By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History opened its new exhibition, “From These Lands: Sharing Our Natural and Cultural Heritage” on Thursday, with Kentucky artifacts among those featured.
Stretching across 5,000 square feet, the exhibition invites visitors to celebrate and reflect on the nation’s rich natural and cultural heritage through more than 600 specimens and cultural objects — many rare and never-before-exhibited—from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories.
“From These Lands” will exhibit eight objects from Kentucky, including a Mammoth Cave gypsum stalactite.
Mammoth Cave is the longest cave system on Earth, with over 405 miles of mapped caverns. The national park illustrates the power of water to shape spectacular chambers and structures, as the slight acidity of rain and groundwater dissolves tunnels in Kentucky’s limestone. At the same time, mineral-filled water forms unique geological features like the gypsum stalactite, stalagmites, straws, flowstones and evaporites as it drips and pools. The caverns’ streams and water systems also support fish, crayfish, shrimp, snails and bats.
Drawing from the museum’s unparalleled collection of more than 148 million objects, the exhibition will highlight items that showcase the remarkable range of American nature, geology and cultural traditions. From ancient fossils and dazzling minerals to cherished cultural belongings and groundbreaking scientific discoveries, “From These Lands” illuminates the many connections between people, places and the natural world.
“This exhibition brings the entire country into one gallery—letting visitors encounter the extraordinary breadth of America’s natural and cultural heritage,” said Kirk Johnson, the Director of the National Museum of Natural History. “As the country marks its 250th anniversary, ‘From These Lands’ presents an opportunity to celebrate the diversity of our landscapes, the depth of our history and the connections that link people and the natural
“From These Lands” and related programming are part of “Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250,” a Smithsonian-wide initiative supported by private philanthropy and created to commemorate the nation’s 250th anniversary and advance the Smithsonian vision for the next 250 years.
The exhibition will remain on view through December 2029.