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THE 1968 EXHIBIT EXHIBITION WALKTHROUGH The year 1968 reverberates with an awesome power down to the present day. A year of violence and upheaval, of intense political divisions, of wars abroad and wars at home. A year of vivid colors, startling sounds, and searing images. A year that marked a turning point for a generation coming of age. A turbulent, relentless cascade of events that changed America forever. The 5,000-foot exhibition is divided chronologically, by months of the year. Each month is themed around key events to highlight the various political, military, cultural, and social shifts that happened that year—from the height of the Vietnam War and the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, from the bitter 1968 presidential election to the Apollo 8 mission when humans first orbited the moon. Visitors enter the exhibition gallery through a beaded curtain into an alcove that displays each month of 1968 with a brightly-colored icon. Video footage plays while guests take in famous quotes from the year, before entering into the first month. JANUARY: “THE LIVING ROOM WAR” The immensity of the Vietnam War came crashing into American living rooms in 1968 as it never had before. On the night of January 31—during a cease-fire for Tet, the Vietnamese New Year’s feast—North Vietnamese forces launched a series of bold surprise attacks, striking hundreds of military and civilian targets throughout South Vietnam, including the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. The Tet Offensive persisted well into February and proved to be a turning point in the war and in American public opinion. U.S. generals had been talking about “successes” and “progress” and “victories,” and President Lyndon B. Johnson, in his January 17 State of the Union address, had announced that “the enemy has been defeated in battle after battle.” The Tet Offensive also led to a shift in coverage of the war in the U.S. media, especially television. Graphic images of violence and bloodshed began to appear more frequently, and the human cost of the war emerged as the dominant theme in newscasts and reports from the field. In this section of The 1968 Exhibit, visitors enter a quintessential ’60s living room. A television plays news reports about the escalating conflict of the Tet Offensive and Walter Cronkite casting doubt over the war effort. In the coffee table sits a compact recorder used by the Spielmann family in Minnesota to send taped-recorded “letters” to their son Bill, who had entered active duty in the U.S. Navy in June 1967. He served on the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown in 1968, where he worked as a machinist in the main engine room. -MORE-

ADD ONE/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH In the couch’s end table sits the Better Homes and Gardens Decorating Book, 1968 edition. This decorating book includes step‑by‑step instructions and photos on how to arrange and decorate the modern home, including the embroidered pillow displayed on the couch. The book’s suggestions inspired the décor of this “January 1968” living room setting. Overpowering the living room setting is a major focal point of the exhibition—a Bell UH-1 Helicopter—a representation of the war literally crashing through the television screen into the homes of Americans for the first time ever. A multipurpose utility helicopter famous for its use during the Vietnam War (its first combat operation), the UH-1, commonly referred to as the “Huey,” was developed by Bell in the 1950s. Bell produced more than 16,000 of the powerful helicopter between 1955 and 1976, over 7,000 of which served in Vietnam. This Huey, #66V01008, was manufactured by Bell in 1966, and used in Vietnam by the U.S. Army from 1967 through 1970. The Minnesota Historical Society (MHS) purchased it as a collection of scrap parts from Northwest Helicopter Service in Olympia, Washington, in October 2010. It has been restored by a group of more than 20 volunteers, many of whom are Vietnam veterans with decades of experience in flying and maintaining Army helicopters. Working with MHS technicians, these aviation enthusiasts poured several thousand hours of time into repurposing this Huey to be disassembled for shipping and reassembled for display. A media display that relates combat stories from Vietnam War veterans is lodged inside the helicopter for visitors to take in. Visitors can listen to oral histories from eight individuals who served on both sides of the war, including: Donna-Marie (“DM”) Boulay, who served in Vietnam in the Army Nurse Corps from February 1967 to March 1968; Dai Vinh, who joined the South Vietnamese Army in 1963 at the age of 18 but ultimately fought alongside American troops against the Viet Cong; novelist Tim O’Brien, who was drafted into the Army after graduation from college in 1968; and Trudell Guerue, a member of the Red Lake Band of Ojibwe, who served in Vietnam as a captain in the 173rd Airborne Brigade. A glass case inside the helicopter displays a collection of items indicative of service in Vietnam, loaned from the military veterans who helped restore the Huey helicopter. The items include a tape recorder, a C-Ration set, a can opener, an accessory packet, a Bia Saigon beer can, a “Tiger-stripe” field hat, a KA-BAR knife and scabbard, and an engraved Zippo lighter. FEBRUARY: “WE’RE LOSING THIS WAR” The American military force in Vietnam—which in 1968 numbered more than a half million—was overwhelmingly made up of young men. Their average age was 22; more than 80 percent of the deaths in Vietnam were men between the ages of 18 and 25. For thousands in this generation, Vietnam marked a coming of age. The U.S. military death toll in Vietnam in 1967 had nearly doubled from the previous -MORE-

ADD TWO/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH year, from about 5,000 to more than 11,000. The figure would go even higher in 1968, when the monthly death totals averaged more than 1,200. On February 18, the Pentagon announced the war’s highest weekly death toll: 543 U.S. soldiers, lost in the bitter fighting of the Tet Offensive. At the end of this bloody month, CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite gave a pessimistic assessment of the war during a special report on national TV: “It seems now more certain than ever that the bloody experience of Vietnam is to end in a stalemate” (“Report from Vietnam,” February 27, 1968). Registering at age 18 for the Selective Service—“the draft”—had been a vital American rite of passage for decades. But with the escalation of fighting in the war, and the call up of tens of thousands of more troops, the prospect of being drafted and sent to Vietnam became very real. The draft eventually raised more than 2 million men for service during the Vietnam era. And millions more enlisted because of a “draft effect”: fear of adverse assignments that awaited a draftee in the Army as opposed to an enlisted man. Opposition to the war was often conflated with opposition to the compulsory service of the draft. A flag-draped coffin sits in this section of the exhibition, with soldiers’ memorabilia resting on top: a “boonie” hat worn by Mike Maurer of the 82nd Airborne Division in Vietnam who served from 1968 to 1969; a draft card belonging to Jon Walstrom, who registered in 1960; and a letter from Tim Doble to his fellow marine who tragically died aside him while learning to play guitar. In memory of the deadliest week of the war—February 11–18—this section of the exhibition houses a tombstone dedicated to the 543 U.S. servicemen killed that week, as well as the more than 2,200 Americans killed in action in the month of February. The tombstone was donated to the exhibition by the Memorial Rifle Squad Volunteers at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. MARCH: “THE GENERATION GAP” Revolution was in the air in 1968: a worldwide movement of youth, liberation, and radical change. Campuses and cities in all parts of the world exploded in protests—against the status quo and against the war in Vietnam. Millions of young people were forging new identities and breaking with the past by experimenting wildly in style, in sexual freedom, in drugs, and in music. Women of the baby boom generation (born 1946–64) began swelling college enrollments by the mid-1960s. Nearly 700,000 students who entered college in fall 1968 were women. Nearly 49 percent of girls who graduated from high school in 1968 enrolled in college that fall—the highest rate ever up to that point. For young women, college meant far more than just greater educational opportunity. It also led to a rise in status and political consciousness as well as opened new avenues to personal freedom. Exhibition visitors take in a re-created 1960s dorm room as the main framework for this section of The 1968 Exhibit. The dorm features an open desk drawer displaying a variety -MORE-

ADD THREE/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH of items, including, notably, a pack of Ovulen-21, an oral contraceptive first marketed in 1966. At first, most women who sought out the pill were married; in fact, there were laws in some states prohibiting the distribution of any birth control devices or information to single women. By 1968, however, the “sexual revolution” was in full swing, and millions of young unmarried women were “on the pill.” Also on display in the student’s desk drawer is a GE transistor radio box, a Kodak Instamatic box, hippie glasses, rolling papers, a (fake) joint with a roach clip, and a “Don’t Trust Anyone Over 30” button. Love beads, multi-colored beads that became a standard part of the hippie wardrobe, also can be found in the drawer. In November 1967, Minnesota senator Eugene McCarthy shocked the Democratic Party by announcing his intention to run for the presidential nomination against the Democratic incumbent, Lyndon B. Johnson. Massive numbers of high school and college students surged to support his campaign, attracted by his anti-war stance. They promised to “get clean for Gene” by cutting their hair, shaving off beards, and dressing “nicely” to appeal to the mainstream voters. The energy of the young volunteers soon started paying off. In the New Hampshire primary in March 1968, McCarthy came within 230 votes of defeating Johnson. Included in this section of the exhibition are photos of McCarthy student volunteers receiving haircuts, as well as a campaign worker’s dress covered with “McCarthy” and “Peace” designs, and various McCarthy campaign items such as scarves, campaign buttons, and “flower power” stickers. APRIL: “I HAVE BEEN TO THE MOUNTAINTOP” In 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most prominent figure in the struggle for civil rights in America, as he had been since the 1950s. Just four years earlier, he had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work. In the last year of his life, King made several important shifts in commitments and strategies. In April 1967, he began making impassioned anti-war speeches that drew millions more to his side while infuriating millions of others. In this section of The 1968 Exhibit, the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and its impact on the American people is told through a media presentation that includes the words of Dr. King from his “Mountaintop” speech, given the day before his murder, as well as oral history excerpts from individuals remembering King and his legacy. Key items also include a communion plate and funeral program loaned from Ebenezer Baptist Church, King’s home church. He served there as co-pastor with his father from 1960 to 1968. This was the site of King’s funeral on April 9, 1968.

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ADD FOUR/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH MAY: “I AM SOMEBODY” After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his supporters continued to work on his final goal—to bring the massive Poor People’s Campaign to Washington, D.C. Reverend Ralph Abernathy took up the Poor People’s Campaign following King’s death. On June 19—“Solidarity Day”—at the conclusion of the campaign, more than 50,000 people marched in Washington. Abernathy’s boots worn on that day are displayed in this section of the exhibition. Housing at Resurrection City on the National Mall was a combination of tents and quickly erected plywood A-frames. A panel (reproduced in this section of the exhibition) with a huge image of King formed part of one of these shanties. Curators from the Smithsonian Institute salvaged it in June of 1968 as the encampment was being demolished by federal authorities. Although often described as a failure, the Poor People’s Campaign did much to focus national attention on the widespread problems of poverty in America. The campaign also brought many activist groups together for the first time, and—especially for MexicanAmericans—led to a heightened sense of empowerment and presence on the national stage. An item of note in this section is a short-handled hoe, courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of American History. The short-handled hoe represents back-breaking labor for generations of Mexican and Mexican-American migrant workers who sustained California’s booming agricultural economy. The state abolished the shorthandled hoe in 1975, ruling it an occupational hazard after a seven-year legal battle. During this period of political mobilization, the migrant farm worker became the symbol of the cycle of poverty that trapped many Mexican-Americans. Visitors are also introduced to Cesar Chavez (1927–93), who began working to organize migrant farm workers in California and the Southwest in the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, his demands for justice and fair labor practices for farm workers, many of them poor Mexican-Americans and Filipinos, had coalesced into a national movement. Chavez promoted the use of non-violent tactics, such as strikes, sit-downs, and boycotts, including a successful nationwide boycott of grapes harvested by non-union labor. In February 1968, Chavez—by then a national figure—began a water-only fast to draw attention to the boycott cause and to refocus attention on the use of nonviolent tactics. In the company of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Chavez ended his fast at a huge rally and outdoor mass. JUNE: “THE DEATH OF HOPE” On March 16, 1968, New York Senator Robert F. Kennedy, brother of slain President John F. Kennedy, announced his intention to seek the Democratic Party’s nomination for president The announcement stunned the sitting president, Lyndon B. Johnson, and -MORE-

ADD FIVE/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH Johnson’s most outspoken opponent, Minnesota Senator Eugene McCarthy. Kennedy’s hopeful campaign ended just moments after claiming victory in the California primary on June 5, when he was shot and mortally wounded. His death devastated a country still reeling from the King assassination and its aftershocks. This section of the exhibition contains items from Kennedy’s campaign, including posters, brochures, buttons, images, and quotes—both about the campaign and the dramatic reactions to Kennedy’s death. Also on display is a Nikon Nikkormat single-lens reflex camera Time-LIFE photographer Bill Eppridge was carrying while he was covering the Kennedy campaign in California. Eppridge was with the senator when he was fatally shot in the Los Angeles Ambassador Hotel kitchen. He is best known for the iconic photograph of hotel worker Juan Romero cradling Senator Kennedy’s head that is on display in the exhibition. Kennedy’s funeral was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, after which his body was buried at Arlington Cemetery in Virginia. A special train bore his casket slowly from New York to Washington, D.C. All along the route, thousands of people turned out in tribute. In a particularly poignant and emotional section of the exhibition, visitors take in a slideshow of photographs from the train route, as if they were passengers on the train carrying Kennedy’s body, with images of those paying their respects somberly looking back at the visitors. The presidential campaign of Hubert H. Humphrey is also presented in this section of The 1968 Exhibit. Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey threw his hat into the ring for the Democratic nomination for president on April 27—a little less than a month after President Lyndon B. Johnson announced that he would not seek another term. Humphrey had a tough uphill battle—to run as his own man, not as an echo of the deeply unpopular Johnson and his failing policies. Among the Humphrey campaign paraphernalia featured in the exhibition: a lunchbox, campaign buttons, bumper stickers, a woman’s belt, and a woman’s rayon hat emblazoned with the “HHH” motif of the campaign. JULY: “LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT” By 1968, a vast group of “Middle Americans”—mostly white, middle-class, and workingclass—was beginning to have a huge impact on electoral politics. The great social upheavals of the ’60s felt like attacks on traditional values, and many were horrified by what they perceived as the lawlessness of the anti-war and civil rights movements. Former Alabama Governor George C. Wallace announced his candidacy for the presidency, running on the American Independent Party ticket, in February. Wallace, whose opposition to school integration had thrust him into the national spotlight in the early 1960s, eventually won enough votes in November to carry five states, all in the deep South. -MORE-

ADD SIX/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH Through images and quotes from Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, George Wallace, and a handful of “Middle Americans,” exhibition-goers in this section can explore the rise of conservatism in America in the late 1960s. Objects include a George Wallace election license plate, necktie, and campaign buttons. This section of The 1968 Exhibit also features a picket fence, cooler, American flag, and grill that represent a great American pastime— baseball. On July 9, baseball’s major leagues played their annual All-Star Game in Houston’s air-conditioned Astrodome, which had opened three years earlier and was billed as “the Eighth Wonder of the World.” It was the first time the All-Star Game had been played at an indoor stadium. Some of baseball’s legendary names were in the lineup: Willie Mays (named Most Valuable Player), Hank Aaron, Carl Yastrzemski, Don Drysdale, Pete Rose, Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Bench, Felipe Alou, and Rod Carew. The final score was a first-ever 1-0, with the National League coming out on top for the sixth time, in what would prove to be an eight-year streak. Powerful pitchers like the St. Louis Cardinals’ Bob Gibson made’ 68 the “Year of the Pitcher.” On July 1, in a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Gibson threw a wild pitch, allowing Len Gabrielson to score. The run ended a scoreless streak for Gibson that had lasted 48 and 2/3 innings, at the time, the third longest streak in Major League history. The baseball Gibson threw to end this streak is on display in the exhibition. AUGUST: “WELCOME TO CHICAGO” For months leading up to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, the buzz had been building about a major show of force to shut down the convention and drive home a message to “end the war NOW.” The Chicago police, jittery from the rioting on the city’s west side after King’s assassination, braced for a battle. And the battles came. First in the city’s Lincoln Park, when police used tear gas to clear out protesters camping in the park, then even more brutally a few nights later, in Grant Park downtown. Protesters chanted for the TV cameras: “The whole world is watching!” Inside the convention hall, there were other battles—over rules, over planks in the platform, over candidates. In the end, an anti-war plank was defeated, along with “peace” candidates George McGovern and Eugene McCarthy. Although damaged by his support for the war and by the violence on the streets, Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey emerged the nominee. These confrontations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago are explored in this section of the exhibition, through news footage and recorded interviews with convention-goers, protesters, reporters, and Chicago police. Items in this section include a riot helmet, tear-gas canister holster, and police nightstick donated by Chicago Policeman Mike Dillon, who had been on duty during the summer of ’68. Other items include convention badges and political buttons from the Democratic National Convention.

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ADD SEVEN/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH This section also covers the Republican National Convention, held in Miami Beach from August 5–8. Although the city was largely spared the violent protests that engulfed Chicago later that month, there were several days of rioting in Miami’s Liberty City community, an impoverished area long known as “Colored Town.” Delegates nominated Richard M. Nixon on the first ballot. SEPTEMBER: “SISTERHOOD IS POWERFUL” A newly powerful feminist movement began to coalesce in ’68, from the first women’s march for peace in Washington, D.C., in January to the first National Women’s Liberation Conference in November. Women were demanding a national commitment to equality in employment and wages, to equal access to education and political power, to sexual liberation and reproductive freedom. The most visible and notorious demonstration of the new wave of feminism took place at the annual Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September. The protest included the display of a stuffed sheep wearing a prize ribbon, lampooning the contest going on inside. The organizers also brought along a “Freedom Trashcan” and filled it with what they called “instruments of torture” that were oppressing modern women—high-heeled shoes, bras, girdles, hair curlers, false eyelashes, typing books, and copies of Cosmopolitan, Playboy, and Ladies Home Journal. Women were encouraged to “bring any such woman-garbage you have around the house.” A re-created “Freedom Trashcan” is the focal point of this section of the exhibition. Images of women in media and advertising and the increasing role of women in the American workplace are also explored. Visitors can view a collage of advertisements from ’68 targeting women and two iterations of the iconic Barbie doll modeling outfits that were fashionable that year. OCTOBER: “POWER TO THE PEOPLE” This section of the exhibition focuses on three different civil rights movements that were organizing and growing at this time: the Black Power movement, the American Indian Movement, and the Chicano Movement. The rise of “Black Power” in the mid-’60s ignited other movements for inclusion across all racial and ethnic boundaries. Americans who had long been confined to society’s margins began to demand that their voices be heard and their actions be counted. The Black Power movement found its most memorable image at the Olympic Games on October 16, 1968. In the 200-meter dash, Tommie Smith had won gold and John Carlos, bronze. Australian sprinter Peter Norman had won silver. Standing on the podium while the national anthem was played, the Americans raised black-gloved fists. The gesture led to widespread criticism of the Americans’ actions, and to their expulsion from the Games. In recent decades, however, both men have been honored for their courage. -MORE-

ADD EIGHT/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH Items of note in this section of The 1968 Exhibit include: Mexico City Olympic Games commemorative items, a participation medal, and the official Olympic torch used at the games. The torch, made of cast white metal, was lit in Olympia, Greece, on August 23, 1968, then transported across the oceans to Mexico, where it was carried into the Olympic Stadium in Mexico City on October 12. The final carrier of the torch was Mexican runner Enriqueta Basilio, the first woman in the history of the Games to carry the Olympic flame to its final destination. The Black Panther Party was organized in 1966 in Oakland, California, under the leadership of activists Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. By ’68, the Panthers had 5,000 members, and had become the best known of the many “power” groups that had emerged in response to police brutality, poverty, and neglect in the nation’s inner cities. Although the Panthers sponsored projects such as voter registration drives, free clinics, and free breakfast programs, they were also involved in numerous violent confrontations with police, including several fatal shoot-outs. Black berets and leather jackets, occasionally emblazoned with insignias, became the standard uniform of the Black Panther Party. The shotgun was another potent symbol of Black Power, especially after a group of 30 Black Panthers, each carrying weapons, held a demonstration on May 2, 1967, at the California State Capitol. They had taken their lead from slain black liberationist Malcolm X, who had argued that because the government was “either unable or unwilling to protect the lives and property” of blacks, they had to defend themselves “by whatever means necessary.” A case in this section of the exhibition houses a black leather jacket and a Mossberg 395KA 12-gauge shotgun. Mexican Americans, now calling themselves “Chicanos,” launched a broad struggle for civil rights in the late 1960s. Groups such as the Brown Berets formed to protest police brutality in Hispanic neighborhoods, and went on to start free clinics and protest the Vietnam War. In early ’68, Chicano groups organized the first “blow-outs” of MexicanAmerican students from inner-city public schools—walkouts in protest of discriminatory educational practices. Also gathering strength was the United Farm Workers union, who strongly identified with the Chicano rights movement. The American Indian Movement (AIM), organized in ’68, was part of a broader national movement to focus attention on the rights and identity of Native people. Led by urban Indian activists, groups such as AIM in Minneapolis and United Native Americans in San Francisco mounted protests focusing on issues such as housing discrimination and police brutality. An AIM denim jacket, patches, and buttons are displayed here. All items feature AIM’s distinctive logo, with a red-and-black profile of an Indian warrior and a twofingered “peace” sign. NOVEMBER: “THE VOTES ARE IN” The 1968 presidential election is considered one of the most significant in history. Nixon’s win for the Republicans prompted a major political realignment. From 1933 to 1968, Democrats, riding the wave of New Deal liberal politics defined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, won seven out of nine presidential elections. But from 1968 to 2008, Republicans won seven out of 10 presidential elections. -MORE-

ADD NINE/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH In ’68, the Democratic consensus quickly broke apart over debates about civil rights, “law and order” issues, “permissiveness,” and the conduct of the Vietnam War. White southerners, once reliably Democratic, shifted decisively to Republican ranks. Hubert H. Humphrey won less than 10 percent of the white Southern vote. From 1968 to 2008 only two Democrats, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, were elected president, and both were native Southerners. Not until 2008 was a Northern Democrat, Barack Obama, elected president. Nixon had served as vice president for eight years under President Dwight D. Eisenhower but lost his own bid for president to John F. Kennedy in 1960. But in 1968, Nixon ran a brilliant campaign for the Republican nomination, holding off challenges from the more moderate Nelson Rockefeller and the more conservative Ronald Reagan. In the general election, Nixon effectively outflanked George Wallace by appealing to Southern whites with his “law and order” platform. Nixon narrowly edged out Humphrey in the popular vote. In this section of The 1968 Exhibit, visitors learn about the presidential candidates’ platforms on a touch screen monitor. A curtained voting booth complete with pull lever— used in the’68 election—allows visitors to cast their vote for any individual who had been a declared candidate in the race and compare their preferences with those of other visitors on a monitor. DECEMBER: “IN THE BEGINNING” The year 1968—a year of shock and violence, horror and despair—ended, unpredictably, on an uplifting note. Three American astronauts were successfully launched into space and became the first humans to orbit the moon. Visitors enter a similar living room from the beginning of the exhibition—but with a fullsized replica of the Apollo 8 Command Module. Television reports of the launch and mission unfold while the image of the “Earthrise” is displayed, accompanied by audio of the crew reading from the Bible’s Book of Genesis. The original Apollo 8 Command Module is currently on exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. The model on display replicates the exact size and shape of the module and its new lunar module docking assembly, as well as the pattern and width of the reflective silver insulating tape. Since most of the actual module’s silver tape burned off during re-entry, this replica reproduces the appearance of the module on Christmas Eve 1968. The “bubble” helmet and wrist-watch worn by astronaut Jim Lovell, Jr. (who would later command the famous Apollo 13 mission), are also featured. The helmet is made of a clear polycarbonate material and aluminum and locked into the top of a spacesuit. The Omega Speedmaster Chronograph wrist-watch was chosen by NASA for the U.S. space program for its precision and reliability. The program required a manual-winding wrist chronograph that was waterproof, shock-proof, anti-magnetic, and able to withstand -MORE-

ADD TEN/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH temperatures ranging from 0 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and accelerations of 12 G’s. A three-ring booklet/checklist of tasks used by Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders in his capacity as lunar module pilot is also featured here. These artifacts are on loan from the National Air and Space Museum. LOUNGES The exhibition also features four immersive, interactive “lounges,” dispersed throughout the months. TV & Movie Lounges The movie “season” of 1967–68 marked one of the great turning points in Hollywood history, a moment when boundaries were stretched and old assumptions challenged. Westerns and big-budget musicals like Funny Girl and Oliver!, and stars like John Wayne and Katharine Hepburn were still big at the box office. In the theaters, violence was hitting the screen as never before, in movies like Bonnie and Clyde and Bullitt. The “youth” movie was becoming smarter and edgier, as The Graduate and Petulia made clear. New frontiers were opening for the horror and science-fiction genres, with such diverse products as 2001: A Space Odyssey, the low-budget Night of the Living Dead, and the scary-hip Rosemary’s Baby. Younger visitors may be shocked to learn that in 1968 there was no cable TV, almost no satellite-TV transmissions, and no home video-recorders. There were just three major networks, a few obscure UHF channels, and a scattering of educational TV channels. But television was changing. Homes with color TV sets in the living room jumped from 5 million in 1966 to nearly 14 million in 1968—almost none of them made overseas. News programming took on special urgency in this turbulent year, perhaps signaled by the debut of 60 Minutes. The year marked the last full season for The Monkees, Star Trek, The Andy Griffith Show, and the oft-censored Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour. Although the top-rated show of ’68 was a new one, the crazily countercultural Laugh-In, the rest of the year’s lineup is evidence of how predictable and “safe” much of ’60s pop culture actually was, with shows like The Beverly Hillbillies, Bonanza, Family Affair, Gunsmoke, Here’s Lucy, and Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. In the TV & Movie Lounge, visitors settle into bean bag chairs to watch clips from TV shows such as Laugh-In, Gunsmoke and The Monkees and films such as Bonnie and Clyde, Funny Girl and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Highlights from the Olympic Games, Super Bowl II, and the World Series are also shown. Items found in this lounge include Mattel Co.’s talking “Mrs. Beasley” doll from the television show Family Affair, a Super Bowl II football, a baseball cap worn by Catfish Hunter during his no-hitter on May 8, the blue-grey sweater and blue shoes worn by Fred Rogers in the TV show Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, Laugh-In View-Master slides, a Laugh-In record album, and a “Sock it to me” t-shirt, made popular by Laugh-In. -MORE-

ADD ELEVEN/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH Style Lounge While the boldness of pop art or the clean lines of European products found their way into some textiles and graphics and consumer items, most American design remained conservative. Living rooms around the country filled up with “Mediterranean modern” furniture and kitchens boasted appliances in colors like “Harvest Gold” or “Avocado.” In the Style Lounge, visitors can explore the world of consumer goods from 1968, including plastics—molded into furniture, stitched into clothing and shaped into household goods—along with denim jeans, wood paneling, and shag carpeting. Some key objects include patched blue jeans, a Munsingwear bathrobe, a glossy orange purse, and a patent black and white tote. Music Lounge Between the “Summer of Love” in ’67 and the Woodstock Festival of ’69 came 1968—as volatile and fractured a year in music as it was in the rest of society. Music of the “counterculture”—psychedelic rock and hippie anthems—grabbed the headlines from San Francisco to New York. Rock music was instantly drawn into national conversations about youth, free love, drugs, and political rebellion. Rock and roll got louder, electronic instruments made a big splash, and there were pop explorations of mysticism and sheer noise. In the Music Lounge, original albums are interspersed with shadow boxes displaying concert tickets, programs, posters, and autographs from musicians of the era. Visitors also can take a music quiz and make their own album covers that can be sent to their personal email address for sharing. This lounge also features a “Yellow Submarine” lunchbox from the Beatles’ popular Yellow Submarine animated film. Community Lounge The Community Lounge was created by the National Constitution Center as a space where visitors can share memories (through post-it notes) of subject matter including politics, the Vietnam War, pop culture, innovation, and civil rights. The lounge also features a special program titled Stories of ’68, where members of the public, local television and radio personalities, and other well-known Philadelphians will be invited to share their recollections of the extraordinary year with visitors in a discussion led by a member of the museum’s staff.

The 1968 Exhibit brings to life one of America’s most colorful, chaotic, culture-shifting years and illuminates the power of “We the People” to exercise and expand our -MORE-

ADD TWELVE/THE 1968 EXHIBIT WALKTHROUGH freedoms. Open to the public from June 14 to September 2, 2013, the exhibit features artifacts such as an actual Bell “Huey” helicopter used by the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War; icons of space exploration including a full-size replica of the Apollo 8 command module; and original concert tickets, posters, and autographs. The 1968 Exhibit is organized by the Minnesota History Center in association with the Atlanta History Center, the Chicago History Museum, and the Oakland Museum of California, and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The 1968 Exhibit is included in the cost of general museum admission, which includes the award-winning theatrical performance Freedom Rising, iconic Signers’ Hall, and The Story of We the People exhibition. General museum admission prices are $14.50 for adults, $13 for seniors ages 65 and over, and $8 for children ages 4–12. Active military personnel and children ages 3 and under are free. Group rates also are available. For tickets and information, call 215.409.6700 or visit constitutioncenter.org. CBS 3 and The CW Philly are the official media partners of the exhibition. CBS 3 (KYWTV) and The CW Philly 57 (WPSG-TV) are part of CBS Television Stations, a division of CBS Corporation. ###