Museum on Main Street

Smithsonian traveling exhibits return to Alabama

Following a three-year hiatus to focus on the state’s bicentennial and traveling exhibit, Making Alabama, Museum on Main Street returns to the state in 2021 with Water/Ways.

AHF has partnered in years past with the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program, which gives access to the Smithsonian for small-town America through museum exhibitions, research, educational resources and programming.

It is a partnership of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and state humanities councils nationwide, and the Water/Ways exhibit will be in six Alabama communities.

Having visited more than 1,600 communities across America since 1994, MoMS is designed to engage small town audiences and help bring attention to assets found in their communities.

AHF’s last Museum on Main Street tour featured Water/ Ways, an exhibit exploring the role that water plays in human society and culture and the importance of protecting this critical resource.

Rejoining the MoMS community means that AHF is bringing Water/Ways back to Alabama for a 2021-2022 tour set to visit the following locations: • Oakville Indian Mounds Education Center, Danville (Lawrence Co.) • Guntersville Museum, Guntersville (Marshall Co.) • Bessemer Public Library, Bessemer (Jefferson Co.)

View of the Alabama River from a Bridge in Claiborne, Alabama -- Photo by Carol Highsmith for Library of Congress (public domain)

• Gee’s Bend Ferry Terminal, Camden (Wilcox Co.) • Elba Chamber of Commerce, Elba (Coffee Co.) • Bayou La Batre Public Library, Irvington (Mobile Co.)

Representatives of host communities will participate in a series of orientation workshops via Zoom this fall and on through winter and spring. Water/Ways will arrive in Alabama next July. Stay tuned for more details about the exhibit, tour schedule and complementary programs statewide. n

For more information, contact Laura Anderson, landerson@alabamahumanities.org

Stories from Main Street podcast added to exhibition

Now is an ideal time to learn about MoMS thanks to a brand-new podcast – Smithsonian’s Stories from Main Street. Inspired by stories shared with them over the years, MoMS staff developed the podcast to shine a light on the people and culture of a wide variety of rural communities. The podcast will reveal stories from rural communities and their connections to the content of MoMS exhibitions.

The first season of Smithsonian’s Stories from Main Street launched in early September and takes inspiration from the Water/Ways exhibit, which began touring the country in 2016.

Stories from Season One reflect water’s impact on work and play, in agriculture and landscape and in personal experience and memory. The host for the six-episode series is Hannah Hethmon, a podcast producer and host of her own podcast, Museums in Strange Places.

To learn more about and listen to the podcast visit museumonmainstreet.org/podcast.