What the Smithsonian is archiving from the 2024 Republican National Convention

‘These signs are interesting, because they tell you a lot about how the convention itself intends to be organized.’

Political history curators from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History are at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, collecting items from clothing to signs that will help tell the story of the 2024 presidential election. Conversation U.S. politics editor Naomi Schalit interviewed them last week, before they set out from Washington, D.C., to Wisconsin, about what they try to collect and why. Now that they’re at the event, curators Claire Jerry and Jon Grinspan reported back to Schalit on their collecting progress. Turns out, a clear plastic bag handed out to attendees may tell the big story of the convention, which began just a few days after the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.