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 3 items.
"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
John L. Lewis' Union Badge
- Description
- John L. Lewis, one of America's foremost labor leaders, wore this badge at the 1936 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) convention.
- Born in an Iowa coal-mining camp, Lewis went to work in the mines at age fifteen. 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
- 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