Exhibit Overview
The American Democracy exhibition occupies 7,235 square feet. The entrance is marked by a giant red, white, and blue button, reminiscent of a campaign button, with the exhibition title in the center. The top of the button features white stars on a blue background and the bottom is patterned with red and white vertical stripes. There are also red, white, and blue stars and confetti on the walls around the button, and projections of confetti and stars on the floor at the entrance to the exhibition, creating an atmosphere of celebration similar to an election night victory party. The exhibition is divided into five sections: “The Great Leap,” “The Machinery of Democracy,” “A Vote, A Voice,” “Creating Citizens,” and “Beyond the Ballot.” Each section is identifiable by its unique color scheme.
Thomas Jefferson’s Desk, ca. 1775-1776
Label Text
On this desk Thomas Jefferson wrote the first draft of the Declaration of Independence in June 1776. Jefferson himself had designed the desk, including a hinged writing board and a locking drawer for papers, pens, and inkwell. The desk was Jefferson’s companion as a Revolutionary patriot, American diplomat, and president of the United States. Late in his life, Jefferson attached a note to the bottom, saying that the desk would likely become a treasured relic, "for its great association with the birth of the Great Charter of our Independence."
Verbal Description
The desk is in the opening section of the American Democracy exhibition, called “The Great Leap.” This section discusses the first steps Americans took to form a new type of government based on “the people.” This section of the exhibition is defined by blue labels and color palette.
The desk is situated in a glass case that is approximately eight feet tall. It sits on a platform approximately three feet off the floor. The background of the case is a pastel blue color. Above the desk hangs a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence. The case is one of a pair with identical layouts. The case to the viewer’s right holds the Jefferson desk and the Declaration of Independence, while the case on the left holds George Washington’s document box, and the 1787 proposal for a constitution.
The desk itself looks like a small, stand-alone drawer—about fourteen inches long, nine inches wide, and a little over three inches tall. The top of the desk is held in place with two small brass hinges, and the desk is displayed with the top tilted up to create an angled writing surface. On the lower edge of the tilted desktop there is a long, thin rectangular piece of wood attached, to stop things from rolling or sliding down the desk. This part of the desk faces the front of the case, as if you could reach out, rest a paper on the desk, and start writing. Above the set of hinges connecting the top piece to the drawer box is another set of hinges that allow the top of the desk to unfold into a surface twice as large. To unfold it, you would reach to the far side of the desk, pick up the top layer of the desktop, and open it toward yourself. The desktop and drawer face have clean lines, with no beveling or fenestration. An open drawer extends slightly from the desk to the visitor’s right-hand side. The drawer is divided into four compartments; a long, narrow compartment at the back, meant to hold paper, and three compartments along the front. Of these, the one in the center is slightly wider than the two on the ends; the label indicates that it may have held pens. An inkwell sits in the compartment closest to the viewer. The drawer has a plain, brass swan-neck pull handle, and a small hole for a key.
On the side of the platform where the desk sits there are photographs showing three alternate views of the desk. From left to right, the desk is shown fully closed; with the top tilted up as it is currently displayed in the case; and with the top of the desk fully unfolded. The desk is designed to be compact for travel. It is about one-third of the size of George Washington’s document box in the neighboring case.
Suffrage Wagon, 1870s-1920
Label
Woman Suffrage Wagon, 1870s–1920
Tradition says that early suffragists used this delivery wagon at speaking engagements and to distribute the suffrage magazine Woman's Journal. Later suffragists painted the wagon with slogans and continued to use it for rallies and publicity, as well as magazine sales.
Verbal Description
The suffrage wagon sits in the “A Vote, A Voice” section in the center area of the exhibition. This section talks about the expansion of voting rights far beyond what the Founding Fathers imagined, as different groups of people demanded the right to vote and to choose their leaders and their laws. This section of the exhibition is defined by purple labels and color palette.
The suffrage wagon is the largest object in a display that includes other objects related to woman suffrage. To the viewer’s left-hand side of the wagon is a timeline of events related to voting rights. The wagon does not have glass around it, but there is a glass case about three feet off the ground in front of the wagon that contains other woman suffrage objects, including “jailed for freedom” pins and other objects emblazoned with the “Votes for Women” logo from the late 19th and early 20th century. Displayed in a glass case to the viewer’s right is a suffrage banner that reads “We demand an amendment to the United States Constitution Enfranchising Women.” The background for the display area is neutral, but it has purple labels and accents, which correspond to the other objects in the “A Vote, A Voice” section.
The wagon is displayed so that the viewer can see what would be the driver’s right-hand side of the wagon. The back, left, and front sides of the wagon are not visible, because of the way that it is inset in the display. It is a little over eight feet long, a little over five and a half feet wide, and about eight feet tall. The back section of the wagon is enclosed by a yellow half wall with black panels attached above it. The center of the wagon has a full-sized doorway for climbing in and out. The front part of the wagon has the same yellow half wall as the back with the addition of short panels of black metal lattice, forming a rail around three sides.” The top sections of the front walls of the wagon are open. The wheels of the wagon are painted yellow with black treads and axels, and the back wheels are significantly larger than the front wheels. The roof of the wagon is slightly curved and is also black. The side of the wagon facing the visitor is covered with slogans of woman suffrage such as: "8 million working women need the vote for equal pay for equal work and all labor legislation," "Give women the vote quick," and "90 percent of the teachers are women - the nation needs intelligent voters." The slogans are written in capital block letters—yellow writing on the black portions of the wagon, and black writing on the yellow portions of the wagon. The entire wagon is covered in slogans related to woman suffrage and supporting the Woman's Journal.
Emancipation Proclamation Inkstand
Label
In the summer of 1862 President Abraham Lincoln sat at a desk in the War Department telegraph office and, with this inkstand, began to draft a presidential order to free the enslaved people held in the Confederacy. While the act was limited in scope, it was revolutionary in impact. With emancipation and the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment ending slavery in 1865, over four million Americans were no longer legally defined as someone’s property and, although their rights would be brutally contested, they became United States citizens.
Verbal Description
The Emancipation Proclamation Inkstand is in the section of the exhibition called “Creating Citizens,” which discusses how fulfilling the ideals of American democracy required defining who “the people” would be and determining who was included as a citizen. The “Creating Citizens” section of the exhibition is defined by red labels and a red color palette for the cases.
The inkstand is displayed in a six-foot tall glass case that is inset in an eight-foot tall column. The case extends two-thirds of the width of the column. Both the column and the background of the inset case are a deep red. The inkwell sits on a red platform in the center, lower section of the case. Above the inkstand on the left is a document outlining Frederick Douglass’s vision for American citizenship. Above the inkstand on the right is a commemorative print of the Thirteenth Amendment. On the right-hand side of the column, in a smaller inset case with a gold border, are two guides about how to be a good citizen. At the top of the column are two enlarged black and white photographs; one of new citizens taking an oath, and one of Arab American children in the 1920s, sitting in an antique stroller that is decked out in bunting.
There are two identical inkwells on the inkstand, which is a claw-foot tray with handles that are shaped like the heads and necks of geese or swans. There are two heads per handle, with the necks connected in the middle, and the heads attached to the tray. The tray is about the size of a standard 8.5 x 11-inch piece of paper and has an embellished border with six bands of molding, making the edge of the tray look like an ornate picture frame. The inset portion of the tray is covered in intricate floral scrollwork in low relief. In the center of the tray, there is a face in profile, about the size of a thumb, approximately 1.5 inches, like a cameo.
The inkwells themselves would fit in the palm of a hand and are also decorated with floral scrollwork. Taking up most of the sides of the inkwells are alternating faces in profile and rams. On the top of the inkwells are creatures resembling chimeras, with their wings extended, and with curled tails. None of the faces that are visible on the inkwells or the tray are identical.