Special: "Hopefully, My Generation Will Be the Ones to Change It"

Smithsonian's Stories from Main Street

Young people throughout the country bring new perspectives and attitudes to our history and our culture. But often, they don't feel welcome to the conversations that adults have about community and culture. Since 2012, the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street has been working with small towns that want to highlight youth perspectives. Young people explore topics related to history, culture, and change in their communities and then create multimedia projects that tell their hometown's story. The result is that youth get an important opporunity to show that they are interested in the direction of their communities and have constructive perspectives on how rural Americans can work together for a better future. Listen in as we talk with leaders of local youth projects and hear from students themselves as they talk about life in a rural community.