The 1876 Centennial: Bringing the Revolution Home
Explore the centennial of the United States and how women’s voices were vital in crafting Revolutionary memory one century in.
Explore the centennial of the United States and how women’s voices were vital in crafting Revolutionary memory one century in.
4th floor, Joyce B. Cowin Women's History Niche
Like every major Revolutionary commemoration, the 1876 Centennial prompted new efforts to make meaning about the country’s past, present, and future. Yet cultural memory reflected contemporary anxieties—about race, war, gender, and industrialization in the wake of the Civil War and a contentious period of Reconstruction. Textiles, toys, and printed materials centered on bringing the Revolution home—creating a nostalgia for an imagined past that, in part, romanticized notions of a woman’s place in the home.
Women in 1876 produced and consumed these artifacts. Organizers of the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition’s Women’s Pavilion advanced one narrative of the role of American women, while other groups used print culture and public protest to propose their own. Focusing on material objects and commemorative programming, this installation considers women’s voices in crafting Revolutionary memory one century in. Curated by Tessa Bangs, Mellon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Women’s History and Public History
Exhibitions at The New York Historical are made possible by the Saunders Trust for American History, the Evelyn & Seymour Neuman Fund, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. WNET is the media sponsor.
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