Smithsonian Exhibits

This exhibition tells the story of the largest migrant worker program in U.S. history. It talks about the journey of the Braceros (a Mexican laborer allowed into the U.S. for a limited time as seasonal agricultural workers) and how Mexican workers were exploited by being promised economic opportunity and instead were subjected to horrible working and living conditions for meager pay that was usually sent back to their families in Mexico. This program had a direct impact on the political and social landscape of America by forming a basis for labor policies, immigration policies, and creating strong Mexican American communities. Posters are displayed in both Spanish and English.

“City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign” is a poster exhibition that details the work of many human rights groups, namely the African American Civil Rights group, during May and June of 1968 when the fight for social reform was in high gear. The campaign was created to draw people of all races together around the common issue of rampant poverty, despite the United States being one of the richest superpowers on the global stage. The main draw of the campaign was the creation of a tent city, known as Resurrection City, on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., where grassroots volunteers lived side-by-side and fought for livable wages, adequate housing, nutritious food, quality education, and healthcare that would benefit everyone. The exhibition reminds all that the fight against poverty has a long history and that there is still work to be done. Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with the National Museum of Africa American History and Culture and funded in part with a grant from the Mellon Foundation.

The exhibition demonstrates how our hometown sports energize the community, instill pride in it, and create a bond that is passed from one generation to the next. 

Programs created especially for Grinnell included:

• Opening Ceremony with the Grinnell High School Pep Band (Feb. 15, 2019)
• Grinnell College Men’s Basketball, Coach Arsenault Jr. (March 6, 2019)
• Grinnell High School Trailblazers (March 17, 2019)
• Girls High School Basketball. History of the Sport in Iowa featuring Grinnell residents that played 6 on 6 and the Grinnell High School Girls Basketball Team (April 3, 2019)
• Local Elite. Panel moderated by KGRN’s Chris Varney

A poster exhibition showing the history of the fight to pass the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote 100 years ago. The exhibition addressed women’s political activism, along with the racism that challenged universal suffrage. With historic images and text about key moments in the struggle that lasted for decades, the exhibition detailed the complexity of the women’s suffrage movement.