The Historical Society of Delaware is pleased to present an expansive exhibition on
each of the United States presidents that will be displayed through election day, November
7, 2000, at the Delaware History Center.
Fathers of Our Country features memorabilia, photographs and documents from
each of the 41 different U. S. Presidents. All of the material is from the collections of
the Historical Society of Delaware and most documents relate directly to Delaware. Items
range from serious to less so; from the telegram announcing the death of John F. Kennedy
to Delaware Governor Elbert Carvel to a mannequin dressed from head to toe in "I Like
Ike" fashions.
The exhibit also addresses the history of the presidential campaign. Early politicking
was restrained and elitist since there was no popular vote. Eventually states changed
their constitutions to allow a popular vote, and the public campaign was born.
One of the first election campaigns was William H. Harrison's in 1840. The campaign
slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler too" was used at mass rallies and parades to
present Harrison as a log-cabin dwelling frontiersman. Harrison's public image was quite
different than the private, however, since he was definitely an aristocrat. Rare campaign
buttons with the log-cabin logo are displayed in Fathers of Our Country.
As the popular vote became more important, and consumerism expanded, so did campaign
propaganda. Witness buttons from Theodore Roosevelt's "Bull moose" campaign, a
Richard Nixon shower curtain and a George Bush doormat.
More than 60 documents on display in Fathers of Our Count offer
the greatest connection to Delaware. Read Woodrow Wilson's pardon to Delawarean Florence
Bayard Hilles, who was arrested with other suffragettes for picketing the White House in
1917. Another handwritten letter from Calvin Coolidge to Delaware senator Coleman du Pont
commends the restoration of Old Town Hall in Wilmington by the Historical Society of
Delaware. Franklin D. Roosevelt's letter regretfully declines an invitation to attend the
dedication of the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes in 1932. Other documents resulted from
presidential acts in office, such as commissions and commendations.
More than 30 photographs and 20 engravings offer formal and informal images of each
President. from George Washington to William Clinton. Over 100 campaign buttons and dozens
of other items are displayed, such as Andrew Johnson impeachment trial tickets from 1868,
Lyndon B. Johnson's invitation list from a 1964 White House dinner, and George
Washington's inaugural button from 1789. As a special election year tie-in, visitors to
Fathers of Our Country can cast a ballot for the next U. S. President. Results will be
posted periodically up until Election Day on November 7, 2000.
