National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Political History

The collections of the Division of Political History date back to 1883, when they were part of the Section of Historical Relics, United States National Museum. The political artifacts consisted largely of George Washington memorabilia. By 1886, the collections had expanded to include relics of former presidents Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Ulysses S. Grant. Care of the collections was assigned to the Section and its various successors through to the Division of History, under the direction of Alonzo Howard Clark until 1918 and Theodore T. Belote, 1919-1948.

In 1943, the Division of History formed a Civil Section that included political memorabilia, costumes, and furnishings. The Section became the Division of Civil History in 1948, and was given departmental status upon the creation of the Museum of History and Technology (MHT) in 1957. In 1958 the Division of Political History was formed. The Division retained responsibility for political collections as well as costumes, which were curated by its Section of American Costume. Responsibility for furnishings was transferred to the new Division of Cultural History. Margaret Brown Klapthor was concerned with political memorabilia, costumes, especially the First Ladies' gowns, and furnishings. She was assisted by Anne Wood Murray; both women planned the First Ladies Hall and the Hall of American Costume, which opened in 1964. Charles G. Dorman assisted Klapthor in maintaining the furnishings collections. Curator Wilcomb E. Washburn primarily served as Director of Growth of the United States, an exhibition unit within the Department, which was disbanded in 1968.

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