The printing firm Currier and Ives made some of the most famous and memorable images of 19th century America. Many are familiar with Currier and Ives pictures of Christmas sleigh rides and ice skating in calendars or country scenes on cookie tins and dishware. The firm’s lithographs were the among the first “cheap” pictures available to the burgeoning middle class in the United States, and Currier and Ives sold millions of prints during its 72-year existence. But how accurate a reflection were these images of the U.S. at the time? Josh Dubbert, Hayes Presidential Library & Museums historian, will explore the work and legacy of Currier and Ives, the “printmakers to the American People.” Dubbert will examine lithographs that span the firm’s years of operation—1835–1907. Learn how Currier and Ives and its scores of artists created an idealized vision of the young nation for an expanding, industrializing populace—one that highlighted prosperity and progress, but also utilized controversial and racist depictions of minorities, immigrants and Indigenous people to tell its stories.

This event is free.