Voting by Mail: Civil War to Covid-19 Exhibition Press Materials

04.30.2024
Press Kit
Media only:
Marty Emery
emerym@si.edu
(202) 431-8963

Voting by Mail: Civil War to Covid-19

August 24, 2024 – February 23, 2025

This exhibition explores the history of election mail and voting by mail in the United States. The changing logistical and political reasons for the various ways mail has—and has not—been part of the election process continue to define where, when, and how Americans vote in elections.

Online exhibition URL:
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/voting-by-mail

Online exhibition in Spanish URL (Voto por Correo: De la Guerra Civil al Covid-19):
https://postalmuseum.si.edu/voto-por-correo

Press Releases

Related Media

Envelope with printing, handwriting, postal marking, and postage stamp.
Civil War envelope for mailing soldiers’ votes on a tally sheet for the Ohio state election in 1864.

Credit: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Download vbm_npm_2011_2061_1a.jpg (11.86 MB)
Postcard printed in red with “Official Election War Ballot – Via Air Mail” and addressed by hand.
Ballot request postcard sent by US Navy Reserve Ensign E. H. Wooten to Mississippi Secretary of State, 1944.

Credit: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

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Front of envelope printed in red with “Official Election War Ballot – Via Air Mail” and election oath signed by hand.
Ballot return envelope sent by US Army Nurse Teckla H. Jacobson to Washington Secretary of State, 1944.

Credit: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

Download vbm_npm_0_260305_48_60_1.jpg (1.45 MB)
Unused form titled “Official Federal War Ballot.”
Official Federal War Ballot issued in 1944 for absentee voting by members of the US Armed Forces.

Credit: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

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First Lady Grace Coolidge holds an envelope to vote absentee by mail in the 1924 presidential election.
First Lady Grace Coolidge holds an envelope to vote absentee by mail in the 1924 presidential election.

Credit: Library of Congress

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Japanese Americans prepare their absentee ballots to vote while incarcerated at Tule Lake, California, 1942.
Japanese Americans prepare their absentee ballots to vote while incarcerated at Tule Lake, California, 1942.

Credit: National Archives

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Poster with image of a postage stamp of an American flag and text about the stamp issue.
Post Office Department poster for a 5c stamp issue carries a slogan for registering and voting, 1964.

Credit: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution

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Color photograph of two black women in military uniforms at a table with absentee voter paperwork. 
US Army Pfc. Chyna Williams (left) helps Staff Sgt. Janeen Butler at a voter assistance drive, Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, 2008.

Credit: US Army photo by Dustin Senger

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