Photographs of women in power exhibit to open Jan. 11

“Changing the Face of Power: Women in the U.S. Senate,” which opened at the Smithsonian Institution in 2003, includes informative text provided by the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.

Sarah Polak, Sandoz Center director said she scheduled the exhibit before knowing there would be two women running for the U.S. presidency.

“Nebraska has a great history of women in politics from the first state to have two women running against each other for governor to more locally Virginia Smith, Eva Bowring and now Deb Fischer. With that said, Nebraska is just at or below the national average of women in state office,” Polak said.

At a time when access to national politicians is increasingly controlled, Mara persuaded a majority of the senators to allow her to document the unprecedented role of women in the Senate, both behind the scenes and before microphones.

Veteran White House journalist Helen Thomas conducted interviews with 10 of the senators, which have been distilled into two audio presentations. A photography-based video presentation portrays exhibition images with narration by Mara.

The exhibit was created by the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin, presented in partnership with Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and made possible, in part, by a “We the People” grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Sandoz Center is open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free. For more information about the exhibit, contact Polak at 308-432-6401.