Call Number:

3472

Repository:

Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Extent:

1.4 linear feet (; 4 boxes, 3 flat files)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Cite as: [Indicate cited item or series here], Balch Institute political ephemera collection (Collection 3472), The Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

Date:

1941-1974, undated

Creator:

Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies.

Abstract:

This collection of material that was collected by the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies contains a variety publications and other printed matter generally related to U. S. elections, political matters, and political parties. Several folders contain items related to the the 1972 presidential election. The vast majority of the collection dates to the 1970s, however there are few folders of papers from the 1940s and 1960s. Some of the papers were mailed to or requested by party supporters. Some form letters, personal correspondence, and other documents contain mailing addresses for Frederick Casoni of New Jersey, and Glenn Skillin of Syracuse, New York, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Housed four boxes, the collection is roughly arranged into groups. Taking up all of Box 1 and the first few folders in Box 2 are publications, flyers, advertisements, pamphlets, and other ephemera related to the 1972 president election involving Democratic candidates Geroge McGovern (president) and Sargent Shriver (vice-president) and Republican incumbents, President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew. Highlights from this group include an array of pamphlets describing each party's platform, a folder of pins and bumper stickers from Nixon's campaign (Box 1, folder 10), and a copy of Nixon's acceptance speech that he gave at the Republican National Convention in Miami, Florida. (Box 2, Folder 2). There is also a single folder of material from the campaigns of other candidates for the Democratic party presidential nomination, including Ed Muskie and Hubert Humphrey (Box 2, Folder 4).

In the rest of Box 2 and in Box 3, Folder 1, are street lists of registered voters from 1971 for Philadelphia's 10th, 11th, 54th, and 60th wards. These sheets contain alphabetical lists of voters by street in a given ward. Box 3, Folder 2 contains similar street lists from 1972 for the 2nd through 7th and 10th to 11th wards in Chester, Delaware County.

Box 3, Folders 3 to 5 contain the earliest materials in the collection dating from the 1940s, with some items from the 1960s. They consist of documentation produced by the Republican party generally (like mailing lists and and an informational guide to the Republican National Convention), as well as by related organizations, such young Republican clubs, in New York and Florida.

The remaining materials in the collection are comprised of scant and miscellaneous publications and ephemera from different political parties, such as the Prohibition Party (Box 3, Folder 6), the Socialist Workers Party (Box 4, Folder 1), and the Constitution Parties (Box 4, Folder 2), as well as advertisements, pamphlets, and other items produced by local and state politicians for various elections (Box 3, Folder 7). A miscellaneous folder (Box 4, Folder 5) contains a few interesting groups of items like a press release pertaining to and pictures of Bella Abzug, a United States representative from New York, and a letter and pamphlets from the War Resister's League.

Remaining with this collection though not necessarily related to its contents are a commemorative medal from United Nations World Youth Assembly and a souvenir pen bearing Spiro Agnew's signature, as well as a group of newsletters and photographs of astronauts from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. These materials have been housed in Box 4, Folders 4 and 5, respectively.