Smithsonian
to Unveil New Transportation Exhibit
 |
| Steam
locomotive Jupiter, 1876, featured at new exhibit |
The
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History has announced
a complete renovation of its transportation hall with an installation
of a major new exhibition, "America on the Move," scheduled
to open on Nov. 19, 2003. The exhibition will provide a multi-media
educational experience on the role transportation played in the
nation's development.
"America
on the Move" will encompass nearly 26,000 square feet on
the first floor of the museum, taking the place of former
exhibitions in the old Road Transportation, Railroad, and Civil
Engineering Halls. The show will have approximately 300 objects.
"Mobility
is the defining experience in American life. This
exhibition will allow the Smithsonian for the first time ever
to
present its extraordinary transportation collections in an
historical context. "America on the Move" is destined
to be one of
our most visited exhibitions and we are thrilled with the support
from Congress and corporations, foundations and associations that
is making this presentation possible," said Brent D. Glass,
director of the museum.
In
recognition of General Motors' support, the hall is named the
General Motors Hall of Transportation and will include two exhibitions,
"America on the Move" and a companion exhibition, "On
the Water: Stories from Maritime America," to open at a later
date.
"America
on the Move" will transport visitors back in time and
immerse them in the sights, sounds, and sensations of transportation
in the U.S. from 1876 to the present. Organized
chronologically, the exhibition will use more than a dozen vignettes
to showcase the Smithsonian's popular transportation collections
in historic settings. Among the historical moments explored are
the coming of the railroad to a California town in 1876, the role
of the streetcar and the automobile in creating suburbs outside
of cities, and the transformation of a U.S. port with the introduction
of containerized shipping in the 1960s.
As
they travel through the show, visitors will be able to see large
and impressive objects, including a Chicago Transit Authority
"L" car, a 92-foot Southern Railway locomotive and an
actual piece
of the famed Route 66.
The
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is located in
Washington, D.C., on the National Mall, 14th Street and Constitution
Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. Click here
for more information.
(Source:
Smithsonian's
National Museum of American History)
|
