New Exhibit at the MCHS: "Race to the Finish: Newspaper Coverage of Presidential Elections, 1789 - 2008"

The Morris County Historical Society offers Race to the Finish: Newspaper Coverage of Presidential Elections, 1789 - 2008 a thought-provoking new exhibit on view at Acorn Hall beginning Sunday, October 30 through Sunday, January 29, 2017. Featured in the exhibit are rare, original, historic presidential newspapers, from the personal collection of local historian, author, and MCHS Board of Trustees member Peter J. Tamburro, Jr., accented by period clothing, political paraphernalia, and cultural artifacts from the Morris County Historical Society’s extensive collections.

In this exhibit, newspaper headlines and articles illustrate the campaign promises, electoral obstacles, and political gaffes of more than 20 U.S. presidents and their rivals. See early newspaper coverage of George Washington’s election through Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, and an authentic copy of the 1948 “Dewey Defeats Truman” headline of the Chicago Daily Tribune. Complementing the newspapers are many examples of 19th and 20th century period clothing, political paraphernalia including campaign buttons for Adlai Stevenson and Franklin Roosevelt, and a 1917 telegram sent by President Woodrow Wilson, and other cultural artifacts, from the Society’s vast collections. (Image of McKinley ribbon and figurines, from the collections of the MCHS.)

Acorn Hall is open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For a tour of Acorn Hall and to see the exhibit is $6 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for students, and Free for children under age 12 and MCHS members. To see the exhibit, only, is one half of the price of admission. Acorn Hall is closed, and the exhibit is unavailable, on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day. For more information, please call the MCHS at 973-267-3465.

The Morris County Historical Society, founded in 1945, is a member supported 501 (c)3 organization whose mission is to and interpret the history of Morris County and New Jersey as it relates to Morris County through events, programs, exhibits, publications, and preservation advocacy.