Exhibit: Debates, Decisions, Demands: Objects of Campaigns and Activism

• Exhibit

• Event Date: Friday, October 16, 2020–Sunday, September 19, 2021
• Location: Campbell Gallery, Spurlock Museum, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL
• Cost: Free Admission

Presidential campaigns produce all manner of memorabilia. In our time, we have President Trumpʼs white on red MAGA hats and Joe Bidenʼs aviator sunglasses. Campaigns throughout history, too, have been accompanied by material objects that reflect cultural interests and stereotypes of their times. And yet, outside of mainstream politics, there are voices that have been silenced. Historical photographs and objects from voter rights movements like abolition and suffrage are also included in this exhibit; as are photographs from contemporary protest movements.

This exhibit draws heavily on our Peopleʼs Collection, which comprises an eccentric mix of everyday objects related to presidential political campaigns, social causes and reform, and community promotion.

Counter-balancing and complementing these objects from campaigns and social movements, we will host 3 poster exhibits:

• Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow, from the New-York Historical Society
• Rightfully Hers, from the National Archives
• Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence, from the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service.

In combination, these exhibits tell a story about who has been—and is still often—left out of American democracy, and how voting rights have been demanded and sometimes partially won.

Exhibit Profile