Voices and Votes: Democracy in America
On view at the LIM History Museum from February 20 through April 6, 2025
“A Woman Living Here Has Registered to Vote,” window sign for a home, 1919. Courtesy of National Museum of American History
When American revolutionaries waged a war for independence they took a leap of faith that sent ripple effects across generations. They embraced a radical idea of establishing a government that entrusted the power of the nation not in a monarchy, but in its citizens. That great leap sparked questions that continue to impact Americans: who has the right to vote, what are the freedoms and responsibilities of citizens, and whose voices will be heard? Voices and Votes: Democracy in America will be a springboard for discussions about those very questions and how they are reflected in local stories.
Voices and Votes is based on a major exhibition currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. This Museum on Main Street adaptation will have many of the same dynamic features: historical and contemporary photos; educational and archival video; engaging multimedia interactives with short games and additional footage, photos, and information; and historical objects like campaign souvenirs, voter memorabilia, and protest material.
Our democracy demands action, reaction, vision, and revision as we continue to question how to form “a more perfect union.” How do you participate as a citizen? From the revolution and suffrage, to civil rights and casting ballots, everyone in every community is part of this ever-evolving story – the story of democracy in America.
The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is the statewide organizer for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service’s Museum on Main Street Program. The Museum on Main Street program offers traveling exhibitions, educational resources, and programming across America to communities through local museums, historical societies, and other cultural venues.
Learn more about the New York State tour of the Voices and Votes exhibition: https://agoranewyork.org/
Robust public programming is planned to enhance the exhibition, including some of these highlights:
March 1: A lecture by Ashley Hopkins-Benton, Senior Historian and Curator for Social History at the NYS Museum
March 3: A community conversation based on a 1969 speech delivered on the floor of US Congress by Shirley Chisholm, led by Humanities New York Director of Grant-Making Joe Murphy
March 4: A film screening of the documentary Geraldine Ferraro: Paving the Way, followed by a question-and-answer session with the filmmaker, Geraldine Ferraro’s daughter Donna Zaccaro
May 7: LIM will host a naturalization ceremony for new United States citizens, in cooperation with the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York
Voices and Votes is a Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibition developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. It’s based on an exhibition by the National Museum of American History. It has been made possible in New York State by the Museum Association of New York. Support for MoMS in New York State has been provided by the United States Congress.
“A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” humanities discussion programs are made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Additional funding from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation supports public events, community exhibitions, free public lectures, workshops for teachers, and community discussion programs.
