POPLAR FOREST MARKS LEWIS & CLARK ANNIVERSARY
Poplar Forest Newsletter, Spring 2003  

Poplar Forest joined in commemorating the 200^th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark expedition by hosting the National Park Service traveling exhibit’s first stop on its journey across the country. The new exhibit had opened at Monticello and Charlottesville in January marking the anniversary of Jefferson’s request to Congress for $2,500 to fund the expedition into the unknown land to the west.

“It is appropriate that this traveling commemoration begins at the two places most closely associated with Thomas Jefferson,” said Executive Director Lynn A. Beebe. “The idea of exploring the West was transformed into reality by Thomas Jefferson’s vision. It was that vision which brought the young republic its first knowledge of the west and its destiny to expand to the Pacific.”

Students were among the many people touring the Corps of Discovery II tent that highlighted the expedition's mission and the journey itself.

Named after the original expedition, the traveling exhibit known as Corps of Discovery II will travel west along the route taken by Captains Lewis and Clark. Generous support from many donors in the community made it possible for Poplar Forest to partner with the National Park Service in bringing the exhibit to its westernmost stop in Virginia. Response to news of the exhibit’s impending visit was so great that all appointments for school tours were filled a month before the exhibit rolled into town.

Corps of Discovery II is unique as a traveling exhibit. Other exhibits are contained within a tractor trailer truck. Corps II, however, takes place outside the truck in two tents: one containing an audio-tour that describes the expedition and the other serving as a theater called the Tent of Many Voices.

“We’re the only mobile exhibit in this country with external components,” said Carol McBryant, the park service coordinator for Corps II. “We knew the value of having a performance venue to bring people in so we could learn from other Americans. To do that, we needed to get out of the truck.”

Poplar Forest arranged for a wide variety of presentations for the Tent of Many Voices. Members of the Monacan nation talked about their tribe’s culture at the time of the expedition, and were joined by Sioux, Pamunkey, and Haliwa-Saponi in demonstrating traditional dances. In addition, members of the Shawnee tribe demonstrated their crafts and traditions; a doctor spoke on health care on the Lewis and Clark expedition; a musician demonstrated the music of the expedition and its era; and Department of Game and Inland Fisheries representatives spoke about the wildlife Lewis and Clark encountered and Virginia’s native wildlife in that era. Among the changing special displays was a reproduction of the Chinook tribe’s unique canoes and wildlife carvings by Willy Wilmoth. The truck that transports the exhibit contains an HVAC system for both tents, a state of the art projection theater, a stage with up to 12 microphones for group performances, and six miles of wires. When fully loaded, the truck weighs 80,000 pounds.

Cedarheart Nichols shows Shawnee crafts to visitors after a talk he gave in the Tent of Many Voices.

Information about Poplar Forest and the presentations made during the exhibit’s stay here will be made available on a National Park Service web site for schools and the general public and will become part of the archival record of Corps II’s journey.