From Wisconsin:

I had a quick chat with folks here today at our staff meeting. The general sense was that the topic would not be a huge draw in our state. While we noted that there are some very interesting connections (the UW-Badger stadium was used as a training camp; Milwaukee's economy was built during the Civil War...) it would take a lot of advance education to prime the pump in smaller, rural communities as to how to really connect to a larger, national exhibition about the Civil War. So, I think if some of the earlier suggestions on the list lead to an exhibition that is more about the social history of the era, that might be of more interest, but most likely it would not be an exhibition that the WHC would tour.

Thanks for asking,
Jessica

Jessica Becker
Senior Program Officer
Wisconsin Humanities Council
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608-263-3155

----- Original Message -----
From: "Harsh, Carol" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Monday, March 1, 2010 3:44 pm
Subject: New MoMS exhibition ideas
To: [log in to unmask]


> Dear MoMS family and friends,
> 
> We are exploring some ideas for the next MoMS exhibition and want to 
> get some quick feedback in preparation for a meeting on March 17 with 
> some curators at the National Museum of American History and the 
> National Portrait Gallery.
> 
> There was a lot of talk at the Federation Conference about the 
> upcoming 150th anniversary of the Civil War.  We are exploring the 
> possibility of developing an exhibition on the Civil War Homefront.  
> This is something that we discussed with quite a few folks at the 
> conference and heard resounding support.   Since you have hosted MoMS 
> exhibitions in the past you have a good feel for potential interest 
> among the host communities, so we are interested in knowing your 
> reaction to this idea, too.
> 
> So, I have three questions:
> 
> 
> (1)    Are you interested in a MoMS exhibition centered on the 
> homefront during the Civil War?
> 
> (2)    If we were to do such an exhibition is it crucial that it open 
> in the anniversary year-2011;  or could it open later, maybe Fall 2012 
> or Spring 2013?
> 
> (3)    Do you think programs about the Civil War would only be popular 
> in the anniversary years from 2011 to 2015, or is there generally an 
> interest in the topic?
> 
> We have been hearing about a lot of programming planned around the 
> anniversary year.  Please let us know at your earliest convenience if 
> you think your council would be interested in hosting a MoMS 
> exhibition on the subject.
> 
> All the best,
> 
> Carol
> 
> Carol G. Harsh
> Director, Museum on Main Street
> Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
> P.O. Box 37012, MRC 941
> Washington, DC  20013-7012
> 202-633-5333
> 202-465-5267 (cell)
>