The Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System will host the traveling exhibit “Who Can Vote? A Brief History of Voting Rights in the U.S.,” organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, from June 26 through Aug. 21. In conjunction with the exhibit, Rebecca Tuuri will present “The Challenges of the First Fifty Years of Women’s Suffrage” at noon Wednesday.
The exhibit explores the history of voting rights from the nation’s founding through the 2000 election, highlighting the role of the U.S. Constitution and the relationship between state and federal governments in determining voting eligibility. Topics include women’s suffrage, Reconstruction, Jim Crow-era voting restrictions, the Civil Rights Movement and the enfranchisement of Indigenous peoples.
Tuuri, an assistant professor of African American and American history at the University of Southern Mississippi, will discuss the first 50 years of women’s suffrage in Mississippi. Her presentation focuses on the work of the Mississippi League of Women Voters from the months before ratification of the 19th Amendment through the late 1960s, when the organization became an interracial, progressive group.
The library is partnering with Mississippi University for Women, the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science, the Columbus-Lowndes Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Mississippi Humanities Council on the yearlong Lowndes County America250 Celebration, a series of speakers, exhibits and programs commemorating the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The exhibit was developed by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History using materials primarily from the Gilder Lehrman Collection.
The exhibit and lecture are sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council, the Friends of the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System and private donations.
Both events are free and open to the public. The exhibit may be viewed during regular library hours: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
For more information about the America250 Celebration, visit clplsamerica250.com. Additional information about the exhibit is available from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. For local information, call the Columbus-Lowndes Public Library System at (662) 329-5300.
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