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Born of Rebellion: A Statehood Exhibit ...
is taking a rest!Our traveling exhibit about the constitutionality of the creation of the state of West Virginia will be given a well-deserved rest. Since debuting at the Humanities Council headquarters in June of 2005 the display has been on the road with not a moment of “down time.” The exhibit has been displayed in 25 venues from Morgantown to Williamson and Shepherdstown to Huntington and has been seen by thousands of people.
Plans call for Born of Rebellion to again be available in March, 2008 after being on display at the Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia in Beckley the first part of the year.The Humanities Council opted to have the exhibit designed as a class project by West Virginia University graphic design students of professor Eve Faulkes. This creative collaboration enabled the exhibit to serve as an educational experience for the sixteen WVU students who researched and created the visual design of the exhibit as well as for the public who will view the exhibit as it travels. The students also conceived the name BORN OF REBELLION: West Virginia Statehood for the exhibit. The Humanities Council developed the historical content for the exhibit with assistance from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and a team of state historians and scholars.
The exhibit was created with the generous financial support of Columbia Gas Transmission, a NiSource Company, and the We the People program of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
BORN OF REBELLION consists of three 8' tall x 7' long panels that form a large triangle, a separate triangular kiosk with 8'x2' panels, and a triangular 6'x2' introductory kiosk. The 8'x7' panels are designed to be set up to form a triangle but may also be set up separately if necessary. The exhibit frame is lightweight and collapses down to fit into three wheeled crates. The graphics travel in a separate case much like a golf bag and are unrolled to fasten over the frames.
The statehood story is organized into four sections - Divergence, Civil War, Birth of West Virginia, and Statehood. The question of whether or not the separation of West Virginia from Virginia complied with the US Constitution requirement of consent of the original state continues to be one of interest. Viewers of the exhibit have the opportunity to vote on the issue themselves!
Contact Program Officer Mark Payne for information about displaying BORN OF REBELLION in your community.
