News Release

Congaree National Park and Friends of Congaree Swamp will co-host Smithsonian Water/Ways Exhibition

Smithsonian Museum on Main Street

News Release Date: November 10, 2020

Contact: Greg Cunningham, 803-647-3983

Hopkins, SC – Congaree National Park and Friends of Congaree Swamp will be co-hosting the Smithsonian traveling exhibit Water/Ways from Friday, November 13, 2020 through Wednesday, January 13, 2021. According to the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum on Main Street “Water/Ways exhibition dives into water—an essential component of life on our planet, environmentally, culturally, and historically.”

In 2019, the Southeast Rural Community Outreach (SERCO) hosted the traveling exhibit Crossroads: Change in Rural America at the Historic Harriet Barber House in Hopkins. Congaree National Park Superintendent K. Lynn Berry shares, “It is not often that a rural community gets the opportunity to host an exhibit from a world-class institution such as the Smithsonian, let alone two back-to-back. Water/Ways offers another wonderful opportunity for our neighbors in the Lower Richland Community.” President of Friends of Congaree Swamp John Grego adds, “Following up on SERCO’s success in sponsoring Crossroads at the Harriet Barber House last year, Friends of Congaree Swamp is excited to collaborate with Congaree National Park in bringing a second Smithsonian traveling exhibit to Lower Richland.”

Water/Ways has been made possible in South Carolina by South Carolina Humanities. The exhibition is part of Museum on Main Street, a unique collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), state humanities councils across the nation, and local host institutions. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the U.S. Congress. Support for the South Carolina tour of Water/Ways has been provided by Dominion Energy. Support for the display of the exhibit at Congaree National Park has been provided by Richland County Government Hospitality Tax Funds.

Visitors will be able to experience Water/Ways in the Harry Hampton Visitor Center Auditorium, located at 100 National Park Road, Hopkins, SC. Exhibit hours of operation and a schedule of special Water/Ways programs and activities can be found at www.nps.gov/cong/waterways.htm.

www.nps.gov

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