Get out the Vote: Historically Speaking

Take a look into the Dole Archives and investigate constituent letters from Kansans in 1969 about changing the voting age from 21 to 18, which eventually led to the ratification of the 26th Amendment.  This inquiry leads participants through an investigation of how 18-year-olds were given the right to vote during a time in history where they were being asked to fight and die for their country yet were unable to elect the people who were deciding to make them do so.  Participants will consider the arguments for and against the decision, why it still matters to students today, and why young people should exercise their right to vote.

Presented by Julie Clover, Public Education Coordinator with the Dole Institute of Politics, as part of "Voices and Votes:  Democracy in America," a traveling Museum on Main Street collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and Humanities Kansas.