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.297
In April 1945, three months into his fourth term, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died and Vice President Harry S. Truman ascended to the presidency. Truman won a full term in his own right in 1948 and was eligible to run again in 1952.
Description
In April 1945, three months into his fourth term, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died and Vice President Harry S. Truman ascended to the presidency. Truman won a full term in his own right in 1948 and was eligible to run again in 1952. (The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution which limits presidential terms was ratified in 1951 but Truman, as sitting president, was exempt from its restrictions.) However, by the time the primary season started, Truman’s approval rating had fallen to approximately 22%. As this campaign novelty made by J.B. McMullen predicted, Truman was through in 1952. Less than three weeks after finishing second in New Hampshire, the opening primary, President Truman announced he would not seek re-election. The Democratic nomination went to Adlai Stevenson who lost the general election to his Republican opponent, Dwight Eisenhower.
date made
1952
described
Truman, Harry S.
ID Number
1984.1081.187
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.187
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.299
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.299
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.298
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.298
Date made
ca 1952
maker
Green Duck Metal Stamping Company
ID Number
1984.1081.293
accession number
1984.1081
catalog number
1984.1081.293
Program from the Democratic National Convention of 1956.Currently not on view
Description
Program from the Democratic National Convention of 1956.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1956
Associated Name
Democratic Party
ID Number
PL.285783.028
accession number
285783
catalog number
285783.028
President Dwight Eisenhower ran for re-election on the Republican ticket in 1956 and defeated his Democratic opponent Adlai Stevenson for the second time.
Description
President Dwight Eisenhower ran for re-election on the Republican ticket in 1956 and defeated his Democratic opponent Adlai Stevenson for the second time. This whimsical version of his party’s symbol may have been designed to reflect the youth-friendly Republican Platform: “As the Party of the Young and in glowing appreciation of his dynamic leadership and inspiration, we respectfully dedicate this Platform of the Party of the Future to our distinguished President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and to the Youth of America.”
associated date
1956
associated institution
Republican National Party
associated person
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
ID Number
PL.227739.1956.X59
catalog number
227739.1956.X59
accession number
227739
By the early 1950s political parties acquainted candidates with the importance of their television appearances and how to conduct themselves on the new medium, as this 1952 primer promised to do.
Description
By the early 1950s political parties acquainted candidates with the importance of their television appearances and how to conduct themselves on the new medium, as this 1952 primer promised to do.
associated date
1952
distributor
Republican National Committee
ID Number
PL.227739.1952.K040
catalog number
227739.1952.K040
accession number
227739
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1952
Associated Name
Kefauver, Estes
ID Number
PL.285783.220
accession number
285783
catalog number
285783.220
date made
1956
referenced
Humphrey, Hubert H.
ID Number
PL.227739.1956.X57
accession number
227739
catalog number
227739.1956.X57
A Nickolas Muray 3-color carbro head and shoulders portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower ca. 1952. One in a series of inagural photographs of Eisenhower, he is seated in front of an American flag.Recto: Signed and dated by artist in lower left (pencil). Verso: Muray label.
Description (Brief)
A Nickolas Muray 3-color carbro head and shoulders portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower ca. 1952. One in a series of inagural photographs of Eisenhower, he is seated in front of an American flag.
Recto: Signed and dated by artist in lower left (pencil). Verso: Muray label. "D.D.Eisenhower" (pencil).
Description
Nickolas Muray was born in Szeged, Hungary on February 15, 1892. Twelve years after his birth, Muray left his native town and enrolled in a graphic arts school in Budapest. Enrolling in art school was the first step on a road that would eventually lead him to study a photographic printing process called three-color carbro. In the course of his accomplished career, Muray would become an expert in this process and play a key role in bringing color photography to America.
While attending art school in Budapest, Muray studied lithography and photoengraving, earning an International Engraver's Certificate. Muray was also introduced to photography during this time period. His combined interest in photography and printmaking led him to Berlin, Germany to participate in a three-year color-photoengraving course. In Berlin, Muray learned how to make color filters, a first step in the craft that would one day become his trademark. Immediately after the completion of the course, Muray found a good job with a publishing company in Ullstein, Germany. However, the threat of war in Europe forced Muray to flee for America in 1913. Soon after his arrival in New York, Muray was working as a photoengraver for Condé Nast. His specialty was color separations and half-tone negatives.
By 1920, Muray had established a home for himself in the up-and-coming artists' haven of Greenwich Village. He opened a portrait studio out of his apartment and continued to work part time at his engraving job. Harper's Bazaar magazine gave Muray his first big assignment in 1921. The project was to photograph Broadway star Florence Reed. The magazine was so impressed with his photographs that they began to publish his work monthly. This allowed him to give up his part time job and work solely as a photographer. It did not take long for Muray to become one of the most renowned portrait photographers in Manhattan. Muray spent much of the early 1920s photographing the most famous and important personalities in New York at the time.
In his spare time Muray enjoyed fencing. In 1927, he won the National Sabre Championship and in 1928 and 1932, he was on the United States Olympic Team. During World War II, Muray was a flight lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1952
depicted
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
maker
Muray, Nickolas
ID Number
PG.69.247.21
catalog number
69.247.21
accession number
287542
By the late 19th century, symbols of home and family life had become mainstays of American political culture. The home became a setting in which the policies of the major parties and their presidential candidates played out.
Description
By the late 19th century, symbols of home and family life had become mainstays of American political culture. The home became a setting in which the policies of the major parties and their presidential candidates played out. This leaflet from Eisenhower’s 1952 presidential campaign suggests that voting for Eisenhower will clean out the “mess” of government.
date made
1952
associated person
Eisenhower, Dwight D.
Nixon, Richard M.
ID Number
PL.285783.128
accession number
285783
catalog number
285783.128
The threat of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union was an ever-present fear for Americans in the mid-20th century. This book provided plans for protecting homeowners from radioactive fallout.
Description
The threat of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union was an ever-present fear for Americans in the mid-20th century. This book provided plans for protecting homeowners from radioactive fallout.
date made
1962
ID Number
1995.0027.01
catalog number
1995.0027.01
accession number
1995.0027
Though not guaranteed by the Constitution, Americans have largely agreed that an educated citizenry is a requirement for a healthy democracy. The more controversial question was: should it and can it be equal and open to all?On May 17, 1954, the U.S.
Description
Though not guaranteed by the Constitution, Americans have largely agreed that an educated citizenry is a requirement for a healthy democracy. The more controversial question was: should it and can it be equal and open to all?
On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that public schools segregated by race were unconstitutional, stating “in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place.” Through their decision, the Court entered into the ongoing debate of whether education should be a right of every citizen.
associated date
1953 10
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81680Y06
accession number
2015.0200
catalog number
2015.0200.002

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