The Rice County Historical Society/Coronado Quivira Museum has been selected to participate in a Smithsonian pilot project to develop a unique humanities-based exhibition about local work history. The project is a hands-on opportunity for local cultural professionals to learn about the exhibition development process used by the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street program.

The curatorial framework for the exhibition is provided by the Smithsonian and will be fleshed out by the Rice County Historical Society using local historical images, art and artifacts, video clips and oral histories. The resulting exhibition will reflect the strong history and culture of Rice County and central Kansas.

The completed exhibition will bring to light the who, what, where, why and how of Rice County and the area at work, and how it fits within the nation’s history. It explores the places Americans work and how work became such a central element in American culture by tracing the many changes that affected the workforce and work environments over the past 150 years.