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Justice Must Be Done

Meet the Wheelwoman

Now playing at:

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History

1300 Constitution Avenue, NW

Washington, D.C., 20001

June 2015-present 

DUE TO COVID-19,

ALL PUBLIC PROGRAMMING IS SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.

In 1840, America is a divided nation, and it is a complicated fabric to unravel. Attend an anti-slavery meeting in the real house where it occurred.

How can ordinary people make an extraordinary difference? What is the relationship between morality and economics?

In an age of inequality, what limitations did women overcome in order to campaign for liberty and justice?  

Discover what you can do to make a positive 

impact when facing division in your community. 

Performances take place inside the Within These Walls exhibit. 

During the Bicycle Boom of the late 1890's, women began to discover new independence on their "Freedom Wheels." Louise, a 38 year old wife and mother of two has never been out and about by herself, and it is very exciting to be discovering a new-found sense of emancipation on her 1898 Gendron Reliance Model D. She enjoys meeting new friends and sharing her stories about life in the 1890s, including how the innovation of the bicycle fueled movements such as Rational Dress, Good Roads, and Suffrage.

Votes for Women

In 1917, Rebecca Gibson-McMurray is on her way to join The Silent Sentinels during the first White House Protest. She rallies a crowd of supporters (and perhaps a heckler or two) to support suffragists in their campaign for the right to vote.  She plans to exercise her first Amendment Right of Assembly and Freedom of Speech through peaceful protest, knowing that she may face opposition, harassment, or even arrest. Inspirational, thought-provoking and poignantly relevant, the program commemorates 100 years of Woman Suffrage in America. 

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