Additional Information (PDFs):

Fact Sheet

Overview and Bios

Freedom’s Sisters is an exhibition created by Cincinnati Museum Center, organized for travel by Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services, and made possible by a grant from the Ford Motor Company Fund.

Presented locally by Macy’s.

Freedom’s Sisters is the first and most comprehensive traveling exhibit on women in the Civil Rights movement, focusing on the lives and contributions of 20 African American women – from key 19th century historical figures to contemporary leaders – who have fought for equality for people of color. Visitors of all ages and backgrounds will be moved and inspired by the stories of the women celebrated in this interactive exhibit. Created by Cincinnati Museum Center, in collaboration with The Ford Motor Company Fund, and Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), Freedom’s Sisters made its world premiere at Museum Center, and has now embarked on a three-year, nationwide tour. To see the full itinerary, click here.

Programming and Events

As Museum Center worked with Ford and SITES to develop the exhibit, a primary goal was to help encourage the next generation of leaders through dialogue on the civil rights struggle, past, present and future. Reaching young people was a crucial component of the exhibit’s mission. With Macy’s as the local presenting sponsor, 1,000 under served school children from the community joined the thousands of others who were able to see and benefit from this groundbreaking experience.

When Freedom’s Sisters opened on March 15, 2008, Museum Center was delighted to host all five of the “living legends” highlighted in the exhibit including: Myrlie-Evers Williams, Sonia Sanchez, Charlayne-Hunter Gault, Dr. Dorothy Height and Kathleen Cleaver. Several of these remarkable women returned to Cincinnati in July for the national N.A.A.C.P. convention. Myrlie-Evers Williams, in her address to conventioneers said that Freedom’s Sisters at Museum Center “was not to be missed!”

In association with Freedom’s Sisters, Museum Center hosted a poetry slam during National Poetry Month in April. An incredibly enthusiastic and diverse crowd turned out for the event—many of whom were brave even enough to get on the mic! In May, Museum Center presented a lecture by Darlene Clark Hine, Ph.D. Hine, who is considered a pioneer of African American women’s studies scholarship, was named Museum Center’s Distinguished Historian for 2008.

To provide a local tie, the Cincinnati History Museum developed a Cincinnati’s Freedom Sisters floor program, designed to educate children about the Civil Rights movement in Cincinnati. Through interactive smartboard activities students were able to access primary source material, and oral history interviews.