For many people, summer is a time to take a break and hit the road. Interstate 69 is a combination of national and state highways starting in Brownsville, Texas, and making its way through Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana before ending in Port Huron, Michigan.
Traveling through those many states makes this a great route for a summer adventure. Here are a few interesting places to visit along the way from our awardees. We also recommend going further up I to Nacogdoches where you can visit the vintage costume collection at Stephen F. Austin State University, which received a Preservation Assistance Grant for a general preservation assessment of the collection.
The collection houses the Shreveport Sun , the oldest African American weekly newspaper in Louisiana, and personal papers of black educators and religious and civic leaders in northwest Louisiana. Once you cross into Mississippi you can immerse yourself in the history of the blues. Both museums received NEH funding as part of a collaborative effort to develop regional emergency response procedures and supply stores for local cultural institutions.
Withers explores the civil rights movement, music, sports, and daily life. Then, making your way up through Kentucky, you can take a quick minute detour east off I to Greenville to visit Thistle Cottage , which houses the Muhlenberg County Public Library History and Genealogy Annex, as well as a historical collection of objects and archives related to the local coal industry.
Suit and guitar of country musician Merle Travis, a native of Mulhlenberg County. Continuing north into Indiana, I passes through multiple cities, including Bloomington and Indianapolis. Norman and filmmaker Paulin S. Once you get to Indianapolis there are many cultural institutions to choose from, including the Eiteljorg Museum and the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library.
