As it draws closer to the presidential election, the spotlight focuses on the political convention. Each multi-day, multimillion-dollar convention produces a candidate for president. The nomination is merely a formality, as the candidate is identified months in advance. In the early to mid-20th century, the party's nominee was not as clear because not every state had primary elections and there were no superdelegates.

In this edition of That's History, Jonathan Zimmerman examines the significance of the political convention in current society. The Historical Society's collections contain a number of resources from the political conventions. Suggested reading:

• Albert M. Greenfield Papers: Greenfield was a Philadelphia businessman who was instrumental in bringing both party conventions to Philadelphia in 1948
• Philadelphia Record Photo Morgue
• Politics: 1960: A Guide to the Convention and Campaigns

The Historical Society’s collections include more than 21 million items. Please visit the library at 1300 Locust Street or search our collections online