The First Vote: Ballot Box | Reconstruction 360

A New York music store owner named Samuel C. Jollie created a glass ballot box, bringing literal transparency to the voting process. Voters inserted ballots through a small hole on the top of the box so that all ballots were visible.

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A New York music store owner named Samuel C. Jollie created a glass ballot box, bringing literal transparency to the voting process. Voters inserted ballots through a small hole on the top of the box so that all ballots were visible.

More in this Series

Reconstruction 360 / The First Vote

The First Vote: Craftsman | Reconstruction 360

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The First Vote: Craftsman | Reconstruction 360
Before the Civil War the majority of free Black people lived in the South, where they couldn’t testify in court, learn to read, or travel without restrictions. But they survived and thrived as...
The First Vote: Freedwoman | Reconstruction 360

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The First Vote: Freedwoman | Reconstruction 360
The wife of one of the Black voters has joined her husband for this historic event. Women saw enfranchisement of Black men as a gain for the entire race and encouraged men to adhere to the wishes of...
The First Vote: Poor Freedman | Reconstruction 360

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The First Vote: Poor Freedman | Reconstruction 360
This new voter has very little money or belongings, but he has gained his freedom. After passage of the Reconstruction Acts, thousands of politically energized freedmen, rich and poor, registered to...
The First Vote: Returning Voter | Reconstruction 360

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The First Vote: Returning Voter | Reconstruction 360
This man is one of the few African Americans who has already cast a ballot. In 1865, shortly before the end of the Civil War, a group of about a thousand Black men in Norfolk, Virginia formed the...