Muhlenberg County Public Libraries is excited to announce the upcoming arrival of a traveling exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution.
The Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS), in cooperation with Kentucky Humanities, will bring Americans, an exhibit that explores the impact of American Indians on the culture of the United States, to Muhlenberg County this fall.
Kentucky Humanities selected seven sites to host Americans as part of the Museum on Main Street program — a national/state/local partnership to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations. The Smithsonian exhibit will make stops in Paducah, Greenville, Clinton, Henderson, Carrollton, Versailles and Ashland in 2025 and 2026. The exhibit will be on display at Muhlenberg County Public Libraries’ Thistle Cottage Oct. 4-Nov. 15.
“We could not be more excited to receive this exhibit,” Amie Waltrip, archivist at Thistle Cottage, said. “It’s really a great opportunity for our community, and we’re honored and proud to be a part of it.”
Library director Janet Harris added, “This gives our community the chance to view and learn from an exhibit that is relevant to all of us but that many may otherwise never be able to experience.”
American Indian images, names and stories infuse American history and contemporary life.
The images are everywhere, from the Land O’Lakes butter maiden to the Cleveland Indians’ mascot, from classic Westerns and cartoons to episodes of Seinfeld and South Park. American Indian names are everywhere, too, from state, city and street names to the Tomahawk missile. Americans highlights the ways in which American Indians have been part of the nation’s identity since before the country began. Familiar historical events of Pocahontas’s life, the Trail of Tears and the Battle of Little Bighorn continue to speak to the imagination of many. Still, despite the prevalence of these cultural icons, American Indians can sometimes seem absent from everyday modern American life. Pervasive and powerful but at times demeaning, the images, names and stories reveal the deep connection between Americans and American Indians, as well as how American Indians have been embedded in unexpected ways in the history, pop culture and identity of the United States.
The Americans exhibit pulls materials from the Smithsonian’s vast collection to surround visitors with images and objects from popular culture and delves into the historical intersections between Native American culture and that of the European settlers they interacted with. It invites visitors to explore this complicated history and to share local stories about Native American history and culture.
This is not the first MoMS exhibit to visit Kentucky – or Thistle Cottage – as part of Kentucky Humanities’ programs. Muhlenberg County Public Libraries hosted Hometown Teams, an exhibit about the impact and popularity of local sports, in 2018.
Harris said, “Hometown Teams was a really great experience with wonderful response from our community, and we hope Americans will be just as beneficial.”
“We are always eager to bring Smithsonian traveling exhibits to Kentucky,” said Bill Goodman, Executive Director of Kentucky Humanities. “Americans is an extraordinary exhibit that will bring community members of all ages together to discover and discuss the American Indian stories of their community and those of communities throughout the Commonwealth.”
Designed for small-town museums, libraries and cultural organizations, Americans will provide a great opportunity for host organizations to explore how the history of American Indians in their areas are incorporated into local stories. With the support and guidance of Kentucky Humanities, each site will develop complementary exhibits, host public programs and facilitate educational initiatives designed to raise people’s understanding about their own history and the places they call home.
Muhlenberg County will be the second stop on the exhibit’s tour of Kentucky. The full schedule follows:
- 23, 2025 – Sept. 27, 2025 at the River Discovery Center, Paducah
- 4, 2025 – Nov. 15, 2025 at Muhlenberg County Public Libraries’ Thistle Cottage, Greenville
- 22, 2025 – Jan. 3, 2026 at the Hickman County Memorial Library, Clinton
- 10, 2026 – Feb. 21, 2026 at the Henderson County Public Library, Henderson
- 28, 2026 – Apr. 11, 2026 at the Carroll County Public Library, Carrollton
- 18, 2026 – May 23, 2026 at the Woodford County Library, Versailles
- May 30, 2026 – July 5, 2026 at the Highlands Museum & Discovery Center, Ashland
The exhibition is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation and local host institutions. Visit www.museumonmainstreet.org to learn more about Americans and other Museum on Main Street exhibitions.
Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the U.S. Congress, Kentucky Humanities and the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet.
