Hello Everyone,

Here's my two cents' worth regarding exhibition ideas for the MoMS
program.  As Gregory suggested, I believe too that an exhibit showing
immigration patterns and their effects would be an ideal way of showing
what contributions immigrants have made at every level (national, state
and local) of American life, as well as some of the problems and
tensions created by immigration.   It's not just a cliche, but the U.S.
really IS a nation of immigrants, from well before the recorded history
right up to the present day.  Everywhere we look we can see the traces
of each wave of immigration, and each and every region could have its
own part of the story.  And the exhibit could refer back to the origins
of each immigrant group and the reasons for their leaving, whether it be
forced or voluntary, or for economic, religious or political reasons.
Until recently, the immigrant story has centered on successive waves of
Europeans coming through Ellis Island, but the most dramatic new wave,
as you know, is coming up from the south, from Mexico and Central
America, not to mention less publicized movements of people from Africa
and Asia.  Of course, the saga really began with America's native
peoples crossing the land bridge from Asia in ancient times.  This would
be a very ambitious undertaking, but maybe it could be broken down into
more manageable parts.

Somewhat related and maybe not as contentious, but really more about
internal migration in the United States, could be an exhibit called
"Ghost Towns", communities that have been bypassed by "progress",  towns
where the mine closed or the military base shut down or were forgotten
by the railroad or the superhighway.  Did they just dry up and blow
away?  Or did they come up with some creative or enterprising response?
This kind of exhibit could be not only of historical interest, but might
have some useful lessons for today.

I very much like the idea too of the American Workday for an exhibit
that could include the history of organized labor from its inception to
how they operate today and the impact they have had on the workplace.

Ciao!

K. Michelle Quisenberry
New Mexico Humanities Council
Program Officer