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Southampton Arts Center Turns the Story of American Democracy Into a Hamptons Cultural Moment With Museum of Democracy Exhibition

From a childhood obsession with campaign buttons to a million-object political archive, ‘The Story of America’ arrives in Southampton with rare presidential artifacts, immersive storytelling, and a $250K state grant announced opening weekend

The Southampton Arts Center has opened The Story of America: 1776–2026, A Celebration of Freedom and Independence, a sweeping new cultural exhibition that turns 250 years of American democracy into a lived, visual experience on the East End.

Presented in partnership with the Museum of Democracy, the exhibition is built around the Wright Family Collection—one of the most significant private archives of American political and civic memorabilia in the country.

And it began, unusually, with a child’s curiosity.

Collector Jordan M. Wright started gathering campaign buttons and political ephemera as a boy, long before it became a collection of national scale. Over more than four decades, that early fascination evolved into more than one million objects spanning every U.S. presidential campaign from George Washington through Donald Trump.

The result is not just an archive, but a cultural mirror: how America has told its own story through symbols, slogans and spectacle.

Among the standout artifacts on view are materials tied to George Washington inauguration, including an original historic flag, alongside 19th-century torchlight parade torches and 1960s campaign-era paper dresses worn at political rallies—objects that underscore how deeply American politics has always lived at the intersection of performance and identity.

A Cultural Reading of American Democracy

Rather than presenting history as a timeline, The Story of America unfolds as an immersive cultural environment—layering archival footage, objects and interactive installations to show how civic identity is shaped, contested and reimagined over time.

The exhibition extends beyond presidential politics into defining social movements, including women’s suffrage, civil rights, labor rights and Vietnam War-era protest movements, reframing democracy not as a fixed system, but as an ongoing cultural negotiation.

Mary Slattery, Pat Garrity, Mark Fichandler, Paul Travis, Christina Mossaides Strassfield (executive director, SAC), and Robert Lohman attend The Story of America:1776-2026 exhibit at the Southampton Arts Center, Southampton, NY, May 23, 2026. Photo by Rob Rich/SocietyAllure.com

“We were thrilled to welcome the community to the Southampton Arts Center and to begin the celebration for the 250th anniversary,” said Executive Director Christina Mossaides Strassfield. “The fact that history can come alive on the walls of SAC is a gift to all visitors near and far.”

$250K State Grant Highlights Opening Weekend

During opening weekend, New York State Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright announced a $250,000 state grant for the Museum of Democracy to support the preservation and exhibition of the Wright Family Collection.

The funding, tied to America’s upcoming semi-quincentennial, underscores the exhibition’s broader cultural mission: preserving and re-examining how the story of American democracy is collected, interpreted and shared.

The Hamptons as a Stage for National Memory

The Museum of Democracy operates as a traveling cultural institution, bringing its Wright Family Collection to museums and cultural partners across the country through rotating exhibitions.

The Story of America:1776-2026 Exhibit at the Southampton Arts Center, Southampton, NY

Its holdings extend well beyond presidential campaigns into broader movements for civil rights, women’s rights and labor reform—offering a layered portrait of democracy as something constantly evolving in both politics and culture.

Opening Night Draws New York Cultural Crowd on MDW

The reception drew artists, philanthropists, civic leaders and New York cultural figures—underscoring the Hamptons’ role as a seasonal hub for major cultural programming and institutional exhibitions.

Among attendees was Sharon Bush, former daughter-in-law of President George H. W. Bush and longtime New York philanthropist, who joined the opening-night crowd for the debut of the exhibition.

Additional guests included Ken Fishel, Maria Fishel, Lucia Hwong Gordon, Sylvia Hemingway, Robert Leacock, Robin Leacock, Jeffrey Loewy, Nancy Jane Loewy, Southampton Village Mayor William Manger Jr., Nicole Miller, Siamak Samii, Rebecca Seawright, Jean Shafiroff, Ramona Singer, Paul Travis, Madison Wright and Pamala Wright.

On View Through July 18

The Story of America: 1776–2026, A Celebration of Freedom and Independence is on view through July 18 at the Southampton Arts Center.

The exhibition is sponsored in part by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation and supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with backing from Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Photos: Rob Rich/SocietyAllure.com

Photos: Sonia Moskowitz @soniamoskowitz_photography

Angela LaGreca

Editor, Co-Founder/Publisher

Angela LaGreca, Editor-in-chief and co-Founder/Publisher of Spark Hamptons, is a four-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, producer, writer and comedian/host. Her TV credits include NBC’s “Today,” ABC’s “The View,” and, most recently, the primetime cable news program “Cuomo” on NewsNation. On the East End, she was the Creative Director at LTV, VP Features/Events/Photo Editor at Dan’s Papers, and has performed at Guild Hall, Bay Street Theater and the WHBPAC. Her publishing career began at Modern Photography, where she was managing editor. LaGreca lives in Manhattan and East Hampton and can be reached at angelatvmedia@gmail.com and angela@sparkhamptons.com .