Tuesday, November 3, 2020 marks the 59th quadrennial presidential election. In honor of the upcoming election, the Unwritten Record has selected photographs and posters that document the voting process in the United States and abroad. All photographs included within this post are available in the National Archives Catalog.
Original Caption: “Bus provided by Rev. John Porter’s Sixth Avenue Baptist Church gets voters of black community to the polls on primary election day.” Local ID: 412-DA-2883 (NAID 545370). Photographer: LeRoy Woodson. Date: May 1972.
Original Caption: “Members of the United States Air Force with their ballots in hand, are ready to exercise their freedom to vote under field conditions. Published in Airman Magazine October 1996.” Local ID: 330-CFD-DF-ST-98-02709 (NAID 6499293). Photographer: John K. McDowell
Original Caption: “Tule Lake Relocation Center, Newell, California. Absentee voters of Japanese descent getting ballots and having them notarized.” Local ID: 210-G-A627 (NAID 536513). Photographer: Francis Leroy Stewart. Date: November 2, 1942.
Original Caption: “Baltic, South Dakota, typical of many rural communities all over the United States, goes to the polls during the November, 1948 presidential election. In this little Norwegian farm community, Mrs. T.H. Fresdahl, age 82, casts her vote. Mrs. Fresdahl was the first baby to be born in Fort Dakota, a pioneer outpost fort at which her father was a soldier. This was when the Dakotas were Indian country. Ft. Dakota was located approximately where Sioux Falls, S.D. now stands. Mrs. Fresdahl is proud of her pioneer heritage and proud that she has never missed voting in a presidential election since woman suffrage became effective, in 1920.” Local ID: 306-PS-48-3477 (NAID 7583488). Source: State Department. Photographer: Ramsey. Date: ca. November 1948.
Caption: Eleanor Roosevelt votes in Hyde Park, New York. Photograph from the FDR Library (NAID 196125).
Original Caption: “Voters at the Blagaj polling location cast their ballots on the day of the Mostar general elections.” Local ID: 330-CFD-DA-SD-96-01029 (NAID 6492173). Photographer: SPC Moses Mlasko. Date: June 30, 1996
Original Caption: “Vote registration drive was one aspect of Black Expo, an annual exhibit of Black talent, education, products and other aspects of Black Consciousness held in Chicago. The aim is to make Blacks aware of their heritage and capabilities, and help them towards a better life.” Local ID: 412-DA-13806 (NAID 556258). Photographer: John H. White. Date: October 1973
Original Caption: “On Dec. 15, 2005, an Iraqi Family proudly poses with ink stained fingers after casting their vote. The voting was done as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.” Local ID: 330-CFD-DA-SD-07-31666 (NAID 6678824). Photographer: Spc. Lester Colley
Caption: Photograph of Federal Register Staff Examining Voting Records. Mrs. Willis and Mrs. Clark examining original records of voting. Local ID: 69-PR-79-1 (NAID 74228823).
Original Caption: “Published in NATO pamphlet ‘Atlantic Alliance.’ An old woman casts her vote, thereby exercising one of the rights assured to the free peoples of the West. (Presumably France).” Date: May 21, 1954. Local ID: 286-MP-FRA-07153 (NAID 19989015).
Caption: Photograph of President Gerald Ford Voting in the 1976 General Election in Grand Rapids, Michigan. From the Gerald Ford Presidential Library. Local ID: B2129-16 (NAID 6923684). Date: November 2, 1976.
Original Caption: “In front of one of polling places during Germany’s first election. Many women were on hand to vote. Montabaur, Germany.” Local ID: 111-SC-51246 (NAID 86707685). Photographer: Sgt. J.A. Marshall, Signal Corps. Date: January 19, 1919.
The photographs and posters included in this post do not have any known copyright restrictions. If you have any questions about the images in this post or the holdings of the Still Picture Branch, please contact us at stillpix@nara.gov.
PUBLICATION OF PHOTOGRAPHS FURNISHED BY THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES STILL PICTURE BRANCH-RRSS
Generally, copies of photographic records held by the National Archives may be published without special permission or additional fees. The National Archives does not grant exclusive or non-exclusive publication privileges. Copies of Federal records, as part of the public domain, are equally available to all. A small percentage of photographs in our holdings are or may be subject to copyright restrictions. The National Archives does not confirm the copyright status of photographs but will provide any information known about said status. It is the user’s responsibility to obtain all necessary clearances. Any use of these items is made at the researcher’s or purchaser’s own risk.
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These are cool, thank-you.