Crossroads

The Smithsonian returns to Alabama! In 2023-2024, we're bringing Crossroads: Change in Rural America to five communities across the state. Learn more about the exhibit below and plan your visit!

NOTE: Crossroads is currently on display in Triana, February 15-April 12, 2024.

Get ready!
Crossroads in Alabama

The Smithsonian traveling exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America comes to Alabama in 2023-2024, thanks to a partnership between the Alabama Humanities Alliance and the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program.

Crossroads looks at the remarkable evolution in rural life over the past century — and explores how Americans have responded and adapted. The exhibition will prompt discussions about what happened when America’s rural population became a minority of the country’s population and the ripple effects that occurred.

Here in Alabama, five host communities will put Crossroads on display, complementing the national exhibit with local programming that highlights their own past — and future. 

 

Museum on Main Street

Museum on Main Street is part of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The program provides access to the Smithsonian for small-town American through traveling museum exhibitions, research, educational resources, and public programming.

Since 1997, the Alabama Humanities Alliance has partnered with the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street to bring 11 national exhibits to Alabama and to 57 communities across the state.

Crossroads Alabama tour dates

September 12 — October 25, 2023: Cleveland, Alabama 

 

November 4 — December 9, 2023: White Hall, Alabama 

 

December 18, 2023 — February 2, 2024: Roanoke, Alabama 

 

February 14 — April 12, 2024: Triana, Alabama 

 

April 17 — June 21, 2024: Ozark, Alabama 

Crossroads Tour Flyer

Considering Crossroads

A guide for the Smithsonian traveling exhibit touring Alabama across 2023-2024, Crossroads: Change in Rural America.

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Crossroads: An Alabama Bibliography

Books, multimedia, and other resources that provide context on rural Alabama's history, literature, folk traditions, and more. Compiled by Julia Brock, AHA's Crossroads project scholar and history faculty at the University of Alabama.

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Considering Crossroads

February 23, 2024: Join us for this one-day workshop in Triana, inspired by the Smithsonian traveling exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America. Tour included! Open to all, with stipends and professional development credits available for educators.

Register now