Descriptive Entry

This accession consists of records that document Division of Political History planning for the Bicentennial exhibition We the People, which opened at the National Museum of American History on June 4, 1975. The exhibition focused on the American people and their government since the late eighteenth century. It consisted of three major sections, based on President Abraham Lincoln's phrase: ". . . government of the people, by the people, and for the people." Materials include some correspondence of Margaret Brown Klapthor, Associate Curator, 1969-1970, Curator, 1971-1984, and Curator Emeritus, 1985- ; and Edith Mayo, Assistant Curator, 1976-1979, Associate Curator, 1980-1984, and Curator, 1985- ; exhibition proposals; scripts; production notes; installation blueprints; and photographs. Other records in this accession pertain to proposed exhibitions that never materialized, such as Women in Sports and United States Social Welfare.