Celebrating the 200th anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s farewell tour, the Williams Center Gallery is putting a modern spin on history with its newest exhibit “Return to ‘The Land of Genuine Freedom.’”
The exhibit’s name takes inspiration from an artifact acquired by Special Collections last fall: a letter written by Lafayette that highlights America’s freedom.
“‘The Land of Genuine Freedom’ is actually a direct quote from this letter,” said Ana Ramirez Luhrs, the co-director of Special Collections.
While acknowledging Lafayette’s contributions during the American Revolution, the gallery also wanted to make the exhibit’s four sections — representative of the segments of Lafayette’s tour — engaging to students.
“Particularly for a show like this, there’s always a standard chronological order of how things progress and how objects were made,” said Rico Reyes, the curator of collections for the Williams Center Gallery. “But I gave [Ramirez Luhrs] an idea and we talked about just really thinking about teens. Like, what’s the vibe?”
When Ramirez Luhrs first envisioned the exhibit, she imagined a series of “vignettes or themes that reflected our holdings and special collections of Lafayette memorabilia.”
“We have an incredible collection of memorabilia from the farewell tour and you can almost consider it as merch,” she said.
“I’m always fascinated by what people made and what people kept because, for me, those are stepping stones that lead us back through history,” Reyes said. “If you understand why it was made and why people kept it, then we have a better understanding of how it arrives here.”
In addition to displaying goat gloves and decorative playing cards from the library’s collection, Ramirez Luhrs worked closely with designer Heather Reinert to make the exhibit modern and immersive. Their collaboration led to what Ramirez Luhrs described as “fangirl and fanboy posters,” designs featuring clothing that would be worn during the American Revolution and a portrait of the Major General in Lafayette swag.
“We were really trying as best as we could with the space to create an experience where people felt immersed in the moment,” Ramirez Luhrs said.
One example of this was the creation of a large wall decal of parade-goers, according to Ramirez Luhrs.
There are also multiple interactive elements to the exhibit to further increase immersion.
“It’s supposed to kind of just give general parade vibes, but you’ll see here that what she did is she took these images from our collection and she embedded them throughout,” Ramirez Luhrs continued, referencing Reinert’s work. “I haven’t printed it yet, but I’m going to have a little treasure hunt card for people to have and find the 24-star flag, for example.”
“We have another interactive thing where we’re getting some white cotton gloves that people can stamp Lafayette’s face on it, so they can kind of copy the gloves that are in the case,” Reyes said.
Both Ramirez Luhrs and Reyes hope people come away from the exhibit with newfound knowledge and a sense of connection.
“I always like to think of the parallels between our historical experiences and our current experiences,” Ramirez Luhrs said. “So, kind of thinking back about who would our Marquis de Lafayette be today?”
The exhibit is open now and will run until Dec. 6.