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Local Firm Participates in Smithsonian's New America on the Move Exhibition
Article courtesy of the National Asphalt Pavement Association

Warren Paving is a proud sponsor of a new exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will open its largest-ever exhibition, America on the Move, on November 22. The museum's 26,000-square-foot exhibition will anchor the General Motors Hall of Transportation. It will feature many transportation items showcased in period settings, including a vintage hot rod driven by Elvis in the 1950s, a 1976 Kawasaki police motorcycle, and an asphalt pavement that replicates a 1980s interstate.

Several companies and organizations made financial contributions to the Smithsonian to make the exhibition possible. Sponsors include General Motors, AAA, State Farm Companies Foundation, The History Channel, ExxonMobil Foundation, the UPS Foundation, American Public Transportation Association, the Association of American Railroads, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA), and the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA).

Warren Paving, based in Hattiesburg and Gulfport Mississippi, contributed to the effort through its association with NAPA. Since roads and asphalt are a recurring theme in the exhibition, Warren Paving was one of several companies in the road construction field that lent its support to America on the Move.

Lawrence W. Warren, President & CEO of the company, said. "This project gives us the chance to make both young people and adults aware of our industry and see it presented in a positive light as a key player in our country's transportation system. It also gives us the chance to work with some great partners, including the Smithsonian, who are recognized around the country."

The exhibition is designed to allow visitors the opportunity to travel back in time and experience transportation as it shaped American lives and landscapes; the exhibition features 19 different sections.

Visitors to the show can explore historical moments from the coming of the railroad to a California town in 1876, to the role of the streetcar and the automobile in creating suburban communities, to the transformation of a U.S. port by containerized shipping in the 1960s. As they travel through the show, visitors will be able to board a 1950s Chicago Transit Authority car, and, through multi-media technology, experience a "commute" into downtown Chicago on a December morning.

Large mural backdrops, sophisticated lighting, "set" designs, and more than 70 mannequins or "cast figures" will bring the settings to life. The vignette "Somewhere in Wyoming" will spotlight the 1903 Winton, the first car driven across the country. The vehicle is stuck on a muddy incline as drivers Nelson Jackson and Sewall Crocker try to get the car free, while their dog "Bud" waits nearby.

The America on the Move Web site americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove features material from the exhibition, plus behind-the-scenes accounts of the making of the exhibition.

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