The Smithsonian comes to Massachusetts

The museum's "Crossroads: Changes in Rural America" exhibit will stop in six local towns through 2023.

"Crossroads: Changes in Rural America," a traveling exhibit produced by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program.

By Cheryl Fenton

July 28, 2022

Event Link

https://museumonmainstreet.org/content/crossroads

While busy city life appears to take main stage in America, the vast majority of the country’s landscape actually remains rural (only 3.5 percent is considered urban). Starting this September, you can discover more about small town life thanks to “Crossroads: Changes in Rural America,” a traveling exhibit produced by the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street program. The Smithsonian, along with Mass Humanities, have selected six communities in Massachusetts for this exhibit that explores how rural American communities have changed in the 20th century. The exhibition will prompt discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the ripple effects that occurred.

Here is the Massachusetts schedule:

Sept. 9 – Oct. 22: Essex Historical Society and Shipbuilding Museum, Essex

Oct. 30 – Dec. 10: The Hull Lifesaving Museum, Hull

Dec. 18 – Jan. 28, 2023: Rutland Free Public Library, Rutland

Feb. 5 – March 18, 2023: Great Falls Discovery Center, Turners Falls

March 26 – May 6, 2023: Bushnell-Sage Library, Sheffield

May 14 – June 24, 2023: Athol Public Library, Athol

Prices vary based on museum admission.