Join us for a new exhibit at the Branigan Cultural Center, “City of Hope: Resurrection City and the 1968 Poor People’s Campaign.” The exhibition opens January 20 and closes April 1.
The exhibit discusses the tent city that was established during the early summer of 1968 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. People came from across America to live in “Resurrection City” and demanded economic opportunities, racial equality, and justice.
This collaborative poster exhibit was coordinated by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibit Service.
For 43 days during the early summer of 1968, a tent city covered 16 acres of land on the National Mall. Some 3,000 people from across America gathered to agitate for economic opportunities, racial equality, and justice.
A year earlier, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), led by Martin Luther King, Jr., and Ralph David Abernathy, declared poverty a national human rights issue. The SCLC made plans for a Poor People’s Campaign – a grassroots, multiracial movement that would draw the thousands of people to Washington, D.C.
They decided to proceed with the gathering despite the assassination of Dr. King on April 4, 1968. Between May and June, demonstrators demanded social reforms while living in Resurrection City. Dr. Abernathy declared it a “City of Hope” in honor of Dr. King.
This poster exhibition details the goals of the campaign, the mobilization of diverse communities across America to come to Washington, D.C., and the construction of Resurrection City. It examines the people, activism, and cultural exchanges that occurred there, as well as its impact and legacy.
Branigan Cultural Center, 501 N. Main St., is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to Frday and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. There is no admission charge.
Branigan Cultural Center is accessible via RoadRUNNER Transit Route 1, Stop 1. For information, visit the Museum System website at lascruces.gov/museums or call 575/541-2154.