Smithsonian Exhibition: Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
Exhibition Content
The exhibition will explore historic events and pose questions for today in the following content areas:
- The Great Leap: Examine the context and main controversies behind America’s democratic system. Learn the stories of our famous founders and those who remain mostly unknown. What were the principles and events that inspired the writers of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Just how revolutionary was our new democracy led by the people? And who were “the people?”
- A Vote, A Voice: We have a diverse body of voters today, but not every American has always had the right to vote. The fight for fair representation, suffrage, and a voice at the polls has meant struggle and changes to law ever since our founding. Learn about these struggles, how voting was expanded, and continued challenges to getting the vote.
- The Machinery of Democracy: We participate in the political system through state and national parties, nomination conventions, and stomping for our candidate of choice. Learn about this machinery of democracy, how it calls us to be involved, but can also control how we get information about candidates and issues.
- Beyond the Ballot: Americans fight against injustice. Men and women of every ethnicity, class, and state have shared in the revolutionary spirit of rising up and speaking out. The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees this right to peaceably assembly and petition the government. See the different places and different motivations of diverse Americans to petition for their interests and concerns.
- Creating Citizens: Who are “We the People?” What is the meaning of citizenship? Ever since the creation of the Constitution, Americans continue to interpret, expand, and shape the rights and responsibilities of being a citizen. Explore how those views of rights and responsibilities have shaped our national identity and our complex national story.
Exhibition Schedule
When will Voices and Votes be in Arizona?
Prescott Public Library
– June 20, 2020 – July 26, 2020
Mohave Community College – Lake Havasu City Campus
– August 8, 2020 – September 20, 2020
Tubac Center of the Arts
– October 3, 2020 – November 15, 2020
Arizona Capitol Museum
– November 28, 2020 – January 10, 2021
Camp Verde Community Library
– January 16, 2021 – February 28, 2021
State Scholar for Voices and Votes
Dr. Thomas J. Davis is an historian, lawyer, and professor emeritus at Arizona State University, Tempe, where he taught U.S. constitutional and legal history. He also taught as a visiting professor of law at the ASU College of Law. Davis received his PhD in U.S. history from Columbia University in the City of New York, and his JD cum laude from New York’s University at Buffalo School of Law. Among his more than 50 scholarly articles and books, is Plessy v. Ferguson (2012), a volume in ABC-CLIO’s Landmarks of the American Mosaic series.
Questions?
For procedural questions about the online application, administrative management, financial matters, and partnerships, please contact Arizona Humanities staff at info@azhumanities.org or 602-257-0335.
For questions about interpretive content, history, and local story ideas, please contact Dr. Thomas J. Davis at tjdavis@asu.edu
Voices and Votes: Democracy in America has been made possible in Arizona by Arizona Humanities
Voices and Votes: Democracy in America is part of the Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress. Learn more at www.museumonmainstreet.org. (Note: Link will take you away from the Arizona Humanities website.)