November 2011 Featured Story

Science, history and culture of corn
combined at state museum exhibit

The American cornfields that stretch on for miles have a story to tell. It’s a story that starts more than 10,000 years ago in the heart of Mexico and weaves itself inextricably throughout the history of humankind and into our modern-day lives.

Today, it takes 25 corn plants per person per day to support the American way of life. From sweeteners to plastics, fuel to textiles, corn is a part of everyday life for nearly all of us.

Just how did humans come to be so dependent on corn? That’s the story the Indiana State Museum in downtown Indianapolis is telling in its newest exhibit, “Amazing Maize: The Science, History and Culture of Corn” that opened in September and will run until January 2013.

“Indiana corn farmers are excited to see the Indiana State Museum tell the story of a crop that has been so integral to not only our rural communities, but our state as a whole,” said Jane Ade Stevens, executive director of Indiana Corn Marketing Council, local presenting sponsor of the exhibit.

“Amazing Maize” takes visitors on a journey through the centuries, beginning with corn’s unlikely origins in a small-eared bushy plant called teosinte. Visitors can trace the global spread of the crop following Christopher Columbus’ travels, including its social impact in Africa and Europe. Then they return to the shores of America to explore the push to improve productivity and the rise of hybrid corn. The final stop on the journey highlights the modern technology used to improve and grow this most important crop.

“This exhibit highlights corn as the most important plant breeding achievement of all time. Not only do visitors have a chance to explore how this amazing plant is tied to the origin of civilizations, it also gives them a chance to think about the critical issues facing us today. One of those challenges is growing enough food to feed the growing world population in a sustainable way,” said Antonio Galindez, president and CEO of Dow AgroSciences, a national sponsor.

The exhibit has been years in the making and occupies 5,000 square feet. Plans are in the works for a smaller exhibit that will travel nationally.

“We think it is an important role for our museum to address how agriculture has shaped our modern way of life,” said Tom King, museum president and CEO. “The story of corn is significant, and that is reflected in the exhibit’s size and scope.”

One reason for this exhibit is tied to the annual arrival of blue and gold corduroy jackets to the streets of Indianapolis — the national FFA convention each October — noted Kathi Moore, the museum’s communications director. “When we built this building in 2002, we started planning ahead as to what exhibits we could do. At the same time, FFA came into town with this long-term contract bringing 50,000 kids here every fall. So we really were focused on trying to put something together that would appeal to that agricultural nature because it is such a large part of Indiana.”

Divided into six sections, “Amazing Maize” is full of videos and interactive pieces that will appeal to kids and adults alike. Visitors can test a specialty corn-based starch that keeps products dry, or try their hand at a wooden corn pounder that requires more than a little muscle. They can sit on a 1900s-era “corn gospel train” and listen to the nation’s first agronomy professor, P.G. Holden, reveal his secrets for increasing corn yields. Fast forward to the modern day and visitors can check out the latest in production technology from the seat of a Case IH combine simulator.

While students from Perry Meridian 6th Grade Academy in Indianapolis checked out the features one day last month, teacher Cathy Wessel said the exhibit was eye opening. “Some of these kids probably don’t get out of the city,” she said. “The only experience they probably have with corn is eating it.”

She said she grew up in a farming community and was surprised by everything that goes into a corn crop, and all the products that come out.

Mother maize

Long before Columbus, corn permeated the way of life of the people who grew it. It was so important to the Mayans that they worshiped corn as a god.

Corn is not the simple plant it appears to be, and its origin has been the subject of much debate for decades. There is no known wild plant that grows like corn, so there is no obvious ancestor though scientists for years speculated that teosinte was the source.

The recent completion of the mapping of the corn genome in 2009 provided genetic proof that the bushy, tiny-eared teosinte plant is the forebear of modern-day corn. This discovery has sent archaeologists back to the field to identify the earliest source of what has become one of the world’s most important plants. They have traced the domestication of teosinte to the Balsas River Valley in south central Mexico.

It was there that humans first began to select plants for desirable characteristics roughly 10,000 years ago. Though they had none of the scientific tools we have today, ancient humans created a plant that has proven very productive and adaptable, and now grows in almost every farming region on the planet.

As corn spread throughout the Americas, its evolution continued. Native Americans had created the five types of corn kernels we still have today before Europeans ever saw corn in 1493.

Native American Indian tribes saved seeds to select for certain traits. For example, the Hopi used selection to grow blue corn, casting aside multi-colored ears as undesirable. Some tribes grew dozens of different types of corn each year. In doing so, they demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of how corn pollinates by staggering planting times and meticulously separating the fields of distinct varieties to preserve each variety’s different desirable traits.

Corn in modern times

With the westward expansion of the United States in the 19th century, pioneers found corn proved adaptable to a wide range of climates and soils, and more strains developed. Then mechanization began to change the way corn was grown and dramatically increase productivity.

In 1893, Reid’s Yellow Dent — a fortuitous but accidental cross of a northern flint corn and a southern dent corn — won first prize at the Chicago World’s Fair and launched corn’s heyday in America. Twenty years later, scientists learned how to control the breeding of parent lines of corn that could be crossed to create highly-productive hybrid seeds. The use of hybrid corn seed did not take hold in the United States until the 1930s when hybrids proved their mettle during drought, often producing corn when no other seed would. Widespread adoption followed quickly, just in time to prepare America for World War II and the resulting global demand for food.

Those who visit “Amazing Maize” — from seasoned farmer to inner-city third grader — will gain a whole new appreciation for corn. Traveling home along Indiana’s two-lanes and county roads — where the true exhibition of the state’s corn growing prowess is best experienced — electric co-op consumers will see those tall standing rows (or now stubbled harvested fields) for what they truly are: the result of an extraordinary story about humankind and its ingenuity. — Story by the Indiana State Museum with additional information by Electric Consumer staff

Students from the Lantern Road Elementary leap up to touch the lights on a large world map at the Indiana State Museum exhibit that traces the migration of corn from its beginning in central Mexico 10,000 years ago.

Kaitlyn Perez, left, and Jacquline Robinson check out the combine simulator at the Indiana State Museum’s “Amazing Maize” exhibit. The girls are students at Perry Meridian 6th Grade Academy in Indianapolis. (Inset photo at top is a composite depiction of a “corn god,” based on several ancient artifacts from Central America, created for the exhibit.)

Joie Simpson, a third grader at Lantern Road Elementary in Hamilton County, pulls with all her might on the museum’s “Tug-of-War with Corn.” The popular display has a serious theme: simulating the super-human strength required to free a farmer trapped by flowing corn in a grain bin.

Photos by Richard G. Biever

Amazing grain is ingrained everywhere

Corn is everywhere. Sure, we eat it from the cob, the can and the freezer. It’s in our cereals and salsa, chips and even cookies.

Most of us are aware it sweetens our colas. Did you know corn puts the candy shell on our M&Ms? Corn is an ingredient in three-quarters of all products at the grocer and is a key component for everything from textiles to fuel to biodegradable plastics to, of course, popular rural Indiana autumn entertainment destinations — cornfield mazes.

Upon entering “Amazing Maize,” visitors will be greeted by a 7-foot-high corn plant of products that illustrates just how many of our everyday items started out in a cornfield. Here are examples, some obvious, and some that might come as a surprise.

Cereal: When the package says “Corn Flakes” or features a big corn cob on the front, you can expect corn inside. But many other cereals and pantry-shelf staples use corn ingredients. (Check out the PowerKids page to find a neat treat.)

Popcorn: Another obvious corn product, most of the popcorn that the world eats is grown in the United States. Indiana ranks second among the top popcorn-producing states.

Sweetener: High-fructose corn syrup has replaced sugar in most colas. Corn syrup is also used in snacks and hard candies to provide a chewiness without excessive sweetness.

Toothpaste: When you’ve finished your popcorn and corn-sweetened cola, you best get out the toothbrush and your corn-made toothpaste. Yep, sorbitol, which is produced from the corn sugar dextrose, is used in toothpaste as a low-calorie, water-soluble, bulking agent.

Fireworks/Explosives: Oh, say can you see … Dextrin is a light carbohydrate most commonly made from corn and is a common binder for fireworks. The museum exhibit gives visitors a chance to simulate a corn starch dust explosion with a hands-on detonation.

Biofuel/ethanol: Corn has always played a large role in the production of ag-based fuels and is expected to continue playing a major part in easing our nation’s dependence on foreign petroleum fuels.

Plastics: The sugars in corn starch can be fermented into a compound called “polylactic acid” which can then be used to create plastic pellets. These can be molded into all kinds of plastic products like this travel mug. PLA products are also fully biodegradable in a landfill as short as 90 days.

Auto parts: Ford Motor Company is investigating ways to use corn-based plastics (see above) to reduce dependency on petroleum, reduce CO2 emissions and the ability to compost instead of landfill materials at end of life. Ford, a national sponsor of the “Amazing Maize” exhibit, is also assessing bio-yarns for use in making plant-based fabrics and is using seat materials made with bio-foams.

Other products that use corn: adhesives, antibiotics, batteries, chewing gum, cosmetics, crayon and chalk, disposable diapers, frozen pizza, gypsum wallboard, ice cream, insecticides, insulation, kitty litter and pet food, lollipops, paper products, rugs and carpets, shaving cream and lotions, and a lot more!

Sources: Indiana State Museum; Indiana Corn Marketing Association; National Corn Growers Association; U.S. Department of Agriculture; Ontario Corn Producer Association. Photos by Richard G. Biever, Electric Consumer and Jupiterimages.

If you go

The Indiana State Museum is located at 650 W. Washington St., Indianapolis, 46204, in White River State Park in the heart of downtown Indianapolis.

Other nearby attractions include the Indianapolis Zoo, Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art and the NCAA Hall of Champions.

Hours: Tues-Sat: 9 am-5 pm; Sun: 11 am-5 pm. Closed on Mondays. (Beginning Monday, Nov. 28, the museum will be open daily.) Closed on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.

IMAX Theater showtimes are different from that of the museum. For more information about IMAX films, hours and showtimes, visit www.imaxindy.com.

Admission: $7 for adults; $6.50 for seniors; $4 for children ages 3-12. Group rates available. IMAX Theater prices vary.

For more info: call 317-232-1637; or visit indianamuseum.org.

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