Freedom: A History of US, a national traveling panel exhibition organized by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, will be on display beginning Wednesday, October 12, through Saturday, November 12.
The exhibit will be housed on our 3rd floor and is open for viewing during regular operating hours. The exhibition of Freedom: A History of US coincides with the Will County Early Voting period, which runs Monday, October 24 through Monday, November 7. Voting hours vary by date, so please read our blog post for details. In-person Early voting will be in Meeting Room A, and a mail-in ballot dropbox is available in our main lobby.
Freedom: A History of US invites the modern-day viewer into the lives of the men and women who forged this nation, whether they arrived in this land by choice or in chains. Their words and images provide insight into the complexity of the past. Documents and photographs from the Civil War, a pivotal period in the nation’s history, will illustrate how Americans succeeded in redefining the meaning of freedom.
Some of the highlights of the exhibit include reproductions of:
- a rare 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence
- a printed draft and the official copy of the US Constitution
- Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten notes for speeches
- letters by leading figures such as Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Individuals, groups and families are invited to visit the exhibit and are free to check out books and resources from a corresponding display.
For information about the exhibit, call 630.685.4176.
See You At the Library!
Debra