Sheffield — More than 100 residents attended the opening of the “Crossroads: Change in Rural America” exhibit at the Bushnell-Sage Library on Sunday, March 26. The traveling exhibition is a part of the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street collection, a collaboration between the Smithsonian and various state humanities councils.
Each section of the exhibition examines elements of American rural identity, including its creation, culture, the adversities rural communities faced over the years, and its persistence through hard times. The exhibition includes photographs and artifacts, along with videos detailing the stories and history of rural life in America over the years.
“I am hopeful that people will walk through this exhibit and see themselves reflected in it,” Bushnell-Sage Library Director Deena Caswell said. “Because the population of rural America has gone from 60 percent to 17 percent of Americans over the years, I feel that it is very important that people take some time to understand rural life. Because of the population decrease, I feel like there are things that are stereotyped when it comes to rural areas. People are like ‘rural areas are backwoods and they are dying. Who would want to live there?’ To me, that’s not what I see, and that’s not what my neighbors see.”
Caswell, who moved up to Sheffield two years ago to work at the library, said that a common theme of the exhibit is resilience and perseverance. “It’s a theme that many of the people in the exhibit videos talk about,” Caswell said. “They talk about freedom, wanting room to spread their wings and to be able to explore. It prepares people to say that, if problems happen, we’re going to be the ones to solve them. If something is going to happen, it’s on us. I know that a lot of people in the Berkshires maybe feel like our state’s government tends to be biased towards the eastern part of the state. This is why we’re all used to coming together as communities to work together to solve our problems.”
“One of the purposes of this exhibit is to bring people in to make them think about the lives that we have in this rural area, and think about the changes that have happened over the years,” Library Trustee Martin Mitsoff said about the exhibit. Mitsoff moved to Sheffield 16 years ago and he said that the town has a great sense of community. “We’re very happy here in Sheffield, and both I and my wife are heavily involved in the community, volunteering in 100 different ways if we can,” Mitsoff said. “There have been so many changes in rural communities, and this exhibit explains the changes along with the prospects of hope that comes along with it.”
“During the pandemic, we had a lot of people move to Sheffield, Great Barrington, and other rural places,” Friends of the Library member Barbara Burns said. Burns has lived in Sheffield for over 30 years. “We want people who just came to this area to understand that our towns are rural communities, not places for second homes,” Burns said. “These are communities where people live and work on their farms. These are all people who work very hard.”
Residents from surrounding towns visited the library during the opening event, including Stockbridge residents Laura Dubester and Marie Raftery. “When it comes to rural areas, there’s this great sense of community, natural beauty, and values,” Dubester said. Dubester has lived in Stockbridge since 2005 but she previously lived in Housatonic. “I think my sense is I have a Berkshire identity,” she explained. “I think people can move from town to town in the Berkshires, but they can really feel the Berkshires identity strongly and then bring their experiences from other towns to where they’re living.”
“I love living in a rural area,” Raftery said. “I have lived in Stockbridge for over 57 years now. You learn to do things with your family. My children grew up there. You go through the schools, we went to church, we’re involved in town government. You know, it’s just what to do.”
The exhibit will be at the library until Saturday, May 6. The library is located at 48 Main Street; for more information about the library, including its operating hours, go to its website.
In connection with the exhibit, several free events will be held in late March, April, and early May. “Growls, Hoots, and Silence: The Wild Animals of Sheffield” will be held on March 31 at 7 p.m. at Dewey Hall. “Ashley Falls: A History Through Stories” will take place at the Trinity Methodist Church in Ashley Falls on April 3 at 7 p.m. A juried art show entitled “Rural Berkshires: Always Adapting” will be held at Dewey Memorial Hall from April 14 to April 28. In mid and late-April, Dewey Hall will be holding a Sunday afternoon series looking at the history of healthcare in town and through South Berkshire County. The series will be held on April 16, April 23, and April 30 at 3 p.m. “Creating Community in Sheffield: A Community Conversation” will be held at Dewey Hall on April 20 at 7 p.m. “Sheffield: Through a Generational Lens” will be held on April 27 at 7 p.m. in the Old Parish Church. Finally, “The Natural (and Human) History of Sheffield” will be held at the Greenagers barn on May 6 at 2 p.m.
