‘Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote’
2020
Designed by Ciara Mitchell at Pure+Applied
Creative Direction: Urshula Barbour
Creative Direction: Paul Carlos
Designer: Vonn Weisenberger
Designer: Helen Sywalski
Designer: Shantal Henry
Designer: Shrenik Ganatra
Curator: Janice E. Ruth
Film and Interactive Production: Upswell
Fabrication: Explus and Capitol Museum Services
Graphics Services: Dodge-Chrome
Video: Joon Yi
Graphic Services: Dodge-Chrome
Categories: Exhibition
Industry: Cultural
Tags: History / Storytelling / Libraries and Archives / Environmental / Exhibition
‘Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote’ was a temporary exhibition at the Library of Congress. The exhibition illuminates the 70-year struggle for women’s suffrage — the largest reform movement in U.S. history — through artifacts, documents, and items from the personal collections of the suffragists who championed equality.
The exhibition design reflects the public and private efforts of the suffrage movement. The gallery walls create a public street which showcases the activities that suffragists carried out in the public sphere while recessed alcoves within the walled areas represent the private efforts of the movement.
When first entering the gallery visitors are confronted with tall walls which serve as the barriers which suffragists encountered during their struggle. These walls gradually taper down until they open out into a large plaza that symbolizes the passing of the 19th Amendment.
