With the Matheson Museum walls swathed in Alachua County voting history, the Smithsonian added an additional six panels of U.S. voting history.
In a partnership with the Matheson Museum, Alachua County Supervisor of Elections and League of Women Voters of Alachua County, the Smithsonian has made its way to Gainesville.
On July 20, around 50 people came for the opening ceremony of the Smithsonian contribution to the “Voices and Votes” exhibit.
The six vibrant free-standing panels displayed U.S. history from the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
The installation coincides with the upcoming November presidential election.
Lisa Hawkins, a 65-year-old retired pediatrics administrator, came out to the opening when she saw it being advertised and hopes the exhibit will motivate people to vote.
“I found the information about Alachua County’s voting history to be interesting because I didn’t know any of that before,” she said. “I hope it will encourage more people to exercise the privilege of voting.”
Kaitlyn Hof-Mahoney, Matheson Museum executive director, said both the Matheson and Smithsonian hope the pieces will engage people in democracy.
“Your vote is really important, and we want people to make sure that they are taking advantage of it no matter what you’re voting for,” Hof-Mahoney said. “Everybody’s vote matters…This exhibit is something that we really hope will energize people and encourage participation.”
Alachua County’s Supervisor of Elections Kim Barton said the exhibit hits home as somebody who grew up in a household where both parents would help people get registered to vote.
“My parents always put in us that you have to have a voice,” she said. ”If you don’t vote, you’re leaving it up to someone else to make that decision for you.”
League of Women Voters of Alachua County President Janice Garry said the Smithsonian contribution highlights the historic unrest of marginalized groups gaining the right to vote.
“We have so many important issues locally, in our state and nationally,” she said. “We just need to recognize they’re important and the privilege of voting and the importance of us expressing our opinion through the ballot.”
“Voice and Votes: Democracy in America” is a traveling exhibit making five stops across Florida, with Gainesville being its third stop.
The Smithsonian exhibit traveled to Tampa and Okeechobee, and after Gainesville the museum will travel to Cape Coral, with a last stop in Leesburg. The exhibit is available to Gainesville residents until Sept. 7, and the Alachua County portion should stay until 2025.
Contact Lee Ann Anderson at landerson@alligator.org. Follow her on X @LeeAnnJOU
Lee Ann Anderson is a sophomore journalism major and The Alligator’s Summer 2023 criminal justice reporter. In her free time you can catch her reading articles, talking to her cat or losing her mind.
