Img source: nmaahc.si.edu
May 16, 2024 Story by: Publisher
ELIZABETH CITY — The Museum of the Albemarle is set to unveil two new traveling exhibits next month. One exhibit will celebrate pioneering African American surgeons, while the other will provide a brief history of voting rights in the United States. “Opening Doors: Contemporary African American Academic Surgeons” will open on June 3, followed by “Who Can Vote: Brief History of Voting Rights in the United States” on June 4 at the museum located at 501 S. Water St.
Produced by the National Library of Medicine, the “Opening Doors” exhibit features a six-banner display and a companion website. This exhibition honors the longstanding tradition of African American healers and physicians and highlights the contributions of African American academic surgeons to the fields of medicine and medical education. The exhibit will be available for viewing until July 13.
The “Who Can Vote” exhibit, organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, examines voting rights with a focus on the role of the U.S. Constitution and the dynamic between state and federal governments in determining voting eligibility. According to organizers, “This exhibition explores the complex history of the right to vote that forms the core of our nation’s democracy.” Source: Coastalreview.org
The exhibit’s timeline spans from the founding era through the 2000 election, covering topics such as voting as a constitutional right, women’s suffrage, Reconstruction and Jim Crow era voting rights, the Civil Rights Movement, and the enfranchisement of Indigenous peoples.
Key points of the exhibit, as outlined by the museum, include that voting requirements are primarily determined by states, the right to vote is fundamental to representative democracy, voting rights have significantly expanded since the Constitution was ratified in 1788, and throughout American history, people have continually fought to gain and retain the right to vote.
