Blackhawk Hosts the Freedom Summer Exhibit

Blackhawk Technical College is hosting a traveling exhibit from the Wisconsin Historical Society about the summer of 1964, when thousands of Mississippi citizens, volunteers and civil rights activists challenged segregation and voting laws during what would later be known as “Freedom Summer.”

Open to the public, the exhibit, “Risking Everything: A Freedom Summer Exhibit for Students,” is in Blackhawk’s Student Success Center at Central Campus in Janesville and available for viewing weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from June 27 to Aug. 22.

The Freedom Summer Exhibit remembers the hundreds of people who were beaten, arrested or murdered in the fight for equality. Their efforts and pleas for fair voting rights were met with widespread violence by their community leaders, local police and state officials.

Blackhawk Technical College’s Multi-Cultural Alliance and Student Success Center have teamed up with the Wisconsin Historical Society to bring this exhibition to campus. It includes 77 historic photographs, documents and memorabilia. The exhibit has appeared in venues throughout the country, with over 100,000 attendees to date.

For more information on the history of this exhibit, visit The Wisconsin Historical Society.

Please be aware that much of our parking lot is undergoing reconstruction through early August. The exhibit is located near the eastmost main entrance (2-2) at the front of the building.