Crossroads: Change in Rural America, presented by NH Humanities and VT Humanities

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Vermont and New Hampshire Humanities announce joint
exhibitions from the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street to
shine light on changing landscape of rural America

The Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street, in cooperation with New Hampshire Humanities and Vermont Humanities, presents Crossroads: Change in Rural America (Crossroads), a year-long exhibition examining the evolving landscape of rural America. The first of six locations, the Saint Albans Museum in Vermont, opens in August 2024 and travels to five additional sites in Vermont and New Hampshire through August 2025.

Participating exhibit venues and their surrounding communities have been expressly chosen by Vermont Humanities and New Hampshire Humanities to host Crossroads as part of the Museum on Main Street program—a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The exhibition will tour six communities in Vermont and New Hampshire from August 23, 2024 through August 31, 2025:

 

August – Oct. 26, 2024, St. Albans Museum, St. Albans City, VT  Details

Oct. 12 – Dec. 1, 2024, River Valley Community College, Claremont, NH  Details

Feb. 8 – March 23, 2025, Chandler Center for the Arts, Randolph, VT  Details

March 29 – May 11, 2025, Jefferson Historical Society, Jefferson, NH  Details

May 31 – July 12, 2025, Museum of the White Mountains, Plymouth, NH  Details

July 19 – Aug. 31, 2025, Old Stone House Museum, Brownington, VT  Details

 

"We're so grateful to our community hosts and the Smithsonian for this opportunity to take a look back at the history of rural life in the region, and to use these lessons as we build a road map forward," said Christopher Kaufman Ilstrup, Executive Director of Vermont Humanities. "As our two states grow and change, Crossroads gives us important insight into our work in the humanities in Vermont and New Hampshire for the next 50 years and beyond." 

Crossroads explores how rural American communities changed in the 20^th century. From sea to shining sea, the vast majority of the United States landscape remains rural with only 3.5% of the landmass considered urban. Since 1900, the percentage of Americans living in rural areas dropped from 60% to 17%. The exhibition looks at that remarkable societal change and how rural Americans responded.

“We’re excited to participate in this nationally known exhibition and partner with such wonderful small New Hampshire communities like Jefferson, Claremont, and Plymouth,” said Michael Haley Goldman, executive director of New Hampshire Humanities. “The Crossroads exhibition provides the opportunity for smaller towns to not only shine as hosts of this highly esteemed Smithsonian exhibit, but to highlight their own histories and community members, to tell the story of how they continue to face the changes of the last one hundred years in America.”

Americans have relied on rural crossroads for generations. These places where people gather to exchange goods, services and culture and to engage in political and community discussions are an important part of our cultural fabric. Despite the massive economic and demographic impacts brought

on by these changes, America’s small towns continue to creatively focus on new opportunities for growth and development.

The first exhibit opened on August 23 at the Saint Albans Museum in Vermont.  

“Crossroads allows us to reflect on the history of Saint Albans, the present and our future,” said Corrina King of Saint Albans Museum. “We want to facilitate meaningful conversations about what makes our community unique, and we have developed local exhibitions and public programs to complement the Smithsonian exhibition.” Such free events include youth programming on making historical corn husk dolls, butter making, partnering with the Vermont Reads program on programming related to the book “Gather” (targeted at 14–18-year-olds), and working with Franklin County schools to offer tours of the exhibit in September.   

Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, Crossroads will serve as a community meeting place for conversations about how rural America has changed. With the support and guidance of state humanities councils, these towns will develop complementary exhibits, host public programs and facilitate educational initiatives to raise people’s understanding about their own history, the joys and challenges of living rural, how change has impacted their community, and prompt discussion of goals for the future.

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 www.museumonmainstreet.org.

Support for MoMS has been provided by the U.S. Congress. SITES has been sharing the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside Washington, D.C., for more than 65 years. SITES connects Americans to their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of exhibitions about art, science and history, which are shown wherever people live, work and play. For exhibition description and tour schedules, visit www.sites.si.edu.

New Hampshire Humanities connects people and ideas by funding and supporting statewide programs that inspire curiosity, foster civil dialogue, and explore big questions. www.nhhumanities.org.

Using the humanities, Vermont Humanities connects with people across Vermont to create just, vibrant, and resilient communities and to inspire a lifelong love of learning. www.vthumanities.org.

 

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