At the 2024 Democratic National Convention alongside politicians and delegates from across the country are political history curators from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, who are collecting what museum curators call “ephemera” – items that people wear, carry, hand out, display or otherwise use during the convention.
The Conversation U.S. politics editor Jeff Inglis spoke with Claire Jerry and Lisa Kathleen Graddy about what they have seen so far and how attendees are using a wide range of items, including those distributed in an area called “DemPalooza.” They have not yet seen any hot dish-themed items referring to vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, who is the governor of Minnesota, where that type of meal is popular. But they have seen cheese-shaped hats and a couple of very interesting lapel pin-type buttons.
