Government, Politics, and Reform

March on Washington Handbill

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.

Date: 1930s

Shot glass, Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932

The song “Happy Days Are Here Again” from a 1930 movie musical was played at the 1932 Democratic National Convention which nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Description
The song “Happy Days Are Here Again” from a 1930 movie musical was played at the 1932 Democratic National Convention which nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt. Immediately associated with Roosevelt’s campaign, it was the first pre-existing song selected for a presidential campaign theme song. Although the phrase “Happy Days” probably referred to hopes for the end of the Great Depression, this shot glass clearly promoted the repeal of Prohibition which was also associated with the song and endorsed by the 1932 Democratic platform. Economic circumstances and his party’s popular positions helped Roosevelt win his first term in the White House, defeating President Herbert Hoover, the Republican incumbent.
date made
1932
ID Number
2015.0200.178
accession number
2015.0200
catalog number
2015.0200.178

poster

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date published
1943
Associated Date
1943
associated
Disney, Walt
ID Number
2017.0282.01
catalog number
2017.0282.01
accession number
2017.0282

Campaign novelty, Alf Landon, 1936

This painted cast iron elephant uses the 1936 Republican presidential candidate’s name as a pun. It offered the hope that Alf Landon would “land on” and defeat President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the incumbent. He did not.
Description
This painted cast iron elephant uses the 1936 Republican presidential candidate’s name as a pun. It offered the hope that Alf Landon would “land on” and defeat President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the incumbent. He did not. Roosevelt, a Democrat, was re-elected to his second term in a landslide.
date made
1936
ID Number
2015.0200.107
catalog number
2015.0200.107
accession number
2015.0200

Wooden George Washington plaque from James Crutchett’s Mount Vernon Factory, Washington, D.C., 1852

Inspired by patriotic interest in the construction of the Washington Monument, Englishman James Crutchett produced souvenir George Washington keepsakes in his “Mount Vernon Factory.” In 1852 Crutchett contracted with John Augustine Washington to harvest wood from Mount Vernon for
Description
Inspired by patriotic interest in the construction of the Washington Monument, Englishman James Crutchett produced souvenir George Washington keepsakes in his “Mount Vernon Factory.” In 1852 Crutchett contracted with John Augustine Washington to harvest wood from Mount Vernon for the purpose of making souvenirs. Crutchett’s souvenirs came with a certificate of authenticity issued under the authority of Crutchett; the Mayor of Washington, D.C.; and John Augustine Washington.
Purchase, 2010
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1859-11-14
associated date
1859
1935
maker
America Bank
ID Number
2011.0013.01
catalog number
2011.0013.01
accession number
2011.0013

Governor Thomas E. Dewey being sworn into office

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950-12-31
depicted (sitter)
Dewey, Thomas E.
maker
Associated Press
ID Number
2013.0327.0776
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.0776

U.S. Citizen's Identification Card

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1934
described
Castro, Rafaela
maker
U.S. Department of Labor
ID Number
2016.0166.01
catalog number
2016.0166.01
accession number
2016.0166

typewriter

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1930
Associated Name
Remington Typewriter Company
user
Houston, Jr., Charles Hamilton
maker
Remington
ID Number
2007.0016.02
accession number
2007.0016
catalog number
2007.0016.02

NBC "Fireside Chat" Microphone

"I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking." So began on March 12, 1933, the first of about thirty informal "Fireside Chat" addresses that President Franklin D. Roosevelt would deliver over the radio.
Description
"I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking." So began on March 12, 1933, the first of about thirty informal "Fireside Chat" addresses that President Franklin D. Roosevelt would deliver over the radio. His ability to communicate over this new medium directly and personally, addressing each listener as a respected friend, gave FDR a powerful tool to shape public opinion.
On March 4, 1933 Roosevelt became the 32nd president of the United States. No chief executive, with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, entered the White House confronted by such deep and troubling crises. The nation was mired in its longest and worst economic depression. Approximately a quarter of the work force was unemployed, industrial production was down by a third, and the banking system was collapsing. Internationally the economic crisis contributed to the rise of fascist governments in Europe and eventually World War II. A pragmatist and master politician, FDR boldly experimented with the power of the federal government to address the urgent problems facing the nation. Above all else, Roosevelt's greatest accomplishment was his ability to lead, inspire and assure Americans through some of the darkest years in the nation's history.
President Roosevelt was always rather amused that the name "Fireside Chat" was used to describe all the radio chats he would give during the course of his administration. He used to joke about the Washington weather, saying that it really wasn't proper for a fireside chat.
On the night of the first "Fireside Chat," the microphones were set up in the Lincoln Study. All subsequent chats were held in the Diplomatic Reception Room on the ground floor of the White House. This first night of the Fireside Chat launched a new era of the Presidency whereby the power of mass communications would be used to engage and reassure the American people.
The museum acquired this RCA Type 50-A microphone with the National Broadcasting Company logos on the top and sides in 1996. For many years it had been saved by Carleton Smith, who both set up the microphone for NBC and introduced the radio broadcasts.
Location
Currently not on view
date used
1930s
used date
1930s
associated person
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
depicted
National Broadcasting Company, Inc.
user
Smith, Sr., Carleton
National Broadcasting Company, Inc.
ID Number
1996.0168.01
accession number
1996.0168
catalog number
1996.0168.01

John L. Lewis' Union Badge

John L. Lewis, one of America's foremost labor leaders, wore this badge at the 1936 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) convention. It is a metal gold-colored pin with "President" printed in blue. A red, white, and blue ribbon attaches badge to pin.
Description
John L. Lewis, one of America's foremost labor leaders, wore this badge at the 1936 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) convention. It is a metal gold-colored pin with "President" printed in blue. A red, white, and blue ribbon attaches badge to pin. The badge features a gold-colored relief of the U.S. Capitol Building with an eagle perched on a shield. “UMW ORG 1890” is printed in blue at the bottom.
Born in an Iowa coal-mining camp, Lewis went to work in the mines as a teenager. He rose quickly as a labor leader, becoming president of the UMWA in 1920, and later helped found the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Lewis led a successful struggle to organize industrial workers, improving wages, safety, and benefits.
associated date
1936
referenced
United Mine Workers of America
associated person
Lewis, John L.
maker
United Mine Workers of America
ID Number
1989.0693.3777
catalog number
1989.0693.3777
accession number
1989.0693

Slave Market of America

A poster published by the American Anti-Slavery Society in New York in 1836.Currently not on view
Description
A poster published by the American Anti-Slavery Society in New York in 1836.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1936
1836
Associated Date
1836
ID Number
PL.309365.01
catalog number
309365.01
accession number
309365

Poll Tax Receipt, 1935

date made
1935
ID Number
1977.0700.89
accession number
1977.0700
catalog number
1977.0700.89

Bank, Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932

The song “Happy Days Are Here Again” from a 1930 movie musical was played at the 1932 Democratic National Convention which nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Description
The song “Happy Days Are Here Again” from a 1930 movie musical was played at the 1932 Democratic National Convention which nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt. Immediately associated with Roosevelt’s campaign, it was the first pre-existing song selected for a presidential campaign theme song. Although the phrase “Happy Days” was likely intended to refer to hopes for the end of the Great Depression, this barrel-shaped bank also brought to bring to mind the repeal of Prohibition which was also associated with the song and endorsed by the 1932 Democratic platform. Economic circumstances and his party’s popular positions helped Roosevelt win his first term in the White House, defeating President Herbert Hoover, the Republican incumbent.
date made
1932
ID Number
1977.0986.01
accession number
1977.0986
catalog number
1977.0986.01

Burroughs Machine for Vote Tabulation

In 1932 Hans Jurgensen, who had been active in Democratic Party politics in Queens, New York, was appointed a tally clerk for the United States House of Representatives.
Description
In 1932 Hans Jurgensen, who had been active in Democratic Party politics in Queens, New York, was appointed a tally clerk for the United States House of Representatives. He and his assistants kept records on how individual members voted on roll call votes for publication in The Congressional Record. They stamped the information by hand, making about 500,000 registrations per year. Jurgensen concluded that a machine could do the work more efficiently, and ordered this modified bookkeeping machine from the Burroughs Adding Machine Company of Detroit.
The machine has eight columns of metal bars that are painted black; each bar covers two key stems. Each column has seven bars labeled: “NVF” (not voting for), “NVA” (not voting against), “NV” (not voting), “AB” (absent), “PR”(present), “NAY”, and “YEA”. A column of keys is labeled the same way. At the top is a row of 17 red zeroing keys. Repeat and error keys are on the right and an operating bar right of them. At the back is a rubber platen and metal carriage. A motor and cord are under the machine.
The machine sits on a black metal stand that fits on a wooden dolly that is painted green and gold. Attached to the stand is a piece of black cloth with snaps. With the wooden kick stand up, it measures: 95 cm. w. x 74 cm. d. x 106 cm. h.
Marks on the back of paper feed, on the kick stand, and on front of machine read: Burroughs. A mark on the front reads: 1A136058.
References:
“Hans Jurgensen, 51, Congressional Aide,” New York Times, June 29, 1945, p. 15. This obituary mentions Jurgensen’s work on the technology of vote tabulation.
“New time saving voting machine designed to [sic] U. S. Capitol Employee,” Harris & Ewing Collection, Library of Congress. The Library of Congress dates this photograph to 1938. (http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/hec2009015711/).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1936
maker
Burroughs Adding Machine Company
ID Number
1978.2371.01
accession number
1978.2371
catalog number
1978.2371.01

Booklet, "George Washington Pageant and Plays"

Booklet produced by the U.S. George Washington Bicentennial Commission for use during the 1932 "nation-wide celebration" of the bicentennial of Washington's birth.
Description
Booklet produced by the U.S. George Washington Bicentennial Commission for use during the 1932 "nation-wide celebration" of the bicentennial of Washington's birth.
Date made
1932
associated date
1932
1732
referenced
Washington, George
ID Number
1981.0587.033
accession number
1981.0587
catalog number
1981.0587.033

Azada de Mango Corto

A short Handled hoe, 1936 hoe. Original owner Librado Hernandez Chavez, (father of Cesar 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.
Description
A short Handled hoe, 1936 hoe. Original owner Librado Hernandez Chavez, (father of Cesar 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.
Description (Spanish)
La azada de mango corto es un recordatorio de aquellas épocas en que generaciones de trabajadores migratorios mexicanos y mexicoamericanos se quebraban las espaldas en las labores que sustentaron la floreciente economía agrícola de California. Desde fines del 1800, las extensiones de campos de producción agrícola crecían respaldadas en la mano de obra barata, móvil y temporaria. La azada de mango corto exigía que los trabajadores se agacharan penosamente cerca del suelo para poder desbrozar y entresacar los cultivos. El estado abolió la azada de mango corto en 1975, decretándola como elemento de riesgo laboral luego de una batalla que se prolongó siete años. Durante esta época de movilización política, el predicamento del trabajador agrícola se convirtió en un emblema de la limitación de oportunidades y el ciclo de pobreza en el que muchos mexicoamericanos se hallaban atrapados. En 1966, cuando los trabajadores del campo, mexicoamericanos y filipinoamericanos, se unieron bajo la bandera del Sindicato de Trabajadores Agrícolas de América (UFW, por sus siglas en inglés) , la lucha por los derechos laborales fue comprendida por sus partidarios como parte del movimiento más amplio por los derechos civiles. No sólo era importante para los mexicoamericanos, sino también para otros trabajadores mal pagos. La azada que aquí se ilustra pertenecía a Librado Hernández Chávez, padre del líder de los derechos civiles y organizador de los trabajadores agrícolas, César Estrada Chávez.
Date made
1936
user
Chavez, Librado Hernandes
Chavez, Cesar Estrada
ID Number
1998.0197.01
accession number
1998.0197
catalog number
1998.0197.01

NOTICE, Deductions from Pay Start Jan. 1

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1936
associated date
1937-01-01
1935-08-14
referenced; publisher
Social Security Board
referenced
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
ID Number
2004.0180.138
accession number
2004.0180
catalog number
2004.0180.138

Elect Grace Overmire

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1932
associated date
1932
ID Number
1992.0224.69
catalog number
1992.0224.69
accession number
1992.0224

Clock, Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1934

The clock’s face features a small mechanical figure of President Franklin D. Roosevelt mixing a cocktail, a reference to the repeal of Prohibition in 1933.
Description
The clock’s face features a small mechanical figure of President Franklin D. Roosevelt mixing a cocktail, a reference to the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. He is supported by figures of National Recovery Administration Chairman Hugh Johnson (left) and Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins (right).
associated date
1934
depicted (sitter)
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano
ID Number
PL.217442.087
catalog number
217442.087
accession number
217442

Camera-ready drawing, entitled "The Duke of Windsor".

John T. McCutcheon (1870-1949) was a Pulitzer-Prize winning cartoonist, known for his political cartoons and fascination with technology, particularly aviation.
Description
John T. McCutcheon (1870-1949) was a Pulitzer-Prize winning cartoonist, known for his political cartoons and fascination with technology, particularly aviation. In this drawing, the Duke leaves home because he has no privacy from reporters, but arrives in the United States with his wife and feels disappointment, as he has absolutely no press to follow him. On reverse, "(King Edward Ex) is thinking of coming."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
09/30/1937
original artist
McCutcheon, John T.
publisher
Tribune Printing Company
ID Number
GA.24201
catalog number
24201
accession number
1976.320859

The issue is: The Heritage of Weakness: WWI . WWII . Korea . Laos . Vietnam . Cuba / The Debate That Never Was

In 1964, Republican challenger Barry Goldwater repeatedly demanded the opportunity to debate his opponent, President Lyndon Johnson, who (also repeatedly) declined.
Description
In 1964, Republican challenger Barry Goldwater repeatedly demanded the opportunity to debate his opponent, President Lyndon Johnson, who (also repeatedly) declined. Frustrated by the inability to schedule candidates in a joint appearance, the Republican National Committee produced cardboard displays promoting instead “The Debate That Never Was.” The displays offered brochures like these with “answers” to issues that might have come up if Goldwater had been given the chance to debate the president. The brochures "debated” topics which played to Goldwater’s preferred campaign themes such as the economy, civil rights, foreign policy, and fighting communism. Short quotes pulled from President Johnson’s public statements were followed by longer answers from Goldwater, who explained he wanted to give voters “a real choice, a clear choice.”
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
1964
associated; depicted
Goldwater, Barry
Johnson, Lyndon B.
ID Number
PL.227739.1964.U05

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