As the 2024 presidential election cycle kicks off, so does the production of election-related memorabilia. Buttons, brochures, novelty items and more will be on the minds of three museum curators this year as they hit primaries and conventions to collect memorabilia for the Smithsonian.
Lisa Kathleen Graddy, Jon Grinspan and Claire Jerry are in charge of documenting the election cycle for the National Museum of American History, which for some 40 years has sent out political history curators to gather election cycle materials for its collection.
“It’s one of my favorite parts of what I get to do,” Jerry told Observer. “We go to the conventions and we try, if at all possible, to get to a debate. And of course, the inauguration happens essentially on our front lawn.”
The trio of curators will be looking for both commercially produced materials and homemade items, picking up everything from stickers and campaign materials to phone cases and dolls. “Some candidates produce more things than others,” said Jerry, who in 2020 left a campaign headquarters with a baby onesie in tow. “It’s fun to see how campaigns try to think about what’s popular in popular culture and how they can tap into that.”
Jerry and her colleagues will keep an eye on what patterns they find in election paraphernalia that harken back to the past, in addition to seeking out memorabilia that showcases what makes this particular election cycle unique. In 2020, for example, Smithsonian curators emphasized items that documented how the Covid-19 pandemic impacted voting. “What I think is potentially interesting is the presence of people who have been campaigners before,” said Jerry of the current cycle. “Do they go for a different slogan, or do they pick up on things they’ve used before? That’s something that we’ll be looking to see.”
Election memorabilia throughout the years
Some of the items collected by the curators will end up in the National Museum of American History, presented alongside the institution’s vast holdings of election-related materials, a portion of which is currently on view in the exhibition American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith. In addition to showcasing items from the most recent presidential election in 2020, the institution’s collection contains historical pieces like the top hat Abraham Lincoln wore the night he was assassinated and the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence.
“By actively collecting new materials at the primaries and the party conventions every four years, the nation’s flagship history museum documents the evolving spirit and complexity of the presidential campaign’s political landscape to then share with the American public, both now and in the future,” said Anthea Hartig, the museum’s director, in a statement.
For Jerry, one of the most exciting parts of the Smithsonian’s collecting initiative is getting to see not just how candidates decide to communicate to the public throughout the election cycle but also witnessing how citizens themselves become engaged in the process. “The buttons and the posters and the bumper stickers, candidates aren’t really doing that—we’re doing that. We’re wearing the button, we’re putting the sign in our yard,” she said. “It really gives a sense that this is a very active, dynamic process that all of us should be thinking about participating in.”
