MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – The Soulé Steam Museum is inviting the public to explore Meridian’s history of innovation while connecting with local business leaders during the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation’s upcoming Business After Hours event on Aug. 4.
The networking event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Soulé Steam Museum, located at 1808 Fourth St. in Meridian. Attendees will have the opportunity to tour the Smithsonian’s Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit, view the museum’s companion exhibit highlighting Meridian’s own innovators and inventions, and hear from guest speakers focused on innovation and community development.
Greg Hatcher, executive director of the Soulé Steam Museum, said he hopes visitors leave inspired by the stories of innovation happening both locally and across the country.
“I hope they are inspired to do all sorts of things that maybe hadn’t really thought they could do,” Hatcher said. “I think that Spark! Places of Innovation is an opportunity to see what other communities are doing and to see what our community has done and is doing.”
Hatcher said the exhibit also shines a light on local organizations that could benefit from additional community involvement.
“There are groups that are listed here and shown here that need a little help sometimes,” he said. “They might need a volunteer or two. They might want some input from you. This is your opportunity to say, ‘I’m going to do that.'”
The Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit is part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Museums on Main Street program and is brought to Mississippi through the Mississippi Humanities Council. Communities submit applications to host the traveling exhibit, and Meridian was selected this year.
As part of the agreement, the Soulé Steam Museum created a companion exhibit showcasing innovations that originated in Meridian.
Hatcher said the Smithsonian exhibit includes interactive features designed to engage visitors of all ages.
“It has interactive portions of it. You’ll learn a lot if you come. You don’t have to read a lot; you can actually push a button and it will tell you all sorts of things,” he said.
When planning the local companion exhibit, museum staff expected to feature about a dozen displays but quickly realized Meridian’s history offered much more.
“When we did our local exhibit, we were trying to come up with the best innovators and innovations that came from Meridian,” Hatcher said. “When we started, we thought we’d have about 12 or 13 panels. We ended up having 24, which was really a surprise.”
Among the featured artifacts are items unfamiliar to many visitors, including the historic Rush Pin and J.H. Miner’s ice cube tray, an invention Hatcher said eventually found its way into homes across America.
“Very few people know that that actually originated in Meridian, Mississippi,” he said.
Hatcher said he hopes the exhibit encourages younger generations to pursue their own ideas.
“The opportunity is still out there for young people to come up with great ideas that can change the world,” he said.
During Business After Hours, visitors will also hear from Chance McDavid and Joe Fratesi of the Stennis Institute at Mississippi State University, who will discuss Spark! Places of Innovation and how innovation contributes to the success of small towns and communities.
He said the event offers more than networking opportunities.
“This is a wonderful opportunity to see something that you can share,” Hatcher said. “It will be memorable. You can talk around the dinner table and share something very positive about our community.”
The Spark! Places of Innovation exhibit remains on display through Aug. 15 and can be viewed during the Soulé Steam Museum’s regular operating hours, Tuesday through Saturday.