BENNETTSVILLE — Officials with the Marlboro County Museum recently announced that they’ve been selected to host another Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibit.
“Americans,” based on a major exhibition at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, DC, will be in Marlboro County at Murchison School October 10 – November 21, 2026.
“Americans” highlights the ways in which American Indians have been part of the nation’s identity since before the country began. It explores how deeply intertwined American Indians are in the culture of the United States. The images of Indians that Americans see daily, and the examples presented in this exhibition, offer a new way of understanding a few familiar events, including the story behind the Thanksgiving holiday, the legacy of Pocahontas, the Trail of Tears, and the Battle at Little Bighorn.
Together, these stories offer an optimistic and provocative way to understand American history and the American present. Like the ubiquitous images of Indians, they give us the power to see into the country’s deepest foundations and remind us that Indians are an integral part of American history, culture, and identity.
Officials said they were chosen by South Carolina Humanities 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 exhibition will tour six communities in South Carolina in 2026 and 2027.
Support for “Americans” is provided by the Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250, a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th. Signature support for Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250 has been provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.
About Museum on Main Street (MoMS)
MoMS is a collaboration of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service | Smithsonian Affiliations and state partner organizations. It serves museums, libraries and historical societies in rural areas, where about one-fifth of all Americans live. The partnership brings exhibitions, educational resources and programming to small towns across America. MoMS has visited all 50 U.S. states as well as Guam and inspired over 1,900 towns to rediscover their local histories while finding a renewed sense of community pride.
In towns across America-probably one near you-there’s a Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibition opening at a local museum, library or community center. Since 1994, Museum on Main Street (MoMS) exhibitions from the Smithsonian have been designed specifically for use in small museum settings and in rural communities.
Covering topics of broad national interest such as sports, food traditions, work history, among other themes, Museum on Main Street exhibitions are between 500 and 800 square feet in size, free-standing and include objects in cases, interactive components, and audio and video presentations. Supporting materials include marketing tools, lesson plans, and training manuals.
Museum on Main Street exhibitions are designed to be a spring board for local exhibitions and complementary humanities programming. Often, the visitor count to our exhibitions exceeds the population of the towns where they are on display. For example, in Jerome, Arizona (population 400), there were 2,800 people who visited the exhibition, or in Brimley, Mississippi, (population 1,214), nearly 8,500 attended exhibition events. In short, state humanities councils and area museums contribute their own considerable expertise and can-do spirit to make Museum on Main Street exhibitions a must-see destination in counties and communities across the U.S. and its territories.
Learn more at museumonmainstreet.org.