The state of Alabama has adopted six different constitutions in its history. Along with the state’s 1861 ordinance of secession, these documents have left an indelible mark on not only the politics and people within the borders of the Yellowhammer State but also the history of the entire nation.
As part of the state’s bicentennial celebration, the Alabama Department of Archives and History (ADAH) will offer a unique look at each of these documents in an exhibition called We the People: Alabama’s Defining Documents. The exhibition, at the Museum of Alabama in Montgomery, will explore the importance of these documents in the state’s history and what the drafters of these documents sought to accomplish through them.
“We the People provides a rare opportunity for Alabamians to examine the documents that set the course of state history and heavily influenced events at the national level,” said ADAH director Steve Murray in a release from the department. “They are the foundation stones of Alabama history and politics, and vital for understanding issues that remain at the heart of public policy debates today.”
The exhibition will run from November 3 to December 31. The public is invited to a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sunday, November 3 at 1:00 p.m. Following the ceremony, Julian Butler, chairman of the Huntsville-Madison County Bicentennial Committee will present The 1901 Alabama Constitution: Questions of Race, Gender and Economic Status. Conservation expert Kathryn Boodle will also discuss the extensive conservation work performed on Alabama’s constitutions leading up to the exhibition.
The museum is located within the Alabama Department of Archives and History building at 624 Washington Avenue in downtown Montgomery. Admission to the Museum of Alabama is free.
Those seeking more information about the exhibition can visit the We the People website.
Alabama first formed as a territory in 1817 and became the 22nd state in the union on December 14, 1819. Alabama 200 is “a three-year celebration of the people, places and events that form our rich history.”
Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia
