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: 1860s

1860 - 1865 Mary Lord's Civil War Quilt

“This quilt was made in Nashville Tenn. I began just before the Civil War, the day Tenn. seceded I stitched the U.S.
Description
“This quilt was made in Nashville Tenn. I began just before the Civil War, the day Tenn. seceded I stitched the U.S. Flag in the center of the quilt, my father being a loyal man he had to leave home or be forced in the Confederate service, I carried the quilt through the rebel lines to the federal to Cincinnati we remained in Cincinnati until the fall of Fort Donelson then we returned home to Nashville. After the battle of Stone River Gen’l Rosecrans suggested I make an autograph quilt of it & at his headquaters [sic] his was the first name placed in the flag and the second was James A. Garfield and most of his Staff Officers names were placed around the flag. Gen’l Winfield Scott in 1863 at West Point wrote his name. I was visiting my Brother who was a Cadet at the Point. `Then Abraham Lincoln 1863 his son Robert Lincoln in 1881. P.H. Sheridan U.S. Grant Brig Gen’l L. Thomas Adjt Gen’l U.S.A. Maj Gen’l George H. Thomas Benj F Butler Chester A. Arthur. S. H. Wilson. Gen H. W. Blair W. T. Sherman J. St. Clair Morton. Jas McLear Horace Maynard. Col Bowman Supt West Point 1863. Jas S Negley. A McDowell McCook J.A. Garfield Chief of Staff. Jas McKibben. Col Arthur Ducat. C. G. Harker. W.WS. Averill Wm McKinley. Nelson N Miles. Leland Stanford. Theodore Roosevelt. Sen Jos R. Hawley. This quilt was saluted by 20000 troops at the funeral of Pres Lincoln. Hung over the East door of the rotunda when Pres Garfield’s body lay in State, has been hung out at different Inaugurations. It has the line of Gen’ls & Lt Gen’ls. It has other names but these are the most prominent. The different ones that have had charge of it when on exhibition have not been very careful with it. I have never thought of disposing of it, but having lost my home through fire, I wish to rebuld [sic] & this is the only way I can see to raise money. Mary A. Lord.”
Mary Hughes Lord’s undated description of her own quilt.
Among the “prominent” signatures on Mary’s quilt is that of James Morton, who gave her the album in which she kept her photograph as well as those of family and friends, and many of Civil War soldiers. James was killed at the battle of Petersburg, Virginia, on June 17, 1864, but Mary saved his letters and official service documents.
Mary Hughes was born in Nashville in 1848. She was seventeen years old in May 1865 when she married Henry Edward Lord, who had served in Tennessee with the Indiana Volunteers (1861-1864). They lived in his home in Brooklyn, New York, and later in the Washington, D.C., area. Mary died in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1926. Her quilt was never sold, but instead passed to her daughter, who brought it to the Museum in 1943.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860-1865
maker
Lord, Mary Alice Hughes
ID Number
TE.T08900
accession number
166550
catalog number
T08900

Before Richmond

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1862
Associated Date
1862-06-21
depicted
McClellan, George B.
Davis, Jefferson
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81806Y26

1840 - 1860 Susan Esputa's Patriotic Embroidered Counterpane

Susan Adel Esputa embroidered this elegant counterpane in the style of album quilts of the period.
Description
Susan Adel Esputa embroidered this elegant counterpane in the style of album quilts of the period. She used a tambour hook--a sharp-pointed, hook-shaped needle--to create tiny chain stitches on the surface of the fabric by pulling thread through the fabric from a continuous supply below it. The fine crewel yarns used were from colorful braids widely used at the time for decorating clothing.
The overall layout is of patterned blocks with decorative sashing and borders. Susan copied the designs for the blocks from favorite illustrations, and drew her own patterns for the borders.
Susan Adel Esputa and her husband, Francis, both were born in Spain. Susan, an accomplished guitarist, and Francis, a musician, came to Washington in about 1839. Francis taught music. One of their children, John (1830-1882) performed with U.S. Navy and Marine bands and taught music. One of his students was John Phillip Sousa.
When their granddaughter, Josephine Esputa Daly, donated this bedcover in 1901, she wrote, “. . . it was worked by my grandmother, a Spanish woman. My father’s mother . . . did it more than fifty years ago. My grandmother had only one perfect hand, her left being two thumbs . . . . The quilt was my story book when we were children, my mother and father taking great pride in describing all the pictures worked on it, the flowers on the curtains of my mother’s bridal parlor shades . . . the title page of ‘Jakey Polka’ . . . the ‘Lover’s Quarrel’ and many other pictures . . . . The borders are all original designs.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
Esputa, Susan Adel
ID Number
TE.E209971
catalog number
E209971
accession number
37898

Old Mother Greeley on the Rampage After General McClellan

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1862
Associated Date
1862-04-05
depicted (sitter)
McClellan, George B.
Greeley, Horace
ID Number
ZZ.RSN81549Y19

1840 - 1860 Paulding Family's "Tyger" Quilt

“I have a quilt that has been in my husband’s family for generations . . . It is supposed to have been slept under by Martha Washington . . .” was the claim when it was offered in 1974.
Description
“I have a quilt that has been in my husband’s family for generations . . . It is supposed to have been slept under by Martha Washington . . .” was the claim when it was offered in 1974. While the quilt was probably made in the mid-19th-century, the fabric that was used made the quilt exceptional. It is a copperplate-printed cotton produced in 1785 by Bromley Hall, England’s largest eighteenth-century textile printing firm.
Copperplate-printing is a process, developed after 1760, by which a pattern is etched on a flat plate, color applied by brush with the excess removed by a scraper, and then the plate and fabric passed through a flat printing press. The pattern found on the fabric of this quilt is labeled “Tyger” in the Bromley Hall pattern book. It features a wide variety of classical and pastoral motifs such as two boys riding leopards, architectural ruins, a dancing shepherdess, peacocks, parrots, sunflowers, and dragonflies, among many others.
Both the front and back of this quilt are composed of pieces of fabric copperplate-printed in brown. Each side has its own lining (one of cotton, one of linen), with a layer of cotton wadding between the two linings. A block-printed border is used for edging both layers and the two sides are whipstitched together. Most likely the "Tyger" fabric and block-printed trim were from an early set of bed furniture. The quilting consists of widely-spaced Vs, worked in crooked lines with uneven stitches, plus or minus four stitches per inch.
The quilt was from the William Paulding family of New York . William Paulding Jr. (1770-1854) was a lawyer and active in politics. He served in the War of 1812, and as mayor of New York City 1824-1826. In 1838 Paulding, along with architect Alexander Jackson Davis, designed and built a country villa named “Knoll” (“Pauldings Folly” by his critics). The house is known today as “Lyndhurst” in Tarrytown, N. Y. A National Trust Historic Site, it remains one of the extravagant examples of 19th-century Gothic Revival mansions along the Hudson River.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1840-1860
maker
unknown
ID Number
TE.T17289
accession number
314087
catalog number
T17289

Casts of Abraham Lincoln's Face and Hands

Chicago artist Leonard Volk produced this plaster life mask of Abraham Lincoln in April 1860. Volk made the casts of Lincoln’s hands on May 20, two days after the Republican Party nominated him for the presidency.
Description
Chicago artist Leonard Volk produced this plaster life mask of Abraham Lincoln in April 1860. Volk made the casts of Lincoln’s hands on May 20, two days after the Republican Party nominated him for the presidency. Lincoln’s right hand was still swollen from shaking hands with supporters. To steady his hand in the mold, Lincoln went out to the woodshed and cut off a piece of broom handle. Volk later placed the piece of handle in the cast displayed here.
In 1886 Volk’s son sold the casts of Lincoln’s face and hands to a group that proposed having the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens make a limited set of replicas.
In 1888 the 33 supporters of this project presented Volk’s personal copies of the life mask and hands, along with bronze replicas produced by Saint-Gaudens, to the U.S. government for preservation. The donation was made on the condition that “the original plaster casts should never be tampered with.” Any future casts could only be made from the bronze replicas.
Gift of the Thirty-three Subscribers, 1888
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1860
associated person
Lincoln, Abraham
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
Volk, Leonard Wells
ID Number
PL.4412
catalog number
4412
accession number
20084

Casts of Abraham Lincoln's Face and Hands

Chicago artist Leonard Volk produced this plaster life mask of Abraham Lincoln in April 1860. Volk made the casts of Lincoln’s hands on May 20, two days after the Republican Party nominated him for the presidency.
Description
Chicago artist Leonard Volk produced this plaster life mask of Abraham Lincoln in April 1860. Volk made the casts of Lincoln’s hands on May 20, two days after the Republican Party nominated him for the presidency. Lincoln’s right hand was still swollen from shaking hands with supporters. To steady his hand in the mold, Lincoln went out to the woodshed and cut off a piece of broom handle. Volk later placed the piece of handle in the cast displayed here.
In 1886 Volk’s son sold the casts of Lincoln’s face and hands to a group that proposed having the sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens make a limited set of replicas.
In 1888 the 33 supporters of this project presented Volk’s personal copies of the life mask and hands, along with bronze replicas produced by Saint-Gaudens, to the U.S. government for preservation. The donation was made on the condition that “the original plaster casts should never be tampered with.” Any future casts could only be made from the bronze replicas.
Gift of the Thirty-three Subscribers, 1888
associated date
1860
maker
Volk, Leonard Wells
associated person
Lincoln, Abraham
Saint-Gaudens, Augustus
maker
Volk, Leonard Wells
ID Number
PL.4414
catalog number
4414
accession number
20084

Ceremonial Sword from Lincoln's Funeral

U.S. Medical Staff Officer Dr. Charles Leale wore this sword while serving in the honor guard for Lincoln’s body when it lay in state at the White House and the U.S. Capitol, April 1865.
Description
U.S. Medical Staff Officer Dr. Charles Leale wore this sword while serving in the honor guard for Lincoln’s body when it lay in state at the White House and the U.S. Capitol, April 1865. Leale was on duty at Ford’s Theatre the night of the assassination and was the first doctor to reach the dying president.
Bequest of Helen Leale Harper, Dr Charles Leale’s granddaughter, 2006
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1864
patient; referenced
Lincoln, Abraham
referenced
Leale, Charles
maker
United States Army
ID Number
2006.0251.01
accession number
2006.0251
catalog number
2006.0251.01

President Lincoln Taking the Oath at His Second Inauguration, March 4th, 1865

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865
used date
1865
depicted (sitter)
Lincoln, Abraham
Chase, Salmon Portland
ID Number
2010.0067.07
catalog number
2010.0067.07
accession number
2010.0067

United States National 34-Star Flag

Physical DescriptionCloth consisting of a blue canton with 34 white stars in the upper left quadrant and thirteen equally positioned stripes, 7 red and 6 white.General HistoryThe United States National 34-Star flag was adopted with the admission of Kansas as the 34th state in Jan
Description
Physical Description
Cloth consisting of a blue canton with 34 white stars in the upper left quadrant and thirteen equally positioned stripes, 7 red and 6 white.
General History
The United States National 34-Star flag was adopted with the admission of Kansas as the 34th state in January 1861. It was used until 1863 when West Virginia became a state. At no time did the national flag lose stars. Since the United States believed that secession from the Union was illegal, the flag continued to bear the stars of all the states of the Union, even the Southern states. Flag makers had several designs for the 34-star flag; this is a later one.
date made
1861
1861 - 1863
ID Number
AF.58182M
catalog number
58182M
accession number
208701

Black Lives Matter

A poster sponsored by Workers World Party promoting Black Lives Matter.Currently not on view
Description
A poster sponsored by Workers World Party promoting Black Lives Matter.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 2017-08-12
used date
2017-08-11 - 2017-08-12
maker
Workers World Party
ID Number
2017.0270.04
accession number
2017.0270
catalog number
2017.0270.04

KKK GO / AWAY!

A poster used at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017.Currently not on view
Description
A poster used at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, VA in August 2017.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 2017-08-12
used date
2017-08-11 - 2017-08-12
ID Number
2017.0270.08
accession number
2017.0270
catalog number
2017.0270.08

Make Racists Afraid Again

A poster sponsored by the Workers World Party against white supremacy.Currently not on view
Description
A poster sponsored by the Workers World Party against white supremacy.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 2017-08-12
used date
2017-08-11 - 2017-08-12
maker
Workers World Party
ID Number
2017.0270.03
accession number
2017.0270
catalog number
2017.0270.03

Howell Cobb

Howell Cobb was a member of the United States House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, Governor of Georgia, and Secretary of the Treasury under James Buchanan.
Description
Howell Cobb was a member of the United States House of Representatives, Speaker of the House, Governor of Georgia, and Secretary of the Treasury under James Buchanan. He was also a founder of the Confederacy and was the President in the Provisional Congress of Confederate States.
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
1851-1853
referenced
D'Avignon's Press
maker
D'Avignon's Press
ID Number
2015.0196.02
accession number
2015.0196
catalog number
2015.0196.02

John Bell

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860
depicted (sitter)
Bell, John
ID Number
1978.0590.090
accession number
1978.0590
catalog number
1978.0590.090

Lincoln and Hamlin Campaign Ribbon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1860
associated person
Lincoln, Abraham
Hamlin, Hannibal
ID Number
1978.0590.092
accession number
1978.0590
catalog number
1978.0590.092

Campaign Banner, Belfast, Maine, 1860

Throughout the North, Abraham Lincoln supporters organized grand campaign parades in small towns and large cities.
Description
Throughout the North, Abraham Lincoln supporters organized grand campaign parades in small towns and large cities. This hand-painted cotton banner, approximately 47 1/2 inches high and 35 inches wide, was typical of the hundreds of banners produced by local Republican clubs to support Lincoln’s candidacy for the president.
Gift of George L. and Mary E. Compton, 1980
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1860
associated person
Hamlin, Hannibal
Lincoln, Abraham
ID Number
1980.0482.12
accession number
1980.0482
catalog number
1980.0482.12

Campaign Parade Torch, 1860

The successful presidential campaign of Republican Abraham Lincoln perfected the nighttime torchlight parade as an entertainment of unprecedented scale that attracted the attention of men, women, and children.
Description
The successful presidential campaign of Republican Abraham Lincoln perfected the nighttime torchlight parade as an entertainment of unprecedented scale that attracted the attention of men, women, and children. The concept originated in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1858, and was revived for Lincoln’s campaign by the city’s young Republicans. Tailored oil-resistant enameled cloth capes distinguished the marchers, some of whom were too young to vote. Their example spread from Hartford to cities in the northeastern United States, which contributed traveling companies totaling some ten thousand uniformed men with torches such as this one to a Grand Procession in New York City on October 3, 1860. The martial spectacle—including fireworks, Lincoln “Wide Awake” transparencies, and floats—created envy among the city’s Democrats, and panic among southern sympathizers who regarded the torch-lit parade as a provocation.
date made
by 1860
ID Number
1980.0482.15
accession number
1980.0482
catalog number
1980.0482.15

Sheet Music, "We Are Coming Father Abraam," 1862

Never before had such massive armies confronted each other with such deadly force.
Description
Never before had such massive armies confronted each other with such deadly force. Mobilizing and maintaining these large armies became a central focus for both sides.
In 1862, Lincoln called for an additional 300,000 volunteers prompting James Sloane Gibbons to write a poem, “We are coming, Father Abraam, three hundred thousand more.” It was first published anonymously in the New York Evening Post and was set to music by a number of composers including P.S. Gilmore.
Gift of King S. Levin, 1980
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1862
associated date
1862
referenced
Lincoln, Abraham
ID Number
1980.0066.01
accession number
1980.0066
catalog number
1980.0066.01

Lincoln Campaign Medal

In the 1860 election, the relatively new Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln as president and Hannibal Hamlin as vice president.
Description
In the 1860 election, the relatively new Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln as president and Hannibal Hamlin as vice president. While Lincoln was a Midwesterner, a former Whig party member, and a moderate on the issue of slavery, Hamlin came from New England, had recently left the Democratic party, and was seen as far more anti-slavery than Lincoln. This attempt to balance the ticket helped keep the administration and the Republican party relatively united during the very divisive Civil War.
associated date
1860
associated person
Lincoln, Abraham
Hamlin, Hannibal
ID Number
2015.0200.016
catalog number
2015.0200.016
accession number
2015.0200

Lincoln and Hamlin Campaign Medal

In the 1860 election, the relatively new Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln as president and Hannibal Hamlin as vice president.
Description
In the 1860 election, the relatively new Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln as president and Hannibal Hamlin as vice president. While Lincoln was a Midwesterner, a former Whig party member, and a moderate on the issue of slavery, Hamlin came from New England, had recently left the Democratic party, and was seen as far more anti-slavery than Lincoln. This attempt to balance the ticket helped keep the Republican party relatively united in a complicated four-way race, in which Lincoln’s Republicans defeated John Breckenridge, Stephen A. Douglas, and John Bell.
associated date
1860
associated person
Lincoln, Abraham
Hamlin, Hannibal
ID Number
2015.0200.015
accession number
2015.0200
catalog number
2015.0200.015

Lincoln and Hamlin Campaign Medal, 1860

In the 1860 election, the relatively new Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln as president and Hannibal Hamlin as vice president.
Description
In the 1860 election, the relatively new Republican party nominated Abraham Lincoln as president and Hannibal Hamlin as vice president. While Lincoln was a Midwesterner, a former Whig party member, and a moderate on the issue of slavery, Hamlin came from New England, had recently left the Democratic party, and was seen as far more anti-slavery than Lincoln. This attempt to balance the ticket helped keep the Republican party relatively united in a complicated four-way race, in which Lincoln’s Republicans defeated John Breckenridge, Stephen A. Douglas, and John Bell.
date made
1860
depicted (sitter)
Lincoln, Abraham
Hamlin, Hannibal
ID Number
2008.0138.01
catalog number
2008.0138.01
accession number
2008.0138

Saddle

The Spaniards who invaded Mexico brought to North America a well-developed equestrian tradition. Over the centuries, horses, saddles, and other riding paraphernalia were altered by the landscape and the lifestyles of both Spanish and indigenous riders.
Description
The Spaniards who invaded Mexico brought to North America a well-developed equestrian tradition. Over the centuries, horses, saddles, and other riding paraphernalia were altered by the landscape and the lifestyles of both Spanish and indigenous riders. Accompanied by mariachi music, la charrería is the elaborate and spectacle-driven tradition of horsemanship in Mexico. As a national sport rooted in the everyday demands of ranching, the crafts and techniques of charrería were adopted and modified by American settlers in the 19th century. They in turn developed their own rodeo tradition. This elaborate saddle with embossed silver medallions was given to General Philip Sheridan by a Mexican friend in 1866. In that year, General Sheridan armed Mexican nationalists led by Benito Juárez, and headed a 50,000-man army along the U.S.-Mexico border in order to pressure France to end its occupation of Mexico.
Description (Spanish)
Los españoles que invadieron México transfirieron a Norteamérica una tradición ecuestre bien desarrollada. A lo largo de los siglos, los caballos, las monturas y otra parafernalia relativa a la equitación se modificarían para adaptarse a la geografía y al estilo de vida tanto de los españoles como de los indígenas. Junto al acompañamiento de música mariachi, la charrería es la tradición ecuestre de México, elaborada y transformada para el espectáculo. Como práctica nacional enraizada en las demandas cotidianas de la vida en las haciendas, el arte y la técnica de la charrería fueron adoptados y modificados por los colonos americanos en el siglo XIX, quienes a su vez desarrollaron su propia tradición de rodeo. Esta compleja montura con medallones de plata estampados en relieve fue entregada al General Philip Sheridan por un amigo mexicano en 1866. En dicho año, el General Sheridan armó a nacionalistas mexicanos conducidos por Benito Juárez, quien encabezó un ejército de 50.000 hombres a lo largo de la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México para presionar a Francia a que pusiera fin a la ocupación de México.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1865
associated date
1865
associated user
Sheridan, Philip H.
maker
Felipe del Aguila
ID Number
CL.035293
catalog number
35293
35,293
accession number
89849

Grant Campaign Ribbon, 1868

In the 1868 and 1872 presidential elections, Ulysses S. Grant was viewed as a promising politician who could calm the agitated, post-war nation.
Description
In the 1868 and 1872 presidential elections, Ulysses S. Grant was viewed as a promising politician who could calm the agitated, post-war nation. In addition to his successful generalship in the conflict, Grant campaigned as a cool-headed presence, running on the slogan “Let Us Have Peace.” He was able to unite a vast coalition of northern Republicans, formerly enslaved persons in the south, and young voters hoping to move on from the ugly politics of the era, and defeat Horatio Seymour in the 1868 campaign. Ultimately, however, he was seen as a naive politician who allowed enormous corruption and scandal to overtake his administrations
associated date
1868
associated person
Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson)
ID Number
PL.227739.1868.J08
catalog number
227739.1868.J08
accession number
227739

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