Remembering the Ladies in George Caleb Bingham’s Election Series
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21643242 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Cassandra Good (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 94-121 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Art (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1073-9300 • E-ISSN: 1549-6503 |
| Publisher | University of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1086/740791 |
| OpenAlex | W7165685612 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
Vibrant, lively, and raucous, the three paintings in George Caleb Bingham’s election series offer a colorful vision of Jacksonian democracy. While scholars often use these images as emblems of antebellum politics, the paintings marginalize a significant group of political actors: women. I read the series in conversation with an array of visual and material sources to offer a more complete picture of women’s political participation during the antebellum era. Focusing on the material culture of campaign ephemera and situating the paintings in the context of Bingham’s career, I argue that women of all classes were an integral part of the body politic. Thus, Bingham’s series obscures as much as it reveals and scholars should expand the range of sources they examine to better understand women and politics in the antebellum era
Performance art · Autobiographical and Biographical Writing · Literature: history, themes, analysis · Rhetoric and Communication Studies
| Highly cited | No |
|---|