The Pen is Mightier: Writing a Revolution

The Pen is Mightier: Writing a Revolution is now on display on the 4th floor of the Utah State Capitol through December 2026. The exhibit explores how Revolutionary-era leaders harnessed tools such as printing presses and secret codes to inspire action and ignite lasting change.The exhibition features a range of archival objects, including an original copy of “Common Sense” on loan from the University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library's Fighting Words Exhibition , opens in a new tab . Published by Thomas Paine in January 1776, the pamphlet helped rally colonists and is believed to have influenced the writing of the Declaration of Independence.The exhibition also explores the communicators—those who generated ideas, shared ideals, influenced decision-makers, united the government, directed the soldiers, undermined the British, and led the people. Stories of not only the leaders and elite, but the under-represented voices such as enslaved people, women, and indigenous people are also considered.Finally, the exhibit examines what was happening on Utah's landscape in 1776, along with Utahns' revolutionary contributions to world communications, which are crucial to our daily lives 250 years since the founding of the nation. Through the concept of communication, all visitors can feel connected to the commemoration of the semiquincentennial!