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America on the Move
Collection Exhibition Themes
Transportation in America before 1876 Community Dreams: Santa Cruz, California, 1876 Delivering the Goods: Watsonville, California, 1895 A Streetcar City: Washington, D.C., 1900 The Connected City: New York, New York, 1920s Crossing the Country: Somewhere in Wyoming, 1903 Americans Adopt the Auto Lives on the Railroad: Salisbury, North Carolina, 1927 The People's Highway: Route 66, 1930s-1940s Roadside Communities: Ring's Rest, Muirkirk, Maryland, 1930s Family Camping: York Beach, Maine, 1930s On the School Bus: Martinsburg, Indiana, 1939 Suburban Strip: Sandy Boulevard, Portland, Oregon, 1949 City and Suburb: Chicago and Park Forest, Illinois, 1950s On the Interstate: I-10, 1956-1990 Transforming the Waterfront: San Francisco and Oakland, California, 1960-1970 Going Global: Los Angeles Introduction H. Nelson Jackson: Immigrant, Migrant, Adventurer, Traveler Harry Bridges: Immigrant, Adventurer, Traveler Mary Johnson Sprow: Migrant, Commuter Fred and Maryann Knoche: Commuters, Errand Runners, Vacationers Juana Gallegos Valadez: Immigrant, Traveler
5: People on the Move

Fred and Maryann Knoche: Commuters, Errand Runners, Vacationers

In 1986, while planning the family vacation, Fred and Maryann Knoche decided to buy a new style of vehicle, a minivan, for the long drive from Shelby Township, Michigan, to Orlando, Florida. The minivan’s roominess would be useful not just on the vacation, but for running errands around town. For more on the Knoche family and their 1986 minivan, see the I-10: On the Interstate section of this exhibition.
Packing the car for the trip to Walt Disney World
Packing the car for the trip to Walt Disney World
St. Clair Shores Wings hockey team
St. Clair Shores Wings hockey team

Commuting to Work

Living in the outer suburbs of Detroit, Fred Knoche had a 24-mile commute to his locksmith shop in downtown Detroit.

Countless Errands

Whether running to the grocery store or ferrying the kids to sports or after-school activities, Maryann Knoche, like so many other suburban moms, was almost always in motion. In 1987 the Knoches used the family minivan to transport the bulky equipment for their son Gary’s hockey team to the national championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Off to College

In 1985 Fred and Maryann Knoche packed the family car with their daughter Adrienne’s clothes and books and drove her off to school. While the drive to Central Michigan University was only 140 miles, the trip seemed like a monumental journey.
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