Special to Iredell Free News

The Mooresville Public Library is currently hosting “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence,” a poster exhibition from the Smithsonian in the library’s main hall.

“Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery, and has received support from the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.

The exhibit celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment and explores “the complexity of the women’s suffrage movement and the relevance of this history to Americans’ lives today.” The gallery of posters portrays the story of women’s suffrage, voting rights, and our civic development as a nation.

Based on the National Portrait Gallery exhibition of the same name, Votes for Women seeks to “expand visitors’ understanding of the suffrage movement in the United States.” The poster exhibition addresses women’s political activism, explores the racism that challenged universal suffrage, and documents the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment which prohibits the government from denying U.S. citizens the right to vote on the basis of sex. It also touches upon the suffrage movement’s relevance to current conversations on voting and voting rights across America.

The exhibit will remain at the Mooresville Public Library, located at 304 S. Main Street, until the first week of November.