Dr. Benjamin C. Montoya, Schreiner University Assistant Professor of History, will lead a Constitution Day program about the historical development of voting rights in the United States.

The free public event begins at 1.00 p.m. Monday, Sept. 17, in the Floyd and Kathleen Cailloux Campus Activity Center River Room. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions following the presentation.

The concept of who comprised the voting public has changed massively from the late eighteenth century to the mid twentieth century. This lecture will describe the social, political, and economic forces that underlined the evolving nature of the people, and how the U.S. Constitution has at various times spurred on the expansion of voting, while at other times retarded the growth of suffrage. It will touch on themes such as immigration, naturalization, war, race, and gender.

Montoya specializes in U.S.-Mexico foreign relations. His research considers how efforts to block Mexican immigration to the United Stated during the 1920s and 1930s effected relations between the two countries.

Constitution Day celebrates the anniversary of the day—Sept. 17, 1787—that the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met for the final time to sign the document they had created. For more information go to constitutionday.com.

For more information about this lecture, contact Dr. Benjamin Montoya at bmontoya@schreiner.edu or 830-792-7286.