Maryland Humanities Tour of Smithsonian Exhibition Travels to Mid-Shore Maryland

Crossroads travels the state through Maryland Humanities’ Museum on Main Street program

(Baltimore, MD) – Crossroads: Change in Rural America, a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition, is opens at St. Paul’s Church in Oxford, MD through December 16. The church serves as the second venue of a five-stop tour of the state, presented through Maryland Humanities’ Museum on Main Street program. The Oxford Museum partners with Maryland Humanities for the second Maryland stop.

Each Crossroads partner creates its own exhibit to complement the Smithsonian’s exhibition. The Oxford Museum’s companion exhibit, Rooted in the Land: A Tribute to Eastern Shore Farmers, features portraits by Harford County photographer Edwin Remsberg. With his photographs, Remsberg pays tribute to today’s Eastern Shore farmers, who raise crops, steward the land, and preserve 400-year-old agricultural traditions. The companion exhibit opened this summer and continues through November.

“Crossroads will be the second MoMS exhibit hosted by the Oxford Museum,” says Exhibit Curator Stuart Parnes. “We look forward to building on the success we found working with local and regional partners for Water/Ways in 2020.  Crossroads will now help us share land-based stories of the past and rapidly changing present of rural life on the Eastern Shore.”    

Crossroads is the eighth Museum on Main Street project that Maryland Humanities has brought to small communities throughout the state. Each site hosts the exhibition for five to six weeks and develops a complementary exhibit highlighting their community’s heritage and histories.

“We are looking forward to the next iteration of Museums on Main Street, an invaluable tool for Maryland organizations,” says Lindsey Baker, executive director of Maryland Humanities. “We are so thankful to bring another tour around the state, because the program has a wide-reaching and long-lasting impact on the partner organizations and their communities.”

Crossroads programming is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the State of Maryland, and BGE. Maryland Public Television is the tour’s Media Sponsor. The Oxford Museum’s partners include Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, Oxford Community Center, Talbot County Free Library, and Talbot Historical Society.

Crossroads runs at The Oxford Museum at St Paul’s Pilgrim Holiness Church October 29–December 16, 2022. The church is located at 225 S. Morris Street in Oxford. The exhibition will be on view Fridays through Mondays, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Learn more here and contact (410) 226-1091 or TheOxfordMuseum@gmail.com for further information.    

Tour Schedule:

September 8, 2022–October 14, 2022	Farm Heritage Conservancy at Serenity Farm, Benedict, Charles County
October 29, 2022–December 16, 2022	Oxford Museum at St. Paul’s Church, Oxford, Talbot County
January 7, 2023–February 17, 2023	Western Maryland Heritage Association at Allegany Museum, Cumberland, Allegany County
March 4, 2023–April 14, 2023	Rose Hill Manor Park and Museums, Frederick, Frederick County
April 22, 2023–May 31, 2023	Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area at Kent Cultural Alliance, Chestertown, Kent County

About Crossroads
In 1900, about 40% of Americans lived in rural areas. By 2010, less than 18% of the U.S. population lived in rural areas. In just over a century, massive economic and social changes led to massive growth of America’s urban areas. Yet, less than 10% of the U.S. landmass is considered urban.

Many Americans assume that rural communities are endangered and hanging on by a thread—suffering from outmigration, ailing schools, and overused land. But that perception is far from true in many areas. Many rural Americans work hard to sustain their communities.

Despite the massive economic and demographic impacts brought on by changes, America’s small towns continue to creatively focus on new opportunities for growth and development. Economic innovation and a focus on the cultural facets that make small towns unique, comfortable, and desirable have helped many communities create their own renaissance. The future is bright for much of rural America as small towns embrace the notion that their citizens and their cultural uniqueness are important assets.

About Museum on Main Street
Museum on Main Street (MoMS) is a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service program that teams up with state humanities councils to bring high-quality Smithsonian traveling exhibitions to museums, historical societies, and other small-town cultural venues across the country. These exhibits boost civic pride, as residents young and old, from diverse backgrounds come together to share and celebrate their heritage.