The Vere Harmsworth Library is home to the Philip & Rosamund Davies US Elections Campaigns Archive, an extensive collection of campaign ephemera from American elections at all levels.
The archive was donated to the VHL by Professor Philip Davies (Former Director, Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library). It comprises a wide range of material, from buttons, posters, bumper stickers, flyers and leaflets, to more unusual examples of campaign ephemera such as t-shirts, caps, dolls, rain bonnets, jewellery, bars of soap, rain bonnets, playing cards and commemorative plates.
Most of the material dates from the later 20th century onwards, but there are examples of older items such as 19th and early 20th century campaign buttons, and ballots from the Civil War era. The archive continues to grow as Professor Davies actively collects and donates material from each round of elections in the United States.
You can find full details of the materials in the archive catalogue. We post images of selected highlights on our Instagram or Flickr. If you are interested in consulting items from the archive, please contact the Librarian, Bethan Davies.
