American Political Memorabilia: Symbolism and Silliness

Evan Stewart (BA 1974, JD 1977) has one of America’s most extensive collections of po­litical memorabilia. In 1960, he began amass­ing thousands of campaign buttons, posters, dolls, puppets, cartoons, and other parapher­nalia. These assorted materials tell an amaz­ing set of stories about our nation’s electoral battles. What was the dirtiest campaign in his­tory? What role did the “Wide Awakes” have in fomenting the Civil War? What was the first “modern” campaign in our history? What campaign generated the most memorabilia? Why are some items more valuable than oth­ers? Which candidate threw a tantrum over his presidential button? What pets have influ­enced the ballot box? These and many other questions will be answered by Evan Stewart during his presentation at this Cornell Univer­sity Library Salon.