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Web posted
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Newkirk businesses will host exhibit
Newkirk and the surrounding community has been chosen by the Oklahoma Humanities Council to host Journey Stories as part of the Museum on Main Street Project -- a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations.
The exhibition will tour six communities in Oklahoma from June 2009 through April 2010 and appear for six weeks in each location.
Journey Stories is an exhibit fabricated by the Smithsonian Institution that examines the human drive for freedom. The story is diverse and focuses on 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.
Journey Stories will use engaging images with audio and artifacts to tell the individual stories that illustrate the critical roles travel and movement have played in building our diverse American society. Communities are encouraged to tell their own special journey story through exhibits and other public programming thus customizing the national theme to Oklahoma's unique history.
Journey Stories is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host institutions. To learn more about Journey Stories and other Museum on Main Street Exhibitions, visit www.museumonmainstreet.org.
Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Hearst Foundation.
SITES connects millions of Americans with their shared cultural heritage through a wide range of art, science and history exhibitions. The Oklahoma Humanities Council delivers educational resources and cultural programming to communities across the state.
The three local organizations each serve Newkirk in their own unique way. Newkirk Main Street's mission is to "Encourage the community of Newkirk to preserve and promote their heritage and stimulate the economy of Newkirk.
The historical society's mission statement is "to preserve photographs, pamphlets, stories, memorabilia, oral histories and articles of historical interest displaying them in a manner to educate the general public and to actively encourage the preservation of Newkirk's historic buildings and homes."
In conjunction with hosting Journey Stories, the three organizations plan to research and develop local Journey Stories.
Topics may include the Land Run, African American population, Native Americans, the Arkansas River and other waterways, Santa Fe Railroad, Oil Industry and Highway 77.
It is important that citizens understand the rich heritage of Newkirk and how our heritage ties in with the nation as a whole --that what happens in Newkirk is of national significance.
As Rev. Hollifield has stated, '"We are built on the stones and foundation of the past."
Many local businesses and organizations have pledged their support for this project.
To learn more about the Smithsonian exhibit visit www.sites.si.edu and www.okhumanitiescouncil.org.
Newkirk Main Street and the Newkirk Community Historical Society can be reached at newkirkms@hotmail.com or 580/362-2377.
The Newkirk Public Library can be reached at (580) 362-3934 or visit their web site www.newkirkpl.okpls.org.
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