As the November election day approaches, I started thinking about Ephemera related to past presidential campaigns. And as I searched the net I was drawn to the Cornell University Collection of Political Americana.
Cornell, through its “Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections.” has an exhibition entitled “Get Out The Vote – Campaigning for the U. S. Presidency”. While the site seems a bit dated, talking about the 2004 elections, it nonetheless has an interesting collection of partisan artifacts, symbols and ballots.
Most of the items featured in the exhibition were collected by Susan H. Douglas and given to the Library in 1957. Her collection has since been augmented by several other groups of election materials, which together form the Cornell University Political Americana Collection. Recently, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded Cornell a two-year National Leadership Grant to catalog, conserve, and digitize the Political Americana Collection. Get Out the Vote! Campaigning for the U. S. Presidency highlights items treated and digitized as part of the grant, and celebrates the preservation of this remarkable array of Americana.
A bit to my surprise, both the 1952 and 1956 elections targeted the votes of women.. but in a somewhat different way than our 2008 campaign. Those campaigns created materials designed to appeal to feminine tastes. Take for example this pamphlet which alluded to domestic duties.
The 1960 election was the first to establish televised Presidential debates as a powerful influence on voter opinion.  And from that comes this interesting piece of Ephemera titled “A Candidates Primer on how to use Radio and Television Effectively“. I wonder if Senator McCain or Senator Obama have read similar documents?
Perhaps the two items that caught my attention the most were these:
On the right is a 1949 postcard that depicts Uncle Sam rowing a boat with Woodrow Wilson on board.. and Teddy Roosevelt swimming to catch up. The caption is priceless – “Uncle Sam Would Row Wilson”
And on the left is a pamphlet from the Progressive Party in 1952. It depicts Ms. Charlotta Bass who was the first female candidate for Vice President of the United States. While Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin claim to be the first female candidates representing a major political party, Ms. Bass appears to be the first female, and most certainly the first African American.
If American politics interest you, jump over to the Cornell site and have a look at this wonderful exhibition. I think you will truly enjoy it. There is a lot more there than this blog space allows.
I’m Tom Murphy and thanks for helping me give Ephemera the encore it deserves.
Tom
Click to see my current Bonanzle items
Technorati tags: Bonanzle, Encore Ephemera, Ephemera, The Ephemera Network, Delcampe Auctions, Cornell University, US Presidency. Elections, Political Americana
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