Voices and Votes: Democracy in America will be on view at Preservation Long Island in Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island from March 22 through May 3, 2024
Photos from the Installation Workshop at Preservation Long Island, Cold Spring Harbor, NY
The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is excited to announce that the New York State tour of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service Museum on Main Street Program Voices and Votes: Democracy in America exhibition will debut at Preservation Long Island. A regional not-for-profit organization headquartered in Cold Spring Harbor, Preservation Long Island maintains and interprets historic sites and collectionspertaining to Long Island’s history. It is one of twelve museums that will each host Voices and Votes for six weeks through January 2026 that will offer museum visitors across New York State this unique cultural experience.
MANY is the statewide organizer for the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service’s Museum on Main Street Program, which previously brought the “Water/Ways” exhibition to six New York Museums in 2019. 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.
“New Yorkers and their histories are deeply connected to the founding of our nation and the continuing evolution of our democracy,” said Erika Sanger, MANY Executive Director. “As we approach the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, museums are searching for ways to engage their local communities with connections to our nation’s history. Preservation Long Island is an ideal first location for the Voices and Votes exhibition and ‘A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy’ discussion programs.”
“Preservation Long Island is excited to serve as the inaugural site for Voices and Votes: Democracy in America,” said Alexandra Wolfe, Preservation Long Island Executive Director. “The exhibition’s focus on freedom, civic participation, and political engagement resonates strongly with our commitment to making the past relevant to the present.”
Adapted from American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faithcurrently 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.
Each museum will display the Smithsonian exhibition and produce an exhibition drawn from their own collection that relates to their community’s role in the development and advancement of democracy in America. Smithsonian resources available to the twelve museums include digital learning curricula and communication tools. MANY staff is organizing the exhibition travel, and will help each museum plan, implement, and evaluate the exhibitions and interpretive programs.
MANY was awarded $494,284 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support humanities discussion program series “A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” produced in partnership with Humanities New York. The series will use Voices and Votes as a launching point to support the work of the twelve museums and their communities to explore, reflect on, and tell the story of their role in the evolution of American Democracy.
“The Voices and Votes exhibition and “A New Agora for New York: Museums as Spaces for Democracy” humanities discussion programs will create spaces in museums in which communities can learn together and participate in humanities discussions grounded in texts and objects of material culture,” said Sanger.
This project is supported by a Market New York grant awarded to the Museum Association of New York by Empire State Development and I LOVE NY/New York State's Division of Tourism through the Regional Economic Development Council initiative. Additional funding from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation supports public events, community exhibitions, free public lectures, workshops for teachers, and community discussion programs.
The exhibition includes a section that incorporates art and artifacts drawn from Preservation Long Island and other local collections. “The objects we chose connect the broader historical narratives of Voices and Votes with Long Island people and stories—addressing themes such as the ways people make their voices heard, who is left out of the conversation, and the roles and responsibilities of citizens,” said Lauren Brincat, Preservation Long Island Curator.
Among the local highlights that visitors will be able to see in the exhibition is an original essay by Jupiter Hammon (1711–ca. 1806), America’s first published African American poet, written while he was enslaved at Joseph Lloyd Manor in Lloyd Harbor shortly after the American Revolution, advocating for the citizenship of Black New Yorkers in the new nation. Other items include a bracelet and ring made from scrap sheet metal by women aircraft factory workers on Long Island as the United States fought to preserve democracy abroad during World War II, and the drawings and models for the national monument to African American civil rights leader and women’s rights activist, Mary MacLeod Bethune (1875–1855), created in 1974 by Long Island artist, Robert Berks (1922–2011).
“Voices and Votes allows us to reflect on Cold Spring Harbor and the surrounding community historyand explore what it means to be an active participant in the governance of not only the country, but also this community,” said Andrew Tharler, Preservation Long Island’s Education and Engagement Director.
The series of local exhibition-related programming and free events include a community quilt project, curator-led exhibition and walking tours, lectures, community conversations and an oral history series.
Learn more about the New York State tour of the Voices and Votes exhibition: https://nysmuseums.org/Project-Participants-and-Host-Sites and preview the full schedule of programming and events happening at Preservation Long Island: preservationlongisland.org/voices-and-votes.
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 and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
“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.
About the Museum Association of New York
The Museum Association of New York is the only statewide museum service organization with more than 780 member museums, historical societies, zoos, botanical gardens, and aquariums. MANY helps shape a better future for museums and museum professionals by uplifting best practices and building organizational capacity through advocacy, training, and networking opportunities. Visit www.nysmuseums.organd follow MANY on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn @nysmuseums
About Preservation Long Island
Preservation Long Island is a not-for-profit organization that works with Long Islanders to raise awareness, appreciation, and support for the protection of our shared past through advocacy, education, and the stewardship of historic sites and collections. Visit preservationlongisland.org.
Preservation Long Island maintains and interprets historic sites and collections that embody various aspects of Long Island’s history including:
Joseph Lloyd Manor, Lloyd Harborpreservationlongisland.org/joseph-lloyd-manor/
Custom House, Sag Harborpreservationlongisland.org/custom-house/
Sherwood-Jayne Farm, Setauket preservationlongisland.org/sherwood-jayne-farm/
Old Methodist Church and Exhibition Gallery preservationlongisland.org/methodist-church/
