The Museum of Work & Culture, a division of the Rhode Island Historical Society, will host a free Smithsonian Traveling Trunk family activity on Wednesday, February 21 at 11 am.
Led by museum educators, Extra and Ordinary: Overlooked Stories of Extraordinary Women is a multimedia activity narrated by a fictional archivist tasked with researching for a new exhibit. Participants will delve into the archivist’s research – recreated letters, pictures, and objects from the Smithsonian collection – about twenty women living from 1785-2013 in the United States. Some of their stories are extraordinary, while others celebrate the strength of the everyday. This trunk gives learners the opportunity to consider why history remembers certain people and overlooks others. Through this trunk, learners will take into account the role of museums, archives, and exhibits in telling national stories and evaluate the impact of seeing a variety of stories in our nation’s museums.
Traveling Trunks is a new middle-school-level resource-lending program from the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. These multimedia library kits are packed with resources from across the Smithsonian Institution that deliver immersive experiences. This program is designed for students grades 8-12 or older elementary students with parental assistance.
Space is limited to 20 participants and early registration is strongly encouraged. Please register here.