Smithsonian traveling exhibit on rural America in Pontotoc through June 8

PONTOTOC — A traveling exhibition curated by the Smithsonian and produced in collaboration with state and local civic leaders that showcases life in rural America is now open in Pontotoc.

Hosted inside the Community House at 144 N. Main Street, the exhibit is open six days a week and will be displayed through June 8.

The Smithsonian Institution is the world’s largest museum, education and research complex. It’s permanently headquartered in Washington, D.C. and, as the keeper of the nation’s, and much of the world’s, most significant achievements, welcomes millions of visitors each year.

But by bringing a traveling exhibit to stops around the country, the Smithsonian can more broadly share history and prompt ideas among people who can' make the journey to the nation's capital. The particular exhibit now stationed in Pontotoc is a consideration of life in rural America — of what it offers, of why people stay, and of why so many who leave ultimately return.

Bob McGee is president of the Pontotoc County Historical Society. He and his group worked with the Mississippi Humanities Council to bring the exhibition to Pontotoc. It is on its sixth and final stop in Mississippi. Previously, the exhibit has been displayed in West Point, Rolling Fork and other communities further afield.

“The folks at the Mississippi Humanities Council are super good people,” McGee said. “They coordinated this exhibit coming to Mississippi. We had to find a venue appropriate to host it, put together a number of local complementary programs to go along with it, then find volunteers to serve as docents. We were able to do all of that.”

McGee’s attachment to the community is an example of the ways of life the exhibit is here to contemplate.

McGee said he and his wife grew up in Northeast Mississippi, but moved away for decades. When they retired, they returned home to Pontotoc.

It's a story they share with many others.

"We really love being at home and I got deeply into the history of Pontotoc," McGee said. "Rambling through the historical society’s records, I found forms filled out by Pontotoc veterans of World War II. There were people from here who were at Pearl Harbor, people from here who were at the Japanese surrender, and people from here who were at every major battle and engagement in between. And that’s just the people who were willing to fill out the forms. The more I look, the more I find amazing stories of people from Pontotoc.”

Despite living elsewhere for 40 years, twice as long as he’d have lived in Pontotoc, McGee and his wife always considered the community home.

Throughout the 19th century, most Americans lived in rural communities. The transitions in ways and places of life that developed in the latter half of the last century would seem to have left behind a permanently changed landscape.

However, in many ways, that landscape was always a place of change. What hasn't changed are the more spiritual, less tangible aspects of life. Love of the land, a community spirit, persistence, commitment, family and personal relationships define “home” for people who may come to dwell elsewhere for decades.

The Smithsonian exhibit explores these traits and is presented together with a companion exhibit on the history of Pontotoc itself.

The exhibit in Pontotoc has already hosted hundreds of visitors. School groups, community organizations and individual guests alike have passed through. McGee and the historical society’s volunteers look forward to welcoming hundreds more.

Appropriately enough, it is located in Pontotoc’s Community House, a structure built as part of the Depression Era’s New Deal. Completed in 1935, the house is a Tudor style, stone-veneered building set somewhat back from the road. It is on the southeast corner of Main Street and East Oxford Street, which is Old Mississippi Highway 9. It is immediately north of Pontotoc Junior High School.

“It’s been a really good thing for the community,” McGee said. “The mayor (Bob Peeples) has been super supportive. He helped us unload the exhibit from the truck himself. That’s pretty far beyond his regular duties, but that’s just part of his commitment to the community and helpful spirit.”

Upcoming programs to be presented alongside the exhibition include:

* May 22, 6 p.m. — Stanley Wise, retired Extension Service agent, with a humorous and informative history of agriculture in the Pontotoc area.

* May 29, 6 p.m. — Pat Ezzell, official historian of the Tennessee Valley Authority, on introduction of electricity to the Pontotoc area.