Presidential Election of 1888: A Resource Guide

Benjamin Harrison, Republican candidate for president. Garrigues, George. 1 print: lithograph. 1888. Prints & Photographs Division. Reproduction Number: LC-DIG-pga-01313

The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of material associated with the presidential election of 1888, including broadsides, prints, political cartoons, sheet music, newspaper articles, and government documents. This guide compiles links to digital materials related to the presidential election of 1888 that are available throughout the Library of Congress Web site. In addition, it provides links to external Web sites focusing on the 1888 election and a selected bibliography.

1888 Presidential Election Results [1]

Library of Congress Web Site | External Web Sites | Selected Bibliography

Digital Collections

The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress

This collection presents the papers of the nineteenth-century African-American abolitionist who escaped from slavery and then risked his own freedom by becoming an outspoken antislavery lecturer, writer, and publisher.

• "Address to the Colored Citizens of the United States"
• Harrison, Benjamin - Folder 1 of 2
• Speeches (2) on behalf of Benjamin Harrison for President
• Speech on the Issues of the Presidential Election, 1888

Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera

The Printed Ephemera collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. While the broadside format represents the bulk of the collection, there are a significant number of leaflets and some pamphlets.

• An address to cutters, tailors and others engaged in the manufacture of clothing and cloaks ... Vote for Harrison and Morton and protection to American industries ... New York: Press of De Leeuw & Oppenheimer. [1888]
• Dear Sir: One most important task lies before the supporters of the Democratic ticket- to bring the people at large to a clear understanding of the tariff question ...
• Die candidaten der freihändler England's Für Präsident Grover Cleveland ... Die candidaten der Schutzzöllner Amerika's für Präsident Benjamin Harrison ... [n. p. 1888]
• Extract from the speech of Genl. Benj. Harrison to the Clay County, Indiana, miners. Pittsburgh. [Reprinted from the American people of Sept. 12, 1888.]
• A fable ... Harrison & Morton are in favor of a protective tariff in its fullest sense. President Cleveland is not! Consult your own interests and choose between them ... H. K. Thurber. [n. p. 1888]..
• Harrison & reform
• How it works in England. New York, June 13, 1888. To the editor of the Mail and Express. Sir:- I have voted the Democratic ticket since 1872 ...
• Huntington county. Democratic Committee meeting. A large attendance. Ringing resolutions indorsing the administration of President Cleveland. [From the Huntingdon Monitor, March 15, 1888].
• Important facts for Irish-American citizens to consider and reasons why they should vote for Cleveland & Thurman. [n. p. 1888]
• A large extra supplement in color containing the portraits of President Cleveland and the Hon. Allen G. Thurman (drawn by Joseph Keppler,) will be given free of charge...
• No. 2. 1888 Democratic evidence for Democratic workingmen. European wages. "God save American from such wages." Issued by the Republican league of the United States
• President Cleveland, an illustrated poem by H. Clay Preuss. Respectfully dedicated to the members of the New York delegation to the National Democratic convention, at St. Louis, June 5th, 1888...
• Republican nominees. 1888.
• Republican ticket. For electors of President and vice-president of the United States.
• The White house soliloquy. [n. p.] [c. 1888]

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

Chronicling America

This site allows you to search and view millions of historic American newspaper pages from 1789-1924. Search this collection to find newspaper articles about the presidential election of 1888.

A selection of articles on the 1888 presidential election includes:

• "Cleveland Chosen." Omaha Daily Bee. (Omaha, Neb.), June 7, 1888.
• "Harrison and Morton: The Chicago Convention Ends Its Labors." Wichita Eagle. (Wichita, Kan.), June 26, 1888.
• "It Hangs in Doubt. It Hinges on New York Returns." The Salt Lake Herald. (Salt Lake City, Utah), November 7, 1888.
• "Victory. The Republicans Everywhere Jubilant." Burlington Weekly Free Press. (Burlington, Vt.), November 9, 1888.
• "Lost Beyond Hope. It Will Be Benj. F. Harrison." The Salt Lake Herald. (Salt Lake City, Utah), November 9, 1888.

In addition, the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room has created a series of topics guides to the newspapers included in Chronicling America, including the presidential election of 1888.

 

Music Division

The Library of Congress Celebrates the Songs of America

The Songs of America presentation allows you to explore American history as documented in the work of some of our country's greatest composers, poets, scholars, and performers. From popular and traditional songs, to poetic art songs and sacred music, the relationship of song to historical events from the nation's founding to the present is highlighted through more than 80,000 online items.

A selection of sheet music from the 1888 presidential election includes:

• The Mugwumps Met Him on the Way
• The Red Bandana

Prints & Photographs Division

Pictorial Americana: Selected Images from the Collections of the Library of Congress

Pictorial Americana, a Library of Congress publication, contains a chapter listing selected images related to the 1888 presidential election.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC)

Search PPOC using the following subject headings to find additional prints, political cartoons, and other digital images related to the presidential election of 1888.

A selection of images from the 1888 presidential election includes:

• Chicago welcomes the National Republican Convention 1888
• The city of Saint Louis welcomes the National Democratic Convention, 1888
• Democratic platform and presidential nominees
• Great Republican Harrison and Morton, campaign ball, 1888
• Mr. Harrison goes shooting and fishing
• Not as heavy as Grover, perhaps, but then I have more lemons
• Our choice, Grover Cleveland, A.G. Thurman. Democratic nominees, for president [and] for vice president
• Protection to home industry 1888
• Public office is a public trust For President of the United States, Grover Cleveland of New York ; For Vice-President of the United States, Allen G. Thurman of Ohio
• The regular Democratic nominations For President, Grover Cleveland of New York. For Vice Pres't, Allen G. Thurman of Ohio
• Republican platform and presidential nominees
• View from the galleries of the St. Louis Convention Hall, during speech re-nominating Grover Cleveland

External Web Sites

The American Presidency Project: Election of 1888

The American Presidency Project Web site presents election results from the 1888 presidential election. This site also contains the Democratic Party Platform and the Republican Party Platform of 1888.

HarpWeek: The Presidential Elections 1860-1912

This HarpWeek Web site features political cartoons from Harper's Weekly, Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, Vanity Fair, Puck, Judge, and American Political Prints, 1766-1876: A Catalog of the Collections in the Library of Congress. It provides explanations of the historical context and images of each cartoon, campaign overviews, biographical sketches, a review of the era's major issues, and other valuable information related to the 1888 presidential election.

Selected Bibliography

Primary Sources

The Campaign Text Book of the Democratic Party of the United States. New York: Brentano's, 1888. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Official Proceedings of the National Democratic Convention, Held in St. Louis, Mo., June 5th, 6th and 7th, 1888. Containing also, the Preliminary Proceedings of the National Democratic Committee and the Committee of Arrangements, with an Appendix. St. Louis, Woodward & Tiernan Printing Co., 1888. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Proceedings of the Ninth Republican National Convention, Held at Chicago, Ill., June 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, and 25, 1888. Chicago: Printed by Order of the Republican National Committee, 1888. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Dawson, George Francis. The Republican Campaign Text-Book for 1888. New York: Published for the Republican National Committee by Brentano's, 1888. [Catalog Record] [Full Text]

Secondary Sources

Calhoun, Charles W. Minority Victory: Gilded Age Politics and the Front Porch Campaign of 1888. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2008. [Catalog Record]

Notes

1. Presidential Elections, 1789-2008. (Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2010), 141, 231.