SYCAMORE – The Smithsonian is coming to Sycamore.
The Sycamore History Museum, along with five other locations in Illinois, recently was selected to host “Crossroads: Change in Rural America,” a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, in 2019.
That far-off date seems a lot closer when the museum has to train and plan for it, as well as collaborate with a companion exhibit in the intervening months.
“It is absolutely a big deal,” museum Executive Director Michelle Donahoe said.
Illinois Humanities recently announced the sites where the traveling exhibit will be shown.
Sycamore will be its final destination in Illinois.
The Sycamore History Museum will host the display from May 11 to June 22, 2019.
The Sycamore museum won’t be flying solo on the exhibit, however, and that’s one of the reasons for the year-and-a-half lead time.
Donahoe said she went to a training session in Edwardsville with other museum directors from the area to learn about “Crossroads” and how to exhibit it.
“It’s a chance for us to work together,” she said. “To do it right takes a long time.”
She said a lot of the other area museums don’t have paid staff, and the volunteers work in their spare time.
Donahoe said the exhibit will ask the question “What is the future of rural America?” She said she thinks it will lead to interesting questions and discussions, including defining “rural America.”
It’s a subjective question, Donahoe said. People from the city might see DeKalb and Sycamore as a rural area, but people from downstate, farther from a major metropolis, could view DeKalb County as suburban and fast-paced.
She said there are things in DeKalb County that are part of history, even if people don’t think of them as such. The wineries and distilleries in the area are part of a tradition going back to when the land was settled.
“People don’t think of that stuff when they think of history,” Donahoe said.
What can people expect with a traveling exhibit?
“It is a Smithsonian exhibit,” Donahoe said. “It will be professional looking.”
She said it will include interactive displays, but because it is a traveling exhibit, none of the artifacts will be real – they’ll be reproductions.
For the local companion exhibit, Donahoe said the museum will begin putting out the call for local artifacts that could be included. While “Crossroads” will be on display for six weeks, the companion piece will be up for a year. She said the museum also will need to put out a call for volunteers.
The practical lessons learned by the local museums help for even longer. Training for the Smithsonian exhibit include learning about publicity, exhibiting and fundraising.
“That’s the real treasure,” Donahoe said.