A Cultural Exhibition Celebrates the Right to Vote in the U. S. of A.

From ballot boxes to rally signs, the Smithsonian celebrates American democracy through voting.

by Antwaun Sargent

February 16, 2016, 9:40pm

All Images Courtesy of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

As the presidential nominations heat up, the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., recently opened the exhibition Hooray for Politics! to pay tribute to the American election process. Featuring ballot boxes, rally signs, and other political campaign ephemera, the Smithsonian's show is a celebration of American democracy as told through the instruments that make elections possible. The exhibition also features voting machines dating back to the late 19th century and displays current contemporary candidate lawn signs by candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, as well as older signs, to show the evolution of campaign messaging.

Ballot box, northeastern United States, 1850s

“The show is inspired by the fact that we are having a presidential election which every four years is a significant historically important event,” explains Supervising Museum Curator Harry Rubenstein, who organized the exhibition. “We combined some of our historic pieces of ballot boxes and voting machines, which are the symbolic symbol of American democracy, along with contemporary rally signs.” He says the boxes and signs on display are about capturing the exuberance and active participation of Americans in the voting process. “If you look at these ballot boxes, some of them look like art in their simplicity and elegance,” he says.

Ballot can, Tulare County, California, 1940s

As much as the exhibition lauds the right to vote, it also serves to start a conversation about the fraught history of voter rights in the United States. The ephemera presented in Hooray for Politics! highlights the fact that American democracy has not always been fair in its representations of all its citizens. The objects on dispaly represent placeholders in a historical timeline when women didn't have the right to vote. The exhibition also brings into focus the stricter voter ID laws that have swept the nation in recent years, and the fact that African Americans didn’t fully gain the right to vote until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Ballot box, New England, late 19th century

“With all the cynicism, and all of the negativity that can happen in campaigns, there is something inspiring and engaging and worth celebrating,” Rubenstein tells The Creators Project. “I hope people come and can look at this exhibition and feel good about American democracy.”