Presented by: The College of Communication & Design; the College of Arts & Sciences; and the Eugene M. and Christine E. Lynn Library.
Celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
The American adventure has been one of extraordinary triumph and bitter tragedy. Indeed, it has been a 250-year struggle to live up to our Founding ideals, a history highlighted by abolition, an expansion of rights, economic prosperity, technological hegemony, and military might, yet one also marred by the Klan, Chinese Exclusion laws, Japanese Internment, and domestic turmoil and polarization. Perhaps nowhere is this duality more prominent than in the nation's Founding and subsequent Civil War. The theme of union and disunion runs deep in the American story along with the promise of rights.
The experiment in popular government began 250 years ago with the drafting of the Declaration of Independence,
a paradigm-shifting document whose aspirational promise that
all men are created equal and are endowed with unalienable rights
remains as relevant today as it did at
the Founding. This exciting exhibit features a collection of paintings, as breathtaking as they are
historically accurate, that explores the promise and struggle for unity and rights through the individuals and
events of the Revolutionary era and War Between the States.
Curated by: Dr. Robert Watson; Dr. Cesar Santalo; Dr. Andrew Corsa.
Special thanks: The Silver Family Collection of Paintings.
