This July 4th, whether you're grilling in Iowa or watching fireworks over Central Park, you will inevitably reflect on the nation, and of course, how the American spirit fuels the handmade lifestyle.  Photographer, Mary Haggerty aka PhotoAmerica, spends her time roadtripping and then documenting the many faces of this country, from beauty queens to cowboys.  Three of Mary's American Journal Photographs were selected by the curators of the Smithsonian Museums for the public art collection at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center, and she was named Best Emerging Artist by The Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art.  Mary's work probes deep (really deep, her old Jeep had 222,000 miles on it!) into the heart of America.

My greatest fear is having a boring life.

There were some things in my life I didn’t want to miss. So, I decided to take a road trip to visit small towns, their fairs and festivals and meet some very interesting people along the way. I was determined to meet Miss Crustacean, The Button Man, and the members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club. I wanted to see the world’s largest pumpkin, the Wigwam Village, and Vollis Simpson’s windmill field. I wanted to experience the World Grits Festival, the Penguin Plunge and a 450 mile tag sale. I didn’t want to miss a thing.


[Miss Crustacean by PhotoAmerica, all rights reserved]

With my camera and tape recorder packed and my bag full of rolls of black and white film, I went out on the road and collected these stories, real stories of the best of the American spirit from the heart of America.

I have been a photojournalist for many years, and I have met a lot of interesting people this way. While working on assignments from news editors, I thought to myself: “What do I find interesting? Who would I like to meet and tell stories about?” This is why I began my five year project of documenting small town America.  I am fortunate that people have let me into their lives during my travels and I am happy to be able to tell their stories with black and white photographs. Their portraits and my book are the result of this wonderful American road trip.

Punsutawney, PA was a my first stop, a memorable town to visit on Groundhog Day. I was told many stories by the men in top hats, the members of the groundhog club. I even got to touch the famous Phil. I also met a couple who got married by the mayor of Punxsutawney in the town hall with their bridesmaids dressed in groundhog costumes. 

[Groundhog Day by PhotoAmerica, all rights reserved]

When I visited Twinsburg, Ohio on a weekend in August, I was seeing double. It was Twins Days, the annual gathering for thousands of twins. I was lucky to see a twins parade and twins' talent contest. I talked to a lot of twins and found they have a very special bond. I was sad by the end of the weekend that I didn’t have a twin.

I spent a  calm afternoon with Vollis Simpson, a windmill artist, in his workshop and in his field of tall whirly gigs in Lucama, NC waiting for the wind. He told me “people come by here when it’s not windy and they ask me to turn them on.” Then a storm blew in, and the wind picked up and everything started spinning and turning!

I met six charming women who were competing in a pageant for the title of Mrs. Hell Hole at the Hell Hole swamp festival. This festival in Jamestown, SC is where they celebrate their moonshine making heritage. 

I met another crowned queen, Miss Crustacean, on her parade float at the Hard Crab Derby in Crisfield, MD. I spent the afternoon here watching the blue crab races.

While I stood freezing wrapped in a coat and hat, I witnessed hundreds of people running into the cold ocean on New Year’s Day at Mackerel Cove in Jamestown, RI. They call it the Penguin Plunge.

[Penguin Plunge by PhotoAmerica, all rights reserved]

I met a ten-year-old boy whose pride was growing a 900 pound pumpkin which he was showing off at the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off in Goffstown, NH.

I saw many parades, including the Baby Parade with its tiny participants, a 93 year old tradition in Ocean City, NJ.

I spent a day with Dalton Stevens, The Button Man, and he showed me his hearse he’s covered in 600,000 buttons. We talked about his insomnia, the late nights he spends in his garage with buttons and glue, and the buttoned coffin he keeps in the back of his hearse.


[The Button Man by PhotoAmerica, all rights reserved]

I stayed in the Wigwam Village Motel in Cave City, KY, a real piece of Americana from road trips past. I have also been to visit Lucy the Elephant in Margate, NJ where I climbed a staircase in her back leg up to a large room where you can look out her eyeball and see the Atlantic Ocean.

The road has a lot of great stories to tell. Oh yes, there are still many things I want to do!

It’s summertime, so get off the highway, ramble away from the city, drive to the places marked in small letters on your Rand McNally, and see what you can find.

Mary has received grants for this project from the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Durham Arts Council.  You, too, can be a patron of the arts, by helping to sponsor Mary's next road trip, and preserve the American culture found in small towns across the nation.

All rights reserved for photos on this post.  Have a happy 4th of July, you Americans!