As the birthplace of the Civil War, Kansas and Kansans would be interested. I know that we could easily find 6 communities willing to host this exhibit, yet I personally feel that we would probably want to delay the "Work" exhibit and do the Civil War exhibit in 2012. Our feeling at KHC is that the interest will be highest in the beginning and then will begin to wane after 2012 (mainly because Kansans feel their importance in the CW prior to the war, i.e. Bleeding Kansas). That being said, we also thought that the Homefront theme, albeit a different approach from the battlefront approach many will take over the next 5 years, will have a limited appeal to Kansans. What about an even broader theme of such as, "The Impacts of the Civil War?" The topics would be endless from rifles and photography, to railroads and land grant universities. Kansans could focus on the Homestead Act, Veteran settlers, and Exodusters, or the largest civilian massacre during the CW. Just our two cents, even though you didn't ask for it. :) Thank you for including humanities councils in this conversation. Dan Daniel Carey-Whalen Director of Programs Kansas Humanities Council 112 SW 6th Avenue, Suite 210 Topeka, KS 66603-3895 [log in to unmask] www.kansashumanities.org 785/357-0359 On Mar 1, 2010, at 3:44 PM, Harsh, Carol wrote: > 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) >