Shopmaker Political Collection On Display
At Mercantile Library
On Oct. 23, the St. Louis Mercantile Library, located on the campus of the University of Missouri-St. Louis, made the Dr. Allen B. and Helen S. Shopmaker American Political Collection available for public viewing. An event was held in honor of Helen Shopmaker to kick off the opening of the display.
Helen said she and her late husband, Allen, enjoyed adding to their collection over the years.
"I've always been interested in politics and my husband and I decided, over 30 years ago, to begin collecting political campaign items," she said.
Over the years, the Shopmakers' visited flea markets, antique shops, shows and conventions. They also joined their local chapter of American Political Items Collectors, and the collection became a big part of their lives.
Shopmaker said campaign items of this nature are now a thing of the past.
"These elaborate marketing pieces aren't made anymore for political campaigns, primarily because television advertising now takes up the majority of campaign budgets," she said.
In addition to donating her entire political collection, Shopmaker provided an endowment gift to the university for the care of the pieces and for an annual Americal politics program.
Shopmaker said she is happy her collection is now part of a public display.
"This is what helped me learn about political history," she said. "I never would be as interested as I am now, if I hadn't started collecting. I'm thrilled that the items will be useful to students and enjoyable to the public. I hope they get excited over them. That's what makes it fun."
To learn more about the exhibit, visit the Mercantile Library online or view the Gallery of Photos from the event.