The National Constitution Center has had an exciting and important year for constitutional education and debate. As we get ready for 2020, we thank you for your engagement at the Center, online, and in classrooms and communities nationwide, and are excited to share highlights from 2019 made possible through your support! |
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JANUARY
Each year, the National Constitution Center releases a free, themed calendar for educators. The 2019 calendar highlighted the rights and freedoms protected by the First Amendment. As 2020 marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, the 2020 civic calendar follows suit, featuring extraordinary women who have impacted constitutional history. Click here to download!
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FEBRUARY
As part of the Center's observance of African American History Month, our Live at America's Town Hall podcast featured a two-part series chronicling the struggle for racial equality throughout American history. Listen to leading Reconstruction historians Thavolia Glymph and David Blight discuss Freedom, Equality, and Emancipation, and scholars Holly Brewer, Risa Goluboff, and Lea VanderVelde detail Civil Rights Across the Centuries. Check out the full library of our our Live at America's Town Hall and We the People podcasts here.
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MARCH
In March, the Center launched Sensory-Friendly Sundays, a program that gives visitors with sensory processing challenges the opportunity to experience the museum in a secure and comfortable environment by providing emotionally safe spaces for families, modified programming for diverse sensory needs, and specialized staff training. Learn about our upcoming dates here.
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APRIL
As part of a stellar season of America's Town Hall, former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara joined Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen for a wide-ranging conversation that featured anecdotes from Bharara's time as a federal prosecutor, his thoughts on the justice system and constitutional governance today, and more! Click here to watch the video.
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MAY
The National Constitution Center opened Civil War and Reconstruction: The Battle for Freedom and Equality, America’s first permanent exhibit devoted to exploring how constitutional clashes over slavery set the stage for the Civil War, and how the nation transformed the Constitution after the war to more fully embrace the Declaration of Independence’s promise of liberty and equality. Learn more about the exhibit here and make a plan to visit in 2020!
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JUNE
In conjunction with the opening of the Civil War and Reconstruction exhibit, the Center convened award-winning artists, leading scholars, and an advisory board of community members to develop FOURTEEN, a moving theatrical performance that sheds light on the Reconstruction era and the ratification of the 14th Amendment. FOURTEEN had two runs in 2019—summer and fall—and will return to the Center beginning February 4, 2020. Learn more here!
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JULY
Teachers from around the country and constitutional scholars from across the philosophical spectrum joined the National Constitution Center to participate in weeklong Teacher Institutes to deepen their knowledge of the history and modern understandings of the First Amendment and Separation of Powers. Topics for summer 2020 institutes include Federalism, the First Amendment, and Battles for Freedom and Equality. Check out a full list of the Center’s professional development opportunities here. |
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SEPTEMBER
The Center celebrated the 232nd anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution with a memorable Constitution Day! The daylong celebration welcomed 4,000 students to the Center with free admission thanks to PECO, and featured a timely constitutional conversation with Honorary Chairman Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. Watch the conversation with Justice Gorsuch here.
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OCTOBER
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Honorary Chair of the National Constitution Center, presented the annual Liberty Medal award to the Honorable Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, for his efforts to preserve, protect, and defend liberty by inspiring Americans of all ages to learn about the Constitution through civic education and civil dialogue. Watch the Liberty Medal Ceremony video here.
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NOVEMBER
As part of the National Constitution Center’s bipartisan national initiative, A Madisonian Constitution for All, the Center brought together a diverse group of America’s leading constitutional scholars for an essay series examining the state of American constitutional democracy today through the lens of James Madison. In conjunction with the national initiative, the Center has partnered with The Atlantic on the website, The Battle for the Constitution, which explores the issues and controversies surrounding the Constitution from a constitutional rather than a political perspective. Learn more about this project here.
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DECEMBER
Following a special performance of "The Long View: A Portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in Nine Songs," U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg joined National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen to discuss his new book, Conversations with RBG: Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Life, Love, Liberty and Law—an informal portrait of the Justice through an extraordinary series of conversations, starting in the 1990s and continuing to today. Watch the video of their conversation here.
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Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which expanded the right to vote to women across the country. Among various programs and events celebrating this constitutional milestone, the National Constitution Center will open a new exhibit on the development of the women’s rights movement and the ratification of a voting rights amendment in 1920 in summer 2020.
Visit constitutioncenter.org and sign up for our newsletter to stay up-to-date on 2020 programs and initiatives.
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Thank you for making possible the National Constitution Center’s interactive exhibits and educational programs for learners of all ages and perspectives. Members and donors from across the country support our efforts to increase civic education and elevate civil dialogue. To learn more about how you can support constitutional education and the benefits of membership, click here. |
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