Through a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) division, the Mississippi Humanities Council is bringing “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” a portable multi-kiosk exhibit, to Mississippi in 2020. “Crossroads” will visit six Mississippi communities from September 2020 through June 2021, including Senatobia, Greenwood, Scooba, Mount Olive, Columbia, and Waveland.
Northwest Mississippi Community College (Senatobia), the Museum of the Mississippi Delta (Greenwood), East Mississippi Community College (Scooba), the Jane Blain Brewer Memorial Library (Mount Olive), the Marion County Historical Society Museum & Archives (Columbia), and the Waveland Ground Zero Hurricane Museum (Waveland) will each host the traveling exhibition for six weeks. In addition to hosting the exhibition, each site will develop a local complementary exhibit and public programs in conjunction with “Crossroads.”
“Crossroads” takes a broad look at the characteristics of rural America. It explores how an attraction to and interaction with the land formed the basis of rural America, and how rural communities and small towns evolve. It also highlights how change has transformed rural America and how rural Americans are evolving for the future.
Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, “Crossroads” will serve as a community meeting place for conversations about how rural America and rural Mississippi have changed. With support and guidance from the Mississippi Humanities Council, the six Mississippi host sites will develop complementary exhibits and host public programs to raise people’s understanding about their own history, the joys and challenges of living rural, how change has impacted their community, and goals for the future.
“We are thrilled to bring ‘Crossroads’ to these communities. Their applications exhibited capacity, excitement, and commitment that we are excited to see come to life as they host ‘Crossroads,’” said MHC program officer and “Crossroads” state coordinator Caroline Gillespie.
The exhibition is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host institutions. To learn more about “Crossroads” and other Museum on Main Street exhibitions, visit the MoMS website. For more information about the “Crossroads” Mississippi schedule, click here.
