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The 2024 DNC is over. Here’s what happens to some of the memorabilia left behind
The 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago concluded on Thursday with thousands of balloons pouring from the ceiling. While the DNC lasted only a few days, left behind were items that included hats, pins and signs.
This is where the Smithsonian National Museum of American History steps in to collect and preserve this memorabilia, capturing the spirit and pride of the convention for future generations.
Museum visitors can see everything from pins and peanuts to boxes of macaroni and cheese and ketchup bottles—all produced and used at one time to win votes.
“It really demonstrates a very active way in which individuals participate in the Democratic process,” said Claire Jerry, a political history curator at the Smithsonian.
Jerry and fellow curator Jon Grinspan are what you could call historical dumpster divers, always on the lookout for political memorabilia.
Since 1988, they have been sending a crew to primaries, caucuses, conventions and protests to actively collect memorabilia items before they land in the garbage.
Last month, Grinspan and Jerry attended the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee as guests of the GOP, tracking down items that tell the story of 2024. They collected signs that delegates quickly made after Sen. JD Vance was announced as former President Donald Trump’s running mate.
This week in Chicago, the curators continued their work at the Democratic National Convention, gathering shirts, signs and other items. Grinspan spotted a hat on the convention floor that he wanted to add to the collection.
“We love those things that have history from the past, present, and future—those make the best objects,” said Grinspan.
Back in Washington, D.C., hundreds of thousands of these items are cataloged and stored at the museum. The museum has items dating back to the 1844 Whig convention in Baltimore. Among the newer acquisitions include an at-home convention kit that Democrats sent to delegates four years ago during the pandemic so they could participate virtually.
Jerry said the significance of preserving these objects lies within the person who once held the item.
“I think the objects are really important because somebody used them. It’s not just something they watched on television, but it’s something they wore or they carried and it meant something to them,” said Jerry.
The items collected from the DNC in Chicago will need to be processed and cataloged at the Smithsonian. While much of the massive collection remains in storerooms, some of what was gathered in Chicago may eventually be displayed at the Museum of American History.
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Yellowstone hiker burned when she falls into scalding water near Old Faithful, park officials say
Yellowstone National Park, Wyo. — A New Hampshire woman suffered severe burns on her leg after hiking off-trail in Yellowstone National Park and falling into scalding water in a thermal area near the Old Faithful geyser, park officials said.
The 60-year-old woman from Windsor, New Hampshire, along with her husband and their leashed dog were walking off a designated trail near the Mallard Lake Trailhead on Monday afternoon when she broke through a thin crust over the water and suffered second- and third-degree burns to her lower leg, park officials said. Her husband and the dog weren’t injured.
The woman was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls, Idaho for treatment.
National Park Service / Jacob W. Frank
Park visitors are reminded to stay on boardwalks and trails in hydrothermal areas and exercise extreme caution. The ground in those areas is fragile and thin and there’s scalding water just below the surface, park officials said.
Pets are allowed in limited, developed areas of Yellowstone park but are prohibited on boardwalks, hiking trails, in the backcountry and in thermal areas.
The incident is under investigation. The woman’s name wasn’t made public.
This is the first known thermal injury in Yellowstone in 2024, park officials said in a statement. The park had recorded 3.5 million visitors through August this year.
Hot springs have injured and killed more people in Yellowstone National Park than any other natural feature, the National Park Service said. At least 22 people have died from hot spring-related injuries in and around the 3,471-square-mile national park since 1890, park officials have said.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.