Drawn primarily from the MSU Broad collection and grounded in matters relevant to our region, InterStates of Mind is an exhibition that takes a critical look at American car culture and the way that the automobile has become a symbol of American values. The automobile and associated industries gave material form to the American Dream, reimagining the foundational beliefs in the right to “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.” However, as the term “inter-states” suggests (an exercise in the self-awareness of our current conditions), the exhibition also examines how many of these developments and opportunities were not afforded to all: the interstate highway system removed people from their homes, working conditions in factories became exploitative, and urban and suburban designs furthered racial segregation and social fragmentation. Sitting at the crossroads of these contradictions, InterStates of Mind unpacks our fascination with the automobile and the associated ideals that continue to shape America today.

LOCAL RELEVANCE:

1. Many prominent Michigan cities are auto cities, including Lansing, where GM still has a plant and many in the community are employed there and are active UAW members.

2. The history of Lansing is the history of the automotive industry. RE Olds, the founder of Oldsmobile (and other companies) headquartered his operations in Lansing and this legacy still informs much of the social, political, and cultural landscape of the city.

3. A predominantly African American neighborhood south of the capitol in Lansing was seized through eminent domain to build the I-496 freeway, displacing hundreds of people.

SOCIAL JUSTICE/ANTI-RACIST AGENDA:

1. Inclusion: Automobile culture as an ideology that promotes inclusion (greater connectivity, more jobs, access to wealth and upward mobility), yet more often resulting in the exclusion of certain communities based on race, class, and gender.

2. Accessibility: The automobile and automotive industry as a pathway to the realization of the American Dream (life, liberty, pursuit of happiness), yet affording both ideological and physical access to only select communities (the city/suburb divide, white flight).

3. Equity: Automobile culture offering the promise of greater equity for all, but ultimately reinforcing segregation strategies (i.e. redlining).

WELLNESS CONNECTION:

Part of the social justice agenda of this exhibition is to confront the structural racism that was upheld and at times advanced through developments around the automobile, its industries and infrastructures. Racism is deeply entwined with wellness and mental health, and on June 22, 2020, the City of Lansing finally declared racism a public health issue. In confronting some of the root causes of mental and other public health issues today, the exhibition draws attention to these issues in the hopes of spreading awareness and empathy for the wellness of our fellow community members.

EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

1. Represent the ways the automobile symbolized the possibilities offered by the American Dream, while highlighting the shortcomings of its implementation and materialization.

2. Confront the notion of Manifest Destiny and how the interstate highway system came to embody the expansion of American ideals across the continent—with both positive and negative results.

3. To understand through automobile culture the manners in which inequity remains institutionalized and continues to shape our lives today.

4. To think critically about our often-celebratory understanding of the automobile and the cultural values it conveys and analyze whether those are afforded to all.

TARGET AUDIENCES:

1. On campus: MSU faculty and students (History, RCAH, Latinx & Chicanx Studies, Human Resources and Labor Relations, African American Studies)

2. Off campus: Local history organizations (Historical Society of Greater Lansing, Capital Area District Library, Library of Michigan, Motor Cities, RE Olds Transportation Museum), and local car collectors

3. Off campus: UAW members