Vermont Humanities is partnering with New Hampshire Humanities and the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program to bring a traveling exhibit, Crossroads: Change in Rural America, to small towns in Vermont and New Hampshire from August 2024-August 2025. Each state will support three host sites, and each location will host the exhibit for six weeks.
Each host site collaborates with the local community to plan, shape, and implement the exhibit, defining what the project means to them.
Vermont Humanities sought proposals from organizations based in rural towns in Vermont to host Crossroads and develop complimentary programming that will build on local partnerships and encourage community members’ involvement in the exhibition. Vermont Humanities will provide grant funds to support exhibition and programming costs, as well as a subject matter expert who will help develop the exhibition programming.
Crossroads Overview
In 1900, about 40% of Americans lived in rural areas. By 2010, less than 18% of the U.S. population lived in rural areas. In just over a century, massive economic and social changes moved millions of Americans into urban areas. Yet, only 10% of the U.S. landmass is considered urban.
Many Americans consider rural communities to be endangered and hanging on by a thread—suffering from brain drain, inadequate schools, and a barren, overused landscape. Why should revitalizing the rural places left behind matter to those who remain, those who left, and those who will come in the future? Because there is much more to the story of rural America.
Crossroads: Change in Rural America offers small towns a chance to look at their own paths to highlight the changes that affected their fortunes over the past 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.
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. Economic innovation and a focus on the cultural facets that make small towns unique, comfortable, and desirable have helped many communities create their own renaissance. The future is bright for much of rural America as small towns embrace the notion that their citizens and their cultural uniqueness are important assets.
Organizing Themes
The exhibit is organized into six sections (including an introduction) that explore change in rural America through five concepts: identity, land, community, persistence, managing change.
Exhibit Guiding Questions
- What does “rural America” mean?
- How has our attraction to and interaction with the land formed the basis of rural America?
- How have rural communities and small towns evolved and changed?
- What makes these places unique?
- How do we identify with them?
Smithsonian Resources
Tour Dates
- August 23 – October 6, 2024
St. Albans Museum
St. Albans City, VT - October 12 – December 13, 2024
River Valley Community College
Claremont, NH - February 8 – March 23, 2025
Chandler Center for the Arts
Randolph, VT - March 29 – May 11, 2025
Jefferson Historical Society
Jefferson, NH - May 31 – July 12, 2025
Museum of the White Mountains
Plymouth, NH - July 19 – September 28, 2025
Hosted by Old Stone House Museum, but installed at:
150 Main St. Newport, VT
Crossroads: Change in Rural America has been made possible in Vermont and New Hampshire by Vermont Humanities and New Hampshire Humanities.
Crossroads is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution and state humanities councils nationwide. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.
