DISCOVER how ordinary people changed the world by lifting their voices against oppression when a new exhibit focusing on the US Civil Rights Movement comes to Dorchester.
Martin Luther King Jr, Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, names most people will forever link with the fight for equal rights in America, but what about Ruby Bridges, the six-year-old African American granted a place at an all-white elementary school, who had to be escorted to and from school for the first year by US Marshalls due to the protests? Or the four students at Greensboro lunch canteen in Alabama, who refused to leave when they weren’t served, sparking the famous peaceful sit-ins?
Journey to Justice is a new travelling exhibition coming to Dorchester’s newly opened Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum and opens on June 4th.
Anna Bright, Director of Shire Hall Historic Courthouse Museum, said: “We are really excited to have this as our first exhibition, it’s our way of announcing that we are thinking about Dorset and its history of social justice, but we are also looking beyond. We are looking and thinking about social justice in different times and places around the world.
She added the touring exhibition would look at some of the less well-known figures of the US Civil Rights movement, Anna said: “It’s looking at the everyday people who were going all out and putting their lives at risk to make these changes happen. This ties in with our theme of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, of every day people coming together to make their voices heard.”
Part of the exhibition, Radical Dorset, will incorporate the work of a group of young people from Dorset, who worked with staff at Shire Hall and the Dorset History Centre to research Dorset’s history of protest. The group delved into the struggle of everyday people to make their voices heard. They have presented their research as a series of social media ‘pages’, engaging with the crucial role that social media has played in recent protests around the world.
Their display features sections covering a petition to save a woman accused of witchcraft and the Bridport women’s strikes, where women in the rope making trade took to the streets singing Suffragette songs to fight for fair pay. Entry to the temporary exhibitions is free.
The museum is open every day from 10am to 5pm. Entry to the permanent exhibition (including the cells and courtroom) is £8.50 for adults, £4.50 for children and £20 for a family, this includes an annual season ticket giving visitors unlimited free returns for a year. For more information visit www.shirehalldorset.org, find the team on Facebook @DorsetShireHall, Instagram @shire_hall_dorset and on Twitter @ShireHallDorset.
