Constitution Day Talk: History of Voting Rights in Pennsylvania (Sept. 17)

In recognition of Constitution Day, Marywood University's School of Humanities will be hosting local historian EJ Murphy, who will address the history of debates around voting rights in Pennsylvania.

This event, one of many academic and related university events throughout the next year, celebrates Marywood’s inaugural theme “Ignite the Light,” established for its new president, Lisa A. Lori, J.D.

The event, which will be held on Tuesday, September 17, from 7-8:30 p.m., in Marywood’s Learning Commons, Room 331, is free and open to the public.

The discussion will explore voting rights in Pennsylvania in the late 1830s and the subsequent constitutional changes that came with the intense debates over suffrage and voting rights for Black Pennsylvanians. With a focus on Northeastern Pennsylvania and its residents, this program will give context to the cultural, political, and social landscape of the region during this time period, as well as the impact that it had on state and national legal and constitutional systems during the Civil War era.

Constitution Day commemorates the formation and signing of the U.S. Constitution on September 17, 1787.

For additional information on Constitution Day at Marywood University, contact Adam Shprintzen, Ph.D., associate professor of history, at shprintzen@marywood.edu