WASHINGTON, D.C.- The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has announced a complete renovation of its transportation hall with an installation of a major new exhibition, “America on the Move,” scheduled to open on Nov. 22, 2003. The exhibition will provide a multi-media educational experience on the role transportation played in the nation’s development.

“America on the Move” will encompass nearly 26,000 square feet on the first floor of the museum, taking the place of former exhibitions in the old Road Transportation, Railroad, and Civil Engineering Halls. The show will have approximately 300 objects.

“Mobility is the defining experience in American life. For the first time, the Smithsonian will be able to present its extraordinary transportation collections in an historical context. ‘America on the Move’ is destined to be one of our most visited exhibitions and we are thrilled with the support from Congress and corporations, foundations and associations that is making this presentation possible,” said Brent D. Glass, director of the museum.

In recognition of General Motors’ support, the hall is named the General Motors Hall of Transportation and will include two exhibitions, “America on the Move” and a companion exhibition, “On the Water: Stories from Maritime America,” to open at a later date.

Initial support for the exhibition came through a $3 million congressional appropriation made in 1997. The funds came to the museum through the U.S. Department of Transportation.

General Motors is the principal sponsor with $10 million, State Farm Companies Foundation provided a $3 million gift and the History Channel’s $3 million contribution includes production of several of the extensive video elements in the show. AAA, the nation’s largest motoring and leisure travel organization, is contributing $2.3 million and ExxonMobil Foundation is supporting the show with $2 million. Both groups are including national marketing initiatives as part of their donation. There are five $1 million donors to the exhibition: the American Public Transportation Association (APTA); the American Road and Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA); the Association of American Railroads (AAR); the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) and the UPS Foundation.

The funding will cover the complete renovation of the museum’s Hall of Transportation; the production and installation of the “America on the Move” exhibition with multi-media elements including videos and “sound scapes” in period settings; a national education program; public programs; a Web site; promotional activities; and maintenance for the show. The cost of the hall renovation and the exhibition together is approximately $22 million.

The congressional funds enabled the museum to develop the exhibition script and design before any private sector fundraising began. Most of the museum’s transportation exhibitions have not been significantly remodeled since the museum opened in 1964.

“America on the Move” will transport visitors back in time and immerse them in the sights, sounds and sensations of transportation in the U.S. from 1876 to the present. Organized chronologically, the exhibition has 19 sections with more than a dozen vignettes showcasing the Smithsonian’s popular transportation collections in historic settings. Among the historical moments explored are the coming of the railroad to a California town in 1876, the role of the streetcar and the automobile in creating suburbs outside of cities, and the transformation of a U.S. port with the introduction of containerized shipping in the 1960s.

As they travel through the show, visitors will be able to see large and impressive objects, including a Chicago Transit Authority L car, a 92-foot Southern Railway locomotive and an actual piece of the famed Route 66. Multimedia technology and environments will allow visitors to see these artifacts as they once were, a vital part of the nation’s transportation system and of the business, social and cultural history of the country.

“The history of transportation is central to the American experience. In ‘America on the Move’ we explore our nation’s history by showing how transportation affected how and where people lived, worked and played,” said Steven Lubar, project director for “America on the Move” and chair of the museum’s History of Technology division.

Exhibition Development and Design - The “America on the Move” exhibition is a collaboration of almost a dozen historians at the museum, with expertise in transportation, social and labor history. The exhibition will be designed by the Museum Design Associates of Cambridge, Mass.; AMAZE Design of Boston; and the SmithGroup, of Washington, D.C.

Companion Book - “On the Move: Transportation and the American Story,” an illustrated 320-page hardcover book, will expand on the exhibition and feature more than 200 color photographs, maps and informative sidebars and personal anecdotes. It is scheduled for publication by the National Geographic Society in November 2003.