Voices and Votes: Democracy in America

Robert H. Jackson Center is honored to be one of 12 host sites for Voices and Votes –Democracy in America, a traveling exhibit that integrates the resources of the host community and institutions to explore, reflect on, and tell the story of their role in the evolution of American Democracy and envision the future of our nation.

The material is adapted from American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith currently on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Voices and Votes includes historical and contemporary photographs; educational and archival video; engaging multimedia interactives; and historical objects like campaign souvenirs, voter memorabilia, and protest material. It is combined with content from the host communities and museums to give a local perspective to the struggle to support national democratic systems.

The goal of the project is to amplify the role that our state and residents historically played in the development of American democracy as we approach the nation’s semiquincentennial. The themes are designed to facilitate thought-provoking discussions about the roots and responsibilities of our democracy and community.

The 30-month exhibition opened at Preservation Long Island in March then travels to Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site, National Women’s Hall of Fame before its tenancy at the Robert H. Jackson Center for six weeks starting September 6, 2024.

Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission, Chemung County Historical Society, and concludes at the Underground Railroad Education Center in Albany in January 2026. Each site will host the Voices and Votes exhibition for six weeks.

MANY is New York State’s representative of the Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program, an outreach program of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service that brings traveling exhibitions, educational resources, and programming across America to communities through local museums, historical societies, and other cultural venues.

To learn more about A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy and the Voices and Votes MoMS exhibition, visit nysmuseums.org/Voices-and-Votes.