Campaign Keepsakes

Museum’s Collection of Political Memorabilia Grows

• By Alison McSherry
• Roll Call Staff
• June 26, 2008, Midnight

In office space high above the construction that is reshaping the interior of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History, a collection of political memorabilia dating back to the American Revolution is stored. Political ribbons, signs and toys bearing support for everyone from William Henry Harrison to Pat Buchanan sit in cabinets organized by year, proving that the hoopla that has surrounded recent presidential campaigns is nothing new.