Around the U.S. this summer, people will get a chance to learn how the American worker shaped our country and our communities.

Co-Lin was one of two community colleges in Mississippi to have secured the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition, “The Way We Worked,” which documents the way American culture was influenced by the wheels of industry.

The application process for the exhibit was a competitive process that was reviewed by the Mississippi Humanities Council with only a small number of sites being selected statewide. Pam Reid, chairperson of the Co-Lin Humanities Division and Dr. Jeff Posey, director of Institutional Planning and Research, applied for the exhibit and have co-directed the exhibit in addition to their regular duties.

Kendall Chapman, library director, and David Higgs, chairperson of the Social Science Division of the college, also played a key role in the exhibit.

Chapman assisted in the creation of a local exhibit of photographs, artwork, old newspapers and other memorabilia in a local exhibit alongside the Smithsonian exhibit, “Wesson – from Mill Town to College Town” which showcases the history of Wesson from the era of the Mississippi mills of the late 1800s and the 100-year history of Copiah-Lincoln Community College, which had roots in 1914 as Copiah-Lincoln Agricultural High School, which later became Copiah-Lincoln Community College in 1928.

Higgs was instrumental in working with several museums in the college district to create informational posters that showcased the history of those neighboring communities as related to work.

Visitors at the exhibit can tour the Smithsonian exhibit, watch a locally created slide presentation on the history of Wesson, view the artifacts and photo collections in the local exhibit and view the contributions of seven local museums.

The exhibit in the college’s art gallery in the Mutton Building opened April 3. It will be open Monday through Friday, May 9, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m.

Reid and Posey said they both did a lot of preparation over the summer for the exhibit.

“We’re excited about having gathered all of this information into one place,” Reid said. “And, what’s great is that everything has been photographed and documented and digitized.”

She said that the exhibit is about the variety and diversity of U.S. workers and communities at work. Many communities are identified by their industries, she explained.

Reid said that over the summer the college maintenance staff completely reworked the college art gallery in preparation for the exhibit and other upcoming art shows.

Reid said that Wesson’s 150th anniversary and a look into the community’s history of going from a mill town to a college town is a large part of the exhibition.

“As the mill industry began to fade over the years,” she said, “and things became automated, the college grew and developed and became a centerpiece of Wesson’s local economy.”

Posey explained how the Smithsonian required that a local exhibit be prepared in conjunction with the main exhibit, and the mill town history of Wesson fit perfectly into that framework.

Posey showed a large rare photograph that had never been seen before by students or members of the campus community that shows hundreds of employees standing on the front steps of the mill and all of the child labor who also worked for the mill. “This photograph provides the viewer a rare glimpse into mill town life in the late 1800s,” Posey added.

Reid and Posey both stated how much interest the historic mill photo had obtained from the hundreds of school children who have already toured the exhibit. Also receiving much interest have been the artifacts such as old typewriters, old mill spindles, telephones, blacksmithing tools, milk cans, butter churns and other objects of days gone by.

“Children were amazed by the fact that they were often used as child labor at the time because they had small hands which allowed them to easily reach in and fix the machines, making it not uncommon for them to lose a finger or a limb.”

For more information scheduling group tours of over 10 people, contact Dr. Jeff Posey at 601-643-8411 or jeff.posey@colin.edu. Groups of 10 or less are welcome to visit anytime the exhibit is open without calling ahead.

This exhibit is funded through the Mississippi Humanities Council under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views expressed in the exhibit do not necessarily represent those of the Mississippi Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.