Meet Hometown Teams at Smithsonian’s Traveling Exhibition
See how sports shape America at Georgetown/Scott County Museum
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GEORGETOWN, KY – NOVEMBER 1, 2018 – The Smithsonian’s Hometown Teams traveling exhibition comes to the Georgetown & Scott County Museum Nov. 17 through Dec. 27, 2018. A Grand Opening will take place on Nov. 17 and two programs featuring special guests are scheduled for mid-December. The exhibit examines the many roles sports play in American society and how they shape our lives, unite us and celebrate who we are as Americans. It will examine sports on both a national and local level.
“Our Georgetown & Scott County Museum has as its mission to preserve local history,” said Museum Director Mary Ruth Stevens. “We saw this exhibit as an avenue to highlight the many accomplishments made by so many different Scott County citizens throughout the years.”
Exhibit welcomes special guests
The Grand Opening, 1-4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, welcomes Scott County Judge Executive George Lusby, a long-time coach and sports official, as well as area sports teams and coaches.
James. W. Miller, author of Integrated: The Lincoln Institute, Basketball, and a Vanished Tradition, will discuss the effects of integration on African American schools at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13. One week later, on Dec. 20, Adolph Rupp, portrayed by Kentucky Chautauqua presenter and Georgetown College professor Dr. Edward Smith, will arrive at the museum for a 7 p.m. program.
Hometown highlights
From pick-up games to organized leagues, millions of Americans of all ages play sports. And, when not playing, they’re watching sports, sitting in the stands and rooting for the local high school team or gathering on the sidelines and cheering on sons and daughters as they take their first swing or score their first goal.
In keeping with the spirit of the exhibit, the Georgetown & Scott County Museum will look at sports at Scott County’s high schools from as far back as the 1920s and 1930s. Memorabilia includes athletic jerseys and jackets, photographs of early area sports teams, particularly basketball and football teams, and the history relating to the schools.
Additionally, the museum will celebrate one of its most famous sports headliners – the late Archie Burchfield, a legendary croquet player from Stamping Ground who won numerous state and national titles as well as the title of world champion croquet player. The Kentucky Croquet Hall of Famer and Croquet Foundation of America Hall of Famer was the subject of numerous articles is such high-profile publications as People Magazine, the New Yorker, Sports Illustrated and Connoisseur and appeared on the “Pat Sajak Show,” “On the Road Again” with Charles Kuralt, “Lifestyle on Sports” and “Portrait of America.”
Thanks to a never-ending appetite for competition and games, Americans now have a wider selection of sports to play and watch than ever before. The Smithsonian’s Hometown Teams traveling exhibition celebrates this “sports revolution” that has occurred in our hometowns.
For more information about the Georgetown & Scott County Museum, visit www.georgetownscottcountymuseum.com. Learn more about this exhibit at www.museumonmainstreet.org/content/hometown-teams. Interview Mary Ruth Stevens, director at the Georgetown & Scott County Museum: 502-542-0663 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Hometown Teams has been made possible at the Georgetown & Scott County Museum by the Kentucky Humanities Council. Hometown Teams is part of Museum on Main Street, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institute and State Humanities Councils nationwide. Support for Museum on Main Street has been provided by the United States Congress.
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