Smithsonian's History Explorer Resources Related To "Voting: The Acme of Reform"

The Presidential Campaign Trail

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:53:48 GMT

Presidential campaigns, inaugurations and the expansion of voting rights are the topics covered in this section of the online exhibition The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden. Campaign items and posters will help students learn about methods and strategies that have been used by candidates to win election. They will also see how inaugurations have become public holidays when Americans celebrate their democratic customs. Finally, they will explore how minorities, women, the poor, and young adults fought to obtain the right to vote.

The Lynch Family: Immigration and the Industrial Revolution

Thu, 19 Jul 2012 15:51:38 GMT

Students can learn about the Lynches and the realities of life for many Americans during the Industrial Revolution by examining a map and description of their apartment, a page from an 1885 account book, and objects from the period. In the 1870s and 1880s, Catherine Tracy Lynch, an Irish immigrant, and her daughter, Mary, rented one side of the Ipswich, Massachusetts house that is the focus of Within These Walls, an online exhibition. Catherine took in laundry and Mary was one of hundreds of workers employed by Ipswich Mills. Renting meant sharing space with boarders, other renters in the house, and probably relatives recently arrived from Ireland.

Ocean Crossings 1870-1969

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:53:13 GMT

Ocean liners were ships of transport for immigrants and machines of leisure, status, and national prestige. Students will learn about the roles that these ships played during the massive immigration of people to the United States from both Europe and Asia during the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries in this section of On the Water: Stories from Maritime America, an online exhibition. Students will also learn how passenger liners such as the Mauretania, Titanic, and the S.S. United States became a popular, and sometimes dangerous, mode of leisure travel for those who could afford it.

Vote: The Machinery of Democracy Homepage

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:09:00 GMT

In this online exhibition, students will explore the history of voting methods in the United States, study how ballots and voting systems have evolved over the years as a response to political, social, and technological change, transforming the ways in which Americans vote. The exhibit includes sections on paper ballots, reform, the gear & lever voting machine, Florida 2000, and present and future ballots.