Humphrey Institute Exhibit
Celebrates Anniversary of Voting Rights Acts
By Bob San
President Lyndon Johnson
signed the Voting Rights Act on August 6, 1965, in the Rotunda
of the United States Capitol, but the events that led to that legislation
began in church basements, community centers, living rooms, and
along dusty roads. The legislation—and
the events surrounding it—is the subject of “Making Freedom’s
Mark,” a new exhibit at the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs’ Humphrey
Forum museum.
“Making Freedom’s Mark” brings
together documents, manuscripts, works of art, recordings, photographs,
and artifacts from more than 30 museums, libraries, archives, courthouses
and private collections representing the people and drama surrounding
the voting rights movement. The exhibit focuses not only on the
formal and traditional leadership of Congress and the White House,
but also on the local leaders and grassroots organizations whose
courage and commitment forced the nation to accept and endorse
the concept of more aggressive federal protection of the right
to vote.
“For those who joined the movement in Mississippi or Alabama
or elsewhere, or who watched the events on television, we hope this
exhibit will be a familiar and inspiring story,” said Steve
Sandell, Humphrey Forum curator. “For others, who may be new
to this history, we hope the exhibit will document the struggle,
sacrifice, and commitment to dignity and democracy that were required
to gain fundamental rights in this nation. It’s a legacy that
Hubert Humphrey and others who worked for those ideals would hope
we’d pursue and protect.”
Many of the artifacts
and historical references revisit America’s
division over voting rights, which led some to civic activism and
others to violence.
With only six percent of African Americans registered to vote in
the early 1960s, the State of Mississippi became a national battleground
for the civil rights movement. Several photographs from the personal
collections of the men and women who traveled to Mississippi for
voter registration work during that time are featured in the exhibit.
Also on view are personal diaries from the teachers and students
who in 1964 joined Freedom Schools, a project to empower local African
Americans to work for change.
Bringing the exhibit full circle are several banners and signs recently
carried in the Voting Rights March, held August 6, 2005 in Atlanta,
commemorating the 40th anniversary of the legislation.
“Making Freedom’s Mark” opened
at the Humphrey Forum on September 23, 2005 and will run through
March, 15, 2006. The Forum is located at 301 19th Ave. S. Minneapolis.
The museum is open to the public weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm and,
during the exhibit, on Saturdays from 10 am to 2 pm. For more information,
contact Steve Sandell at 612-624-5893 or Jamie Proulx, Humphrey
Institute of Public Affairs, 612-625-9436.
