Join the Sheboygan County Museum (SCM) for the temporary exhibition Of, By, For the People: Politics & Sheboygan County from May 18 to October 26, 2024. This fascinating exhibit explores the uniquely human endeavor of American democracy through the local lens of Sheboygan County’s embodiment of the ideal ‘of the people, by the people, for the people.’

In concluding  his 1864 Gettysburg Address “that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth,” President Abraham Lincoln’s words echoed the nearly 100-year-old  Declaration of Independence; a document that established a radical new form of government grounded in people, participation, and place. Yet with each generation, what comprises ‘the people’ – from participants to parties to individuals – alongside defining engagement and locale has presented challenges and change.

The Sheboygan County Museum created this new exhibit to explore politics in Sheboygan County. Rather than focus on parties or Presidents, Of, By, For the People  approaches politics through a people focused lens, examining the concept of people and how they are critical to American Democracy. A visitor can clearly see how the definition of people expanded, the process of participation changed, and ultimately how the government grew to meet the ever changing needs of the people and our communities. This exhibit explores these concepts with  over 100 signs, buttons, and objects from the Museum’s extensive collection, highlighting the unifying concept of service and participation by ordinary people that is at the heart of American Democracy.