Press Release

ILLINOIS HUMANITIES COUNCIL BRINGS “JOURNEY STORIES” TO MONMOUTH JANUARY 30 THROUGH MARCH 14

Smithsonian exhibition explores importance of journeys in U.S. history

 CHICAGO – The Illinois Humanities Council announces the final state opening of “Journey Stories,” a traveling exhibition of the world-renowned Smithsonian Institution, at the Buchanan Center for the Arts (64 Public Sq., Hampton). The exhibition will run from January 30, 2010 through March 14, 2010. Viewing hours are 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

The grand opening festivities will be on Saturday, January 30th, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., beginning with an opening keynote by William Withuhn, Curator of the Division of Work and Industry at the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.. Dr Dennis Cremin, State Scholar for Journey Stories and Associate Professor of History at Lewis University, will be on hand to provide comments.  The exhibition will be open for viewing at the conclusion of the program.

This program will be free and open to the public. For more information please contact Susan Twomey at 309.755.8398.

ABOUT “JOURNEY STORIES” 

“Journey Stories” tells how we and our ancestors came to America.  From Native Americans to new American citizens and regardless of our ethnic or racial background, everyone has a story to tell. Our history is filled with stories of people leaving behind everything – families and possessions – to reach a new life in another state, across the continent, or even across an ocean. Many chose to move, searching for something better in a new land. Others had no choice, like enslaved Africans captured and relocated to a strange land and bravely asserting their own cultures, or like Native Americans already here, who were often violently removed by newcomers.

 “Journey Stories” is part of the Illinois Humanities Council’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program, a partnership between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and state humanities councils nationwide. MoMS serves museums, libraries, and historical societies in towns of fewer than 30,000 residents by bringing them Smithsonian-quality exhibitions.  For more information about MoMS, call Ryan Lewis at 312.422.5585 x231 or visit www.prairie.org/moms.  

 

The Illinois Humanities Council is a nonprofit educational organization [501 (c) 3] dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Organized in 1973 as the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the IHC creates programs and funds organizations that promote greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by all Illinoisans, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location. The IHC is supported by state, federal, and private funds.

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