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Exhibition Program

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Exhibitions:

Curious? Take a Look

Take a look and find something new. Explore this selection of remarkable materials and the exhibitions that feature them.
Follow where your curiosity leads you!

  • A photograph of a woman next to a magazine cover

    Ma Kiley Works the Line, 2001

    In 1950, Railroad Magazine published a four-part series entitled "The Bug and I," an autobiographical account of Mattie Collins Brite, known as "Ma Kiley." Born in 1880, in Atacosa County, Texas, Ma Kiley worked as a telegraph operator for 40 years in remote locales that ranged from northern Mexico to Saskatchewan, Canada. Featured in the exhibition The Once and Future Web: Worlds Woven by the Telegraph and Internet, "The Bug and I" told the story of Ma Kiley's life in telegraphy-her joys and hardships as a "boomer."

  • Photograph of a man with white hair and a long white beard

    Samuel F. B. Morse: In His Own Words, 2001

    The American painter and inventor Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872) is credited with designing and developing the first electromagnetic telegraph system. Morse conceived the idea for a telegraph in 1832, but faced many challenges before he was able to transmit his first message in 1844. This audio recording featured in the exhibition The Once and Future Web: Worlds Woven by the Telegraph and Internet captures Morse's words, read from various letters and diaries describing his journey.

  • Dr. Jack Geiger

    Jack Geiger: Campaigning for Change, 2008

    Jack Geiger, MD, M.Sci.Hyg. is a well-respected physician and activist who has devoted most of his professional career to health care, human rights, and efforts to alleviate poverty. Dr. Geiger's established an innovative, community health center in Mound Bayou, Mississippi during the 1960s, whose story is featured in the exhibition Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health. In this audio recording from the opening program for the exhibition, Dr. Geiger draws on a lifetime of experiences to encourage an audience of high school students that they can make a difference in their community by being an advocate for change.

  • Jeanne White-Ginder

    Jeanne White-Ginder: Speaking Out, 2008

    Since the loss of her son Ryan White to AIDS in 1990, Jeanne White-Ginder has become an advocate for people with HIV/AIDS. In this audio recording from the opening program for the exhibition, Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health, which featured a profile of Ryan and the discrimination he faced because of his illness, Ms. White-Ginder describes to an audience of high school students how her son's journey inspired her to take action.