Crossroads: Change in Rural America

CROSSROADS:

Change in Rural America

A Smithsonian Institution Museum on Main Street Exhibit

Sponsored by the West Virginia Humanities Council

Hosted by Hardy County Schools and Hardy County Convention & Visitors Bureau

Traveling throughout the country until 2024, Crossroads will be exhibited in seven locations in WV with Moorefield High School in Hardy County being the first site.

The exhibition’s theme, change in rural America, explores the significance and uniqueness of “rural”, “land”, “sense of place”, and their multiple interpretations; how historical, economic, and cultural change is managed and understood; ways that quality of life is preserved and enhanced; and consideration of rural America’s role in maintaining the nation’s food supply and resources.

Participation by communities is integral to the Crossroads project and there will be exhibitions, tours, and demonstrations, as well as a weekly series of articles in the Moorefield Examiner, taking place throughout the month of September. Agricultural history, traditions, and new practices; the adaptive reuse of historical structures; the archiving and identifying of images of people and places; changes in traditional craft practices; and the challenges of land use and protection were some of the areas chosen for exploration by the various community groups.

The projects are interrelated having in common the need to preserve our sense of place. Defined by our history, traditions, rituals, and stories, that sense of place, significant to all of us, was explored, scrutinized, and protected, and encourages a better awareness of this place we call home.