This article originally appeared in The Bureau County Republican
PRINCETON — While area residents are focusing on Christmas and other holiday activities, the staff of the Princeton Public Library also has Christmas on their minds.
The Christmas of 2012 … that is.
The library has learned it was one of six organizations in Illinois to be awarded the Journeys Stories exhibition from the Smithsonian Institution for Nov. 17 – Dec. 29, 2012.
“I am excited and especially that we will be hosting the exhibit over the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year holidays,” said library curator Margaret Martinkus. “It’s a perfect fit for Princeton and all the happenings during this time of year. Hopefully next year, stopping in to see the new Journeys exhibit or attending some of the programs, will be part of the holiday preview weekend.”
In March 2009, the library hosted the Between Fences traveling exhibit through a partnership with the Smithsonian Institution and the Illinois Humanities Council.
The Journey Stories will examine the roles that travel and movement have played in building the diverse American society, tales of how Americans and their ancestors came to America, and the intersection between modes of travel and Americans’ desire to feel free to move. America’s transportation history is more than trains, boats, buses, cars, wagons and trucks.
The story is diverse and focused on immigration, migration, innovation and freedom. It is accounts of immigrants coming in search of promise in a new country; stories of individuals and families relocating in search of fortune, their own homestead, or employment; the harrowing journeys of Africans and Native Americans forced to move; and of course, fun and frolic on the open road.
Martinkus said one wonderful part of being chosen for this is that it gives the library a chance to partner and collaborate with other organizations in the community such as the historical society, the genealogy society and the schools.
“We have already begun planning the events that will be held during this six-week period,” Martinkus said. “We will begin our publicity after we form our steering committees, docents, etc. — and this will be most likely in the late spring.”