EL MUSEO DE LA SEXTA PLANTA ANUNCIA UNA NUEVA EXPOSICIÓN ESPECIAL: ¡SOLIDARIDAD YA! CAMPAÑA DE LOS POBRES DE 1968 

For Immediate Release

THE SIXTH FLOOR MUSEUM ANNOUNCES A NEW SPECIAL EXHIBITION: SOLIDARITY NOW! 1968 POOR PEOPLE’S CAMPAIGN

Dallas, TX – Julio 13, 2022: On Sábado, Agosto 13, The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza will open a special temporary exhibition, Solidarity Now! 1968 Poor People’s Campaign, organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The exhibition will be on view through Febrero 26, 2023.

The exhibition is part of a prestigious national tour which began at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where it is on view through Julio 31. Other stops include the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati; New Mexico History Museum in Santa Fe; Washington State Historical Society in Tacoma; and the Abraham Lincoln President Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois, among others.

The exhibition title is a reference to the Solidarity Day Rally held Junio 19, 1968, a major highlight for the Civil Rights movement. The rally at the Lincoln Memorial featured speeches by celebrities, activists and campaign organizers as a continuation of the 1963 Marzo on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

In the 1960s, as the United States emerged as a global model of wealth and democracy, an estimated 25 million Americans lived in poverty. From the elderly and underemployed to children and persons with disabilities, poverty affected people of every race, age and religion. In response, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, led by Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy, organized the Poor People’s Campaign as a national human rights crusade.

Solidarity Now! features photographs, oral histories with campaign participants and organizers, and an array of protest signs, political buttons and audio field recordings collected during the campaign. The exhibition explores the significance of the tactics and impact of this campaign that drew thousands of people to build a protest community on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. For nearly six weeks they inhabited “a city of hope” on 15 acres between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial to call the nation’s attention to the crippling effects of poverty for millions of Americans. The protest site was called Resurrection City.

As a multiethnic movement that included African Americans, Mexican Americans, Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, Asians and poor whites from Appalachia and rural communities, the six-week protest community in Washington attracted demonstrators nationwide. The campaign leaders presented demands to Congress, including demands for jobs, living wages and access to land, capital and health care. It was the first large-scale, nationally organized demonstration after King’s death. It helped focus national attention on poverty and became a catalyst to federal programs and legislation that laid groundwork for later change.

According to Nicola Longford, CEO of The Sixth Floor Museum, “The Museum is proud to be the only stop in Texas for this important national tour. A key aspect of our mission is to explore the legacy of President Kennedy whose antipoverty agenda was expanded on after his death to become the broad war on poverty of the Johnson administration. We are excited to bring this little-understood chapter of history to our North Texas community and very grateful to our local partners who are working with us to create a robust series of programs and community conversations about this complicated, but still very relevant, topic.”

“The African American Museum is very pleased to partner with The Sixth Floor Museum to co-sponsor programs in conjunction with this exciting and timely exhibition that will inform the public about not only the past antipoverty efforts of people and organizations like Dr. Martin Luther King and SCLC, but also the ongoing and current effort to address the problem of poverty in our society. We look forward to co-sponsoring programs that will motivate people to take action against poverty in our society. The time is now.” – Dr. W. Marvin Dulaney, Deputy Director/COO of the African American Museum.

The exhibition is supported by the CVS Health Foundation, a private foundation created by CVS Health to help people live healthier lives.

The exhibition will be on view in the Museum’s 7th floor gallery Sábado, Agosto 13, 2022, through Domingo, Febrero 26, 2023. Admission to Solidarity Now! is included with Museum admission. Descriptive/explanatory text and object labels will be provided in both English and Spanish. More information about the exhibition is available at jfk.org/Solidarity-Now. 

Información de contacto

Kimberly Camuel Bryan
Directora de Filantropía
kimb@jfk.org
214.389.3045

Acerca del Museo de la Sexta Planta en Dealey Plaza

Misión: El Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza relata el asesinato y el legado del presidente John F. Kennedy; interpreta el distrito histórico nacional de Dealey Plaza y la John F. Kennedy Memorial Plaza; y presenta la cultura contemporánea en el contexto de la historia presidencial.

Visión: Ser un destino imparcial y multigeneracional y un foro para explorar la memoria y los efectos de los acontecimientos que rodearon el asesinato del Presidente Kennedy, compartiendo su legado y su impacto en una sociedad global en constante cambio.

Situado en el 411 de Elm Street, en el centro de Dallas, el Museo está abierto de miércoles a domingo, de 10 a.m. a 5 p.m. Para más información, visite jfk.org o llame al 214.747.6660. Entrada: $18 adultos, $16 jubilados, $14 jóvenes (niños menores de 5 años gratis).

Acerca de SITES y las afiliaciones al Smithsonian

SITES y Smithsonian Affiliations son unidades nacionales de divulgación fundamentales de la Smithsonian Institution. Durante más de 70 años, SITES ha conectado a los estadounidenses con su patrimonio cultural común a través de una amplia gama de exposiciones sobre arte, ciencia e historia. Smithsonian Affiliations establece y mantiene las asociaciones a largo plazo del Smithsonian con museos, organizaciones educativas e instituciones culturales de Estados Unidos, Puerto Rico y Panamá. Juntos, SITES y Affiliations comparten los vastos recursos del Smithsonian con millones de personas fuera de Washington, D.C. Visite sites.si.edu y affiliations.si.edu para más información.

Acerca del Museo Nacional de Historia y Cultura Afroamericanas

Desde su inauguración el 24 de septiembre de 2016, el Museo Nacional de Historia y Cultura Afroamericana de Washington, D.C., ha recibido a más de 7 millones de visitantes. Este museo de casi 400.000 pies cuadrados es el mayor y más completo destino cultural del país dedicado exclusivamente a explorar, documentar y mostrar la historia afroamericana y su impacto en la historia de Estados Unidos y del mundo. Para más información sobre el museo, visite nmaahc.si.edu y siga @NMAAHC en Twitter, Facebook e Instagram.