Paperweight
date: label: associated date
content: 1914 08 19
name: label: referenced
content: Bryan, William Jennings
notes: label: Description
content: This paperweight was designed by William Jennings Bryan when he was Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. Donated to the Smithsonian by Secretary Bryan, it is identical to paperweights he gave to thirty diplomats who, in 1914, joined him in signing treaties providing for the investigation of all international disputes before war would be declared.
label: Description
content: Shaped like plowshares, the paperweights were made from swords condemned by the War Department. A recognized advocate of universal peace, Bryan chose the design to reflect the mandate in Isaiah: 2:4“They shall beat their swords into plowshares,” inscribed on the plow’s blade. The shaft of the plow is inscribed with two of Bryan’s own well-known sayings: “Nothing is final between friends” and “Diplomacy is the art of keeping cool.” The base is inscribed: “From William Jennings Bryan to the Smithsonian Institution, August 13, 1914.”
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: general subject association
content: History, Reform Movements, Peace/Anti-War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Political History: Political History, Womens History/Reform Movements Collection
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Honorable William Jennings Bryan
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PL.015307
label: catalog number
content: 15307
label: accession number
content: 57778
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Paperweight
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 in x 4 1/2 in x 2 1/2 in; 7.62 cm x 11.43 cm x 6.35 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 3/4 in x 5 1/8 in x 2 7/8 in; 6.985 cm x 13.0175 cm x 7.3025 cm