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KENANSVILLE — The Cowan Museum of History and Science is making preparations to welcome a Smithsonian poster exhibition on Sept. 27 with a free, public opening catered reception from 5-7:30 p.m.
The event will allow community members to give their input on how the museum is doing, what programs and events they would like to see, enjoy dinner, and register to vote.
The exhibit, Choosing to Participate, is part of a national initiative designed to encourage dialogue on positive social change and will be on display at the museum through November.
“I thought it would be nice to tie it in with inviting the community to participate with the museum,” said Robin Grotke, Cowan Museum of History and Science director, explaining that Choosing to Participate is a Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service poster exhibit that deals with participating in one’s community, democracy, dialogue, how we choose to react to certain situations, etc.
“We have a very small staff, and we make the decisions about the exhibits, but I’d like the community to participate,” said Grotke, adding that the museum will have a voting booth at the reception where visitors can vote on what they would like to see at the museum and cast it into a suggestion box.
Grotke told Duplin Journal she would also like to develop the museum’s oral history collection highlighting local people and how their stories have molded the fabric of Duplin County.
Grotke and her staff welcome input on better representing the people shaping the community.
“We really want stories from the public and to build our collection with possible oral histories to go in with our exhibit panels and artifacts,” said Grotke. “I want a wide representation of the African-American community, our Spanish-speaking community, everybody.”
The museum has been diligently working on upgrades, which are part of a more extensive renovation and are on target for opening day.
“The last time we had an exhibit where this new one will go was in 2016,” said Grotke, explaining that they temporarily stored some oversized items that used to be part of the music exhibit. They are also painting it a new color.
“To tie in with the exhibit panels, I’m putting things on display that will compliment the subjects — and some artifacts have never been put on display yet,” Grotke told Duplin Journal. “We got this major transfer of property from the Duplin County Manager’s Office, which includes scrapbooks and a lot of photographs from the 1970s, like the Liberty Cart, the outdoor theater we used to have, and the Kenansville Amphitheater. We have material from two of the outdoor plays. We have things from the home demonstration groups and the Arts Council.”
The museum director shared that they included some extras, like the home demonstration groups and the Stanford School, hoping locals who visit the exhibit may recognize some of the photos and share their knowledge.
“We’re inviting the community to give their input and maybe share some memories or identify people in the photographs. … I think it’ll be fun for people to look at the pictures, because some of them are recent, like from the year 2000. Others are from the ’70s, ’50s. And then we have material related to Dovey Penny, the first woman commissioner in Duplin County — we have her scrapbooks,” she added.
Grotke said she is looking forward to the exhibit and hopes they get a lot of participation.
“The poster exhibit developed by the Smithsonian and Facing History and Ourselves are heavy subjects,” said Grotke. “As a history museum, it’s really important to us to accurately portray history, even if some of it’s painful, but that’s the way we grow and become a better society.”
The Cowan Museum is located at 411 S. Main Street in Kenansville. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and admission is free.
