Presidential Campaign Posters

With it being an election year, it's no surprise that sites are posting election-related materials!

The Library of Congress has a slideshow of presidential campaign posters from Andrew Jackson to Barack Obama. There are also several great examples of opposition ads.

Classroom activity idea: have students examine the posters to determine whether it is a poster for or against that candidate. Students can click on "View Photo Descriptions" for more information, and to see a larger image (when available- images starting with Franklin Roosevelt are within copyright, and therefore cannot be viewed any larger without contacting the Library of Congress).

There are other great election materials to be found!

• Themed Resources: Elections (Includes lesson plans, primary source set, collections to examine for primary sources, etc)
• Themed Resources: Civics & Government (may include similar information as Elections, but may provide more broad information on government as well)
• Elections... The American Way (A presentation to explain the voting process and how it came to be)
• Age of Jackson: Running for President (From Tennessee State Museum's TN4Me, information about Andrew Jackson running for election)
• Winning the Vote: How Americans Elect Their President (From Smithsonian Education's Art to Zoo publication- this is a large file, information and lesson plans about the election process)
• Vote: The Machinery of Democracy (From Smithsonian National Museum of American History, online exhibition of voting methods and how they have changed over time)

And last but not least- my winner for favorite activity while searching for Election-related classroom materials! The National Portrait Gallery published a (rather large- 66 pages!) teacher guide PDF full of information, lesson plans, worksheets, small versions of the portraits, timelines, and even a board game based around their Portraits of the Presidents gallery. The game looks like a lot of fun, and allows you to choose whether you are running for President before or after 1884. 

Please feel free to post any other election-related materials that you know of!

Posted by Ashleigh Oatts - 09/18/2012, 12:14 PM