"Faces of Liberty"

Photo Exhibition Presented by the New York Civil Liberties Union at the
B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library at C.W. Post

March 3 to 27, 2003

March 12, 2002 — "Faces of Liberty," a photo-journal exhibition highlighting significant civil liberties cases of four decades in New York State, will be on display at the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University in Brookville from March 3 to 27, 2003.

This traveling exhibit puts human faces on complex civil liberties issues by documenting the challenges of ordinary men, women and students who faced unpopularity and adversity when standing up for their beliefs. There are descriptions of the successful challenges to the institutionalization of children and adults at the Willowbrook State School and to the Mount Kisko housing and employment ordinances that discriminated against immigrants. Also included are two U.S. Supreme Court decisions: one upholding the one person one vote principle in eliminating New York City’s Board of Estimate, and the other a landmark decision that a school board may not remove books from the high school library for political reasons.

Additional photographs include: minority students subjected to a "sweep" by police at a public college, gays and lesbians denied a parade permit because they were "non-traditional," and an African-American police officer fired for testifying against the New York City Street Crime Unit.

"Faces of Liberty" is an educational project of the New York Civil Liberties Union Foundation and its Nassau County chapter. According to exhibition creator Donald Parker, NYCLU, Nassau Chapter board member, "This shows that the Bill of Rights is not an abstraction, but a blueprint for ordinary people to use to guarantee their individual rights."

The NYCLU is a non-partisan organization that serves as the state affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union. Founded in 1951, NYCLU is devoted to defending and advocating individual liberty under the Bill of Rights, U.S. Constitution, and the New York State Constitution. The mission of NYCLU is to defend the fundamental civil liberties values of freedom of speech, equal protection, and due process of law.

Admission to the exhibition is free. The exhibition is on display in the lobby of the B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library on the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, 720 Northern Boulevard (Route 25A) in Brookville. Hours: Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 8 p.m. For additional information, call (516) 299-2868.