Smithsonian exhibition to chronicle 40 years of US elections

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History has commissioned three curators to document everything used in the U.S. election cycles of the last 40 years to add to its collection

In the run-up to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, curators Lisa Kathleen Graddy, Jon Grinspan, and Claire Jerry, commissioned by the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, have initiated the inclusion of various items such as buttons, pamphlets, souvenirs, and other artifacts in the museum’s collection and exhibition. 

Curators told the British newspaper The Observer that they will collect everything from stickers and campaign materials to phone cases and dolls.

“Some candidates produce more stuff than others,” curator Jerry said, noting that he left a campaign headquarters in 2020 with a baby onesie.

In addition to looking for mementos that showcase what makes this election cycle unique, curators will pay attention to what patterns they find in election paraphernalia that evoke the past.

The artifacts will be documented and added to the National Museum of American History collection, where they will be displayed alongside the institution’s extensive election-related materials. The organization’s collection includes items from the most recent presidential election in 2020, as well as historical items such as the top hat Abraham Lincoln wore the night he was assassinated and the desk where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.

Source: Newsroom