Museum of History & Industry

The year 2020 was, we hope, a year unlike any other, in which each new headline was more shocking than the last. “But nothing happens by itself out of the blue. You unpack it a little bit and you see a lot of history there that explains how we got to this moment, and hopefully gives us clues on how to move forward in a positive way,” said Leonard Garfield, executive director of the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI). That’s what the museum’s next exhibit, “Stand Up Seattle: The Democracy Project,” aims to do.

The new exhibit at MOHAI, which reopened April 2 for the first time since the pandemic began, explores the power of the democratic process by placing recent events like the presidential election and Black Lives Matter protests in a local, historical context.

Before the pandemic, MOHAI was working with the Smithsonian to host a national traveling exhibit about American democracy. They planned to enhance that exhibit with local materials highlighting the democratic process in our region. The touring exhibit was canceled due to the pandemic. But with politics and protests dominating headlines, MOHAI continued to develop the Seattle-centered exhibit.

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