543 Hanley Industrial Ct., Ste. 201 . St. Louis, MO 63144-1905 . 314.781.9660 . 1.800.357.0909
FAX 314.781.9681 . EMAIL mail@mohumanities.org . WEB www.mohumanities.org
Museum on Main Street
Smithsonian Exhibit
The Way We Worked – 2011 - 2012
The Missouri Humanities Council invites small museums, historical and cultural
institutions in Missouri to apply to host a Smithsonian “Museum on Main Street” traveling
exhibition that will be available in fall 2011 through summer 2012. This traveling exhibit is
brought to Missouri exclusively through the Museum on Main Street partnership with the
Missouri Humanities Council.
Designed to reach rural audiences through museums, historical and cultural institutions in
communities across Missouri, this exhibit is free to selected host organizations. While there is
no direct cost for a museum to participate in the tour, with support from the Missouri
Humanities Council, host communities will be expected to create local public programming
around the exhibition.
Six communities will be selected for this exhibition, with each showing lasting six weeks.
Selected sites will be notified in January-February of 2011. Sites will be selected based upon
geographic location, evidence of strong community support, strength of proposed ideas for
complementary activities, and physical event space (700 square feet and 8 foot ceiling
minimum).
The Way We Worked - Museum on Main Street offering 2011 - 2012:
The Way We Worked, adapted from an original exhibition developed by the
National Archives, explores how work became such a central element in American culture by
tracing the many changes that affected the workforce and work environments over the past
150 years. The exhibition draws from the Archives’ rich collections to tell this compelling
story.
The exhibition will offer multiple interpretive opportunities for visitors through large
graphics, along with relevant objects and work clothing. Through audio components, hear
from workers their own stories about with changes in their industries and confronting
workplace challenges. Follow workers into their workplaces through films of various
industries. Interactive components will introduce visitors to the experiences of multiple
generations of families involved in the same work.
The exhibition focuses on why we work and the needs that our jobs fulfill. Our work
takes place everywhere – on the land, on the streets of our communities, in offices and
factories, in our homes, and even in space. An exploration of the tools and technologies that
enabled and assisted workers also reveals how workers sometimes found themselves with
better tools, but also with faster, more complex and often more stressful work environments.
The diversity of the American workforce is one of its strengths, providing an opportunity to
explore how people of all races and ethnicities identified commonalities and worked to knock
down barriers in the professional world. And, finally, the exhibition shows how we identify
with work – as individuals and as communities. Whether you live in “Steel Town, USA” or
wear a uniform each day, work assigns cultural meanings and puts us and our communities in
a larger context.
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For more information on Museum on Main Street – Smithsonian Exhibit visit www.museumonmainstreet.org or www.si.edu.
The Way We Worked is curated by Dr. Bruce Bustard, Senior Curator for the National Archives and Records Administration.
How to Apply: Applications for The Way We Worked should be submitted to the Missouri
Humanities Council by October 15, 2010 (postmarked or emailed). Tours for the exhibit begin
in the fall of 2011 through summer 2012.
Note: The application is available online at www.mohumanities.org. If you do not have
internet and email access, please contact the Missouri Humanities Council office at
1.800.357.0909 or email: mail@mohumanities.org to make other arrangements for
submission of materials.
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