Our Work

Museum on Main Street

The Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program brings high quality traveling exhibitions and educational programs to rural audiences and small museums. As the Smithsonian’s partner in Louisiana, the LEH works with rural museums to leverage Museum on Main Street exhibitions, to build community capacity, and highlight meaningful local contributions to small town life.

Learn more about Museum on Main Street

Past Tours

2018–2019

Water/Ways

In Louisiana, we have a unique relationship with water. It is a natural resource and a threat, an inspiration to artists, and it grows the seafood we eat and provides shipping routes for businesses. Water has shaped the geography and history of our state. Water/Ways offers local communities a new opportunity to explore the myriad of ways that water affects our lives.

Tour sites:

The 2018–19 Water/Ways tour in Louisiana was made possible by a grant from the Walton Family Foundation.

2016–2017

Hometown Teams

Hometown Teams: How Sports Shape America captured the stories that unfolded on the neighborhood fields and courts, including the underdog heroics, larger-than-life legends, fierce rivalries, and gut-wrenching defeats that captivate players and audiences alike.

2013–2014

The Way We Worked

Adapted from an original exhibition developed by the National Archives, The Way We Worked explored how work became such a central element in American culture by tracing the many changes that affected the workforce and work environments over the previous 150 years.

Tour sites:

2011–2012

Journey Stories

The story of the intersection between transportation and American society is complicated, but it tells us much about who we are: people who see our societal mobility as a means for asserting our individual freedom. Journey Stories examined the intersection between modes of travel and Americans’ desire for freedom of movement.

2008–2009

New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music

American music is built upon the melding of different cultural groups and is a direct reflection of the country’s diversity. New Harmonies was an interactive exhibit that examined the ongoing cultural process that has made America the birthplace of more music than any other place on earth.

2006–2007

Key Ingredients: America by Food

Our recipes, menus, ceremonies, and etiquette are directly shaped by our country’s rich immigrant experience, the history and innovations of food preparation technology, and the ever-changing availability of key ingredients. Key Ingredients explored the connections between Americans and the foods they produce, prepare, preserve, and present at the table.

2004–2005

Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future

Yesterday’s Tomorrows explored the history of the future—our expectations and beliefs about things to come. From ray guns to robots, to nuclear-powered cars, to the Atom Bomb house, to predictions and inventions that went awry, Yesterday’s Tomorrows helped visitors understand the values and hopes Americans hold and have held about the years to come.

2001–2002

Produce for Victory: Posters on the American Home Front, 1941–45

Produce for Victory contained the best of the Smithsonian’s wartime images, collected by its curator of graphic arts during World War II. It traced the evolution of the poster as an art form that was key to mobilizing and maintaining stateside support, in human and natural resources, for the global battle overseas.