Yale University Library Celebrates Constitution Day - Tuesday, September 17th

Picture of U.S. Constitution
August 13, 2019

On September 17, 2019, the Yale University Library, the Yale Law School Lillian Goldman Law Library, and the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library will sponsor events and exhibits recognizing U.S. Constitution Day. The theme, "Liberty is a Lady," explores women's rights through the Constitution and marks the 100th anniversary, in 2020, of (white) women's suffrage. By looking at the changing rights of women in the United States, these events raise further questions about who truly enjoys equal protection under the law. These events are also part of the libraries’ offerings for 50 Women at Yale 150.

If you'd like to read a section of the Constitution during one of the reading sessions, please sign up here: https://forms.gle/hj3yBHZaTAP6GDR9A

Schedule of Events

WHEN WHAT WHERE
12:00PM – 1:30PM Constitutional Readings CSSSI, Medical Library, Women's Table Outside SML
3:00PM – 4:00PM Constitutional Trivia CSSSI 24-Hour Space
3:00PM - 5:00PM (details below) Exhibits Bass Library, Beinecke Library, Haas Family Arts Library, Music Library
4:00PM – 5:00PM Pop-Up Constitution Display Beinecke

Bass Library (9/16-9/20)

‘pop-up exhibit of Constitution related materials in its space.’

Hass Family Arts Library (9/17-9/20)

Women and the Constitution: “Liberty is a Lady”
Curated by: Allison Comrie, 2019-20 Kress Fellow in Art Librarianship,
and Mar González Palacios, Associate Director for Special Collections
Haas Family Arts Library, Main Floor

Music Library (3:00PM – 4:00PM across from Music Library entrance)

“What do Fats Waller, Johnny Cash, and Leonard Bernstein have in common? The U.S. Constitution! The Music Library’s collections include spoken-word recordings of readings of the Constitution and Supreme Court Cases that interpret our country’s foundational document. Some recordings present commentary (read by Johnny Cash and others) and songs reflecting on the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution. Other musical works comment or transform ideas in the Constitution into new music, such as Fats Waller’s “We the People” and Augusta Read Thomas and Leslie Dunton-Downer’s Conquering the Fury of Oblivion: : Theatrical Oratorio in Celebration of Women's Rights in the United States of America: For Narrator, Vocal Quartet, and Orchestra. The exhibit will feature recordings, scores, and texts pertaining to the Constitution or music inspired by it.”

Beinecke Library Exhibit (4:00PM - 5:00PM in Classroom at Beinecke)

Join us at the Beinecke Library from 4 pm to 5 pm for a pop-up display of materials, including:

  • The Journal of the Federal Convention of 1787, manuscript copy in the hand of James Madison of the Journal made by William Jackson as Secretary of the Convention
  • Early printings of the U.S. Constitution from 1787
  • The first printing of The Federalist Papers
  • The first printing of the Report of the Woman's Rights Convention, held at Seneca Falls, N.Y., July 19th & 20th, 1848
  • Pins and pennants of the suffrage movement