Here a seemingly insignificant object, a cocktail napkin, captures a historic moment in United States history: the presidential primary campaign of Barack Obama. Handwerker, the recipient of the napkin, recounts the story of the object in the style of a museum didactic:
“Born in France, Bernard Bonnet became a United States citizen on July 25, 2007. This made him eligible to vote in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, arguably the most groundbreaking race in that nation’s history. Bonnet, a book buyer at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), fervently supported Democratic Senator Barack Obama (American, born 1961), voting in the Texas primary election and caucusing for the candidate on March 4th, 2008. Three days before the caucus, Bonnet attended an exhibition opening at the MFAH, where he created this hand drawn map for his co-worker, Margo Handwerker. A fellow Obama supporter, Handwerker needed directions to the Obama volunteer office on Southmore Blvd. in Houston, Texas.”