About 10,000 years ago, a weedy grass growing in Mexico possessed a strange trait known as a “jumping gene” and transformed itself into a larger and more useful grass – the cereal grass that we would come to know as maize and then corn. Join Cynthia Clampitt for this Zoom-only presentation as she shares how this grain would transform the Americas – from rescuing a few early settlers to creating the Midwest to building the world we know. Today, corn is more important than ever. “Without corn, North America – and most particularly modern, technological North America – is inconceivable,” writes Margaret Visser in her classic work Much Depends on Dinner. Cynthia Clampitt is a writer, speaker, food historian, and author of Midwest Maize: How Corn Shaped the U.S. Heartland.
As Cynthia Clampitt lives in Illinois, this free presentation is offered via Zoom only, Thursday, February 5, 5:30-6:30 pm. Register for your Zoom link at www.smokyhillmuseum.org.
The Smoky Hill Museum is a nationally accredited history museum, in the heart of downtown Salina, Kansas. This FREE museum is open Tuesday-Friday 11-5, Saturday 10-5. Also, be sure to stop by the Museum Store for a wide variety of regional and Kansas products, local artwork and gifts for all ages.
For needed accommodations, please call Susan Hawksworth at 309-5776 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Every effort will be made to accommodate known disabilities. For material or speech access, please call at least 5 working days prior to the event.