Exhibition Explores 1968 Poor People's Campaign

The Museum Gallery at Historic Cane Hill is exploring the 1968 Poor People's Campaign with a Smithsonian poster exhibition.

Historic Cane Hill, Inc. presents "City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People's Campaign," from Feb. 14--April 4.

The poster exhibition from the Smithsonian honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s final and most ambitious vision that each U.S. citizen have equal access to economic opportunities and the American dream. It examines the Poor People's Campaign -- a grassroots, multi-racial movement that drew thousands of people to Washington, D.C.

For 43 days between May and June 1968, demonstrators demanded social reforms while living side-by-side on the National Mall in a tent city known as Resurrection City.

Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) in collaboration with the National Museum of African American History and Culture, "City of Hope" highlights a series of newly discovered photographs and an array of protest signs and political buttons collected during the campaign. The exhibition will help visitors engage and contextualize the Poor People's Campaign's historical significance and present-day relevance.

The exhibition is anchored by 18 posters, each accompanied by an interpretive panel in the Spanish language. A highlight of the exhibition at Historic Cane Hill will be the inclusion of a life-size reproduction of one of the plywood tents constructed in "Resurrection City" for use during the Washington, D.C. occupation. Visitors are encouraged to enter the tent, travel back in time, and contemplate life in Resurrection City and the relevance of the events of 1968 to our lives today.

Although President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a "war on poverty" in 1964, tens of millions of Americans were denied livable wages, adequate housing, nutritious food, quality education, and healthcare. Led by Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) organized the Poor People's Campaign in response to poverty as a national human rights issue. Stretching 16 acres along the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, Resurrection City housed 3,000 protesters with structures for essential services like sanitation, communications, medical care and childcare. It included a dining tent, cultural center and a city hall along the encampment's bustling "Main Street."

The Poor People's Campaign marked an important moment in U.S. history and set the stage for future social justice movements. Within months after Resurrection City's evacuation, major strides were made toward economic equality influencing school lunch programs, rent subsidies and home ownership assistance for low-income families, education and welfare services through the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and more.

The exhibition is an opportunity for Historic Cane Hill, Inc. to highlight its work in preserving and sharing the American story. SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 65 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition descriptions and tour schedules, visit sites.si.edu.

The exhibition will be on view in The Museum Gallery at Historic Cane Hill from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday, and by appointment. Admission is free. The Gallery is located 20 miles west of Fayetteville, at 14327 Highway 45 in Cane Hill, Arkansas. For more information call 479-824-5339.