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U.S. Constitution & Constitution Day at ESU

A research and event guide on the U.S. Constitution and ESU Constitution Day commemoration.

Constitution Day

Constitution Day, September 17, 2020

Constitution Day 2020

OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say?: A Non-Boring Guide to How Our Democracy Is Supposed to Work

Sept 17, 2020, 5:00 PM

Reserve a seat

Watch on YouTube

In his book, OMG WTF Does the Constitution Actually Say? Ben Sheehan provides an entertaining and accessible guide that explains what the Constitution actually lays out while putting it in modern-day English so that it can be understood.  Hosted by the National Archives Museum. 

Constitution Day: Virtual Student Town Hall with Justice Neil M. Gorsuch

Sept 17, 2020, 12:00 PM

REGISTER HERE for Constitution Day Program with Associate Justice Gorsuch

* Constitution Day is on September 17: Constitutional Discussion with Special Guest Justice Neil M. Gorsuch

Join the National Constitution Center’s in a special Student Town Hall with U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch. Justice Gorsuch will speak about his career, the role of the judicial branch, and what it’s like to sit on the Supreme Court. National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen will moderate the discussion.

ESU's Constitution Day Virtual Exhibit

Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote Pop-Up Exhibit

Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote is a pop-up exhibit that Kemp Library received from the National Archives. In celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote highlights the relentless struggle of diverse activists throughout U.S. history to secure voting rights for all American women. 

View the exhibit panels in person at Kemp Library or online here:

Rightfully Hers Pop-Up Panel 1

Rightfully Hers Pop-Up Panel 2

Rightfully Hers Pop-Up Panel 3

Rightfully Hers Pop-Up Panel 4

Constitution of the United States, National Archives Catalog

Constitution of the United States, National Archives

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

- Preamble to the United States Constitution


Signed on September 17, 1787, the Constitution defines the framework of the Federal Government of the United States.  

 

View the Constitution in the National Archives Catalog. 

Read the transcript on the National Archives' America's Founding Documents website.

Children's books on display at Kemp Library

Children's Books on Display at Kemp Library---Available for Check Out!

 

Lillian's right to vote: a celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  Jonah Winter, 2015.  Call number:  E Winter


A Woman in the House (and Senate): How women came to the United States Congress, broke down barriers, and changed the Country.  Ilene Cooper, 2014.  Call number:  320.082 Cooper 


Granddaddy's turn: a journey to the ballet box. Michael S. Bandy and Eric Stein, 2015. Call number: E Bandy



Additional children's books in the Curriculum Materials Center (CMC) Collection:

 

Vote!  Eileen Christelow, 2003. Call number:  324 Chr  

Because they marched: the people's campaign for voting rights that changed America. Russell Freedman, 2014.  Call number:  323 Fre  

In defense of liberty: the story of America's Bill of Rights. Russell Freedman, 2003. Call number:  342.73 Fre 

 

Academic Resources on Display at Kemp Library

Historical Statistics & Documents on Display at Kemp Library

 

Voter turnout in the United States, 1788-2009. Curtis Gans Matthew Mulling. 2011. REFERENCE (library use only). Call number: 324.973 G157v  


Historical statistics of the United States: colonial times to 1970. United States. Bureau of the Census. 1975.  Government Documents. Call Number: C 3.134/2:H 62/970/PT.2  


United States government documents on women, 1800-1990: a comprehensive bibliography. Mary Ellen Huls. 1993. REFERENCE (library use only). Call number: 305.42 H878u



Additional Statistics and Documents at Kemp Library:

Historical atlas of U.S. presidential elections 1788-2004. J. Clark Archer. 2006. REFERENCE (library use only). Call number:  324.973 H629h

Election day: a documentary history.  Robert J Dinkin.  2002.  Main Stacks - Second Floor.  Call number:  324.973 EL25e

 

Read these E-Books Off Campus!

 

Access these e-books and many more!  Click on the link and sign in with your ESU username and password. 

Jefferson, Madison, and the Making of the Constitution. Broadwater, Jeff.  The University of North Carolina Press, 2019.


Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History. Gormley, Ken. NYU Press, 2016


Get Out the Vote: How to Increase Voter Turnout. 4th ed. Green, Donald P. and Gerber, Alan S. Brookings Institution Press, 2019. 


Fighting Chance: The Struggle Over Women Suffrage and Black Suffrage in Reconstruction America. Dudden, Faye E. Oxford University Press, 2011. 


The Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding American's Right to Vote. Wang, Tova. Cornell University Press, 2016. 


Ballot Blocked: The Political Erosion of the Voting Rights Act. Rhodes, Jesse H. Stanford University Press, 2017.