Statewide Traveling Exhibits: "Exhibits To Go"

The Minnesota Historical Society created a new traveling exhibits program, called "Exhibits to Go," giving more than 15 communities across Minnesota the ability to experience Minnesota history in their own neighborhood.

Funding for the traveling exhibits came from multiple appropriation categories, including funding for Statewide Historic Programs and for History Partnership Projects.

The traveling exhibits feature freestanding displays, audiovisual and interactive components, and onsite and online educational programming.

To date, four exhibits--"Minnesota on the Map," "Minnesota Homefront," "Electrifying Minnesota" and "Uncle Sam's New Deal"--are available through this program.

In addition, the Society partnered with the Minnesota Humanities Center to bring exhibits from the Smithsonian Institution to Minnesota, as highlighted below:

• "Minnesota on the Map" This exhibit features a dozen maps from the Minnesota Historical Society collections, from Louis Hennepin's 1683 map of the upper Mississippi River Valley to a satellite map of Minnesota produced by NASA. The maps are reproduced on seven portable exhibit panels and a video station provides commentary on a selection of the maps. One highlight of the exhibit is an oversized jigsaw puzzle map of Minnesota that engages schoolchildren and other young visitors.
   
• "Minnesota Homefront, World War II" Change came quickly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Featuring nine panels, audio interviews, songs of the period and a "Letter Stories" bin, this traveling exhibit shares the experiences of 46 Minnesotans and the state's role in the most widespread war in history. Visitors to this exhibit can discover what it was like to "make do" with rationing, farm during a severe labor shortage and endure a starvation experiment for science and the war effort.
   
• "Uncle Sam's New Deal" Partner Organization: Minnesota Landmark Center. With recent headlines about stimulus packages and infrastructure issues fresh in the minds of citizens, "Uncle Sam's New Deal" illuminates the Federal government's role in efforts to revive Minnesota communities more than 70 years ago. ACHF funds enabled the Minnesota Historical Society, in partnership with the Minnesota Landmark Center, to prepare the exhibit for statewide touring. The exhibit, which is scheduled to travel to six communities in 2011, includes portable panels, New Deal film footage and an interactive art activity.
   
• "Electrifying Minnesota" Partner Organization: Bakken Museum. Imagine having electricity available at the flick of a switch for the first time. "Electrifying Minnesota" explores how electricity has transformed lives in Minnesota since 1882, from what people thought about electricity in the late 19th and 20th centuries to how we will generate electricity in the 21st century. ACHF funds have enabled the Minnesota Historical Society, in partnership with the Bakken Museum, to take this exhibit on the road. Featuring portable exhibit panels, period silent films and an interactive electromagnetic generator, the exhibit will travel to five communities, inviting visitors to rediscover a sense of wonder about how electricity shapes our lives.
   
• Smithsonian Museum on Main Street Exhibits Partner Organization: Minnesota Humanities Center The Minnesota Historical Society, in partnership with the Minnesota Humanities Center, brought the Smithsonian Institution's "Journey Stories" exhibit to Minnesota. This exhibit, which is part of the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street initiative, focuses on tales of how immigrants came to America and also examines modes of travel and Americans' desire to feel free to move. In a subsequent project, the Society and Humanities Center sponsored an open application process through which six Minnesota communities were selected to host the Smithsonian's "New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music" traveling exhibit. This exhibit will be the fifth of the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street exhibits to visit the state. It begins its Minnesota tour in March 2011.

For more, see the Traveling Exhibits web site.