Photos: Lincoln, JFK, Nixon, Ford, Roosevelt campaign in GR
A photo from 1864 shows Abraham Lincoln's election banner over Monroe Street in Grand Rapids, with an old stone Catholic church and tower from a congregational church on Division Street in the background. The banner reads "Lincoln and Johnson. Freedom and the Union." (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
Then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy sits on the back of a convertible near Coye's, Inc. in Grand Rapids during a 1960 parade. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
Then-presidential candidate Richard Nixon cruises through Grand Rapids on Oct. 27, 1960. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
Then-congressional candidate Gerald R. Ford rolls past 25 Division Ave. S. Grand Rapids during a campaign stop on Oct. 27, 1960. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
A 1926 photo shows an entry in the parade during then-candidate Fred Green's first campaign for governor. A stake rack truck from Builders Supply Co. in Ionia carries a donkey. A banner on the side reads, “This fellow won’t vote for Green because he is what he is.” (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
A photo dated Oct. 15, 1936 shows President Franklin Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt riding in a motorcade down Monroe Avenue in front of the Charles Trankla & Company store in Grand Rapids. Roosevelt was taking part in an election campaign swing through MIchigan. (Thomas and Kathleen Van Hoeven/Grand Rapids Public Museum)
A photo dated Oct. 15, 1936 shows President Franklin Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt sit in a vehicle during a campaign visit to Grand Rapids. (Thomas and Kathleen Van Hoeven/Grand Rapids Public Museum)
Grand Rapids Mayor Tunis Johnson speaks during a campaign stop by President Franklin Roosevelt and first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. (Thomas and Kathleen Van Hoeven/Grand Rapids Public Museum)
Congressman Gerald R. Ford smiles from the steps of his mobile office trailer. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
A photo dated Feb. 23, 1949 shows Grand Rapids city officials checking a voting machine to tally vote totals for a single assessor amendment. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
A photo dated 1912 shows Mrs. Lois Jones, Mrs. Fred Rowe, Mrs. C.B. Hamilton, Mrs. W.F. Blake and Mrs. Huntley Russel with an unidentified man inside the Michigan Women's Sufferage campaign headquarters in the Fourth National Bank Building in Grand Rapids. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
Late U.S. Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Grand Rapids speaks from a podium in front of a WOOD Radio microphone on March 28, 1946 at the Pantlind Hotel in Grand Rapids. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
A photo dated Oct. 9, 1946 shows four girls and two boys from Lee High School decorating a trailer with signs asking people to register to vote. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
A photo dated Oct. 26, 1944 shows a man adding a "vote" sticker to the windshield of a car in Grand Rapids. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
A photo dated March 28, 1940 shows five men standing with a poster from the Grand Rapids Junior Association of Commerce encouraging people to vote. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
An undated photo shows a campaign umbrella for President William McKinley and Vice President Garret Hobart. Hobart was in the White House until he died in 1899; McKinley was assassinated in 1901. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)
An undated photo shows a voting demonstration as part of the Get Out the Vote campaign in Grand Rapids. (Grand Rapids Public Library History and Special Collections Department)