Election exhibit gives glimpse of last 200 years

By Linda Nguyen
Staff Writer

Exhibit curator Beth Hair and assistant curator Mary Goolsby present the new exhibit in the Poage Legislative Library titled “The Race for the White House.” The exhibit formally opens to the public on Thursday, Sept. 20.
Matt Hellman | Lariat Photo Editor

Fifty campaigns can create a lot of memorabilia.

Today, the W. R. Poage Legislative Library’s opens it’s new fall 2012 exhibit entitled “Race for the White House” which displays items from nearly all of them .

The reception will begin at 3 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Ben Rogers, the director of the Poage Library, said the event will have hotdogs, apple pie and popcorn.

Former U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards will also be in attendance.

“It [the exhibit] is specifically about presidential elections,” Rogers said. “Basically 1800 to 2000; 200 years of presidential campaigns and how they used to have different kinds of materials. Before there were campaign buttons, there were campaign medals and coins and cigarette wrappers and all kinds of things they were advertised on.”

Rogers said the exhibit features campaign memorabilia from many different sources.

The exhibit is open during the Poage Library’s regular hours, which are 9 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The exhibit will be on display until mid-November.