The 1968 Exhibit — Developed by the Minnesota History Center in partnership with the Atlanta History Center, Chicago History Museum and Oakland Museum of California
The 1968 Exhibit: Historical Background
comedy tragedy Step Down Shot Down At the start of the 1960s, the United States was a superpower with
military strength and great economic prosperity. President John F.
Student revolutionaries did not bring an end to capitalism, nor did
they lead the masses to abandon material goods. But they did success-
Kennedy opened the decade by saying “It is a time for a new genera- fully call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops in Vietnam, gains were
tion of leadership to cope with new problems and new opportunities, made in the civil rights movement and women across the nation took
for there is a new world to be won.” control of their social and economic futures, increasing their presence
in the workforce by 50 percent during the 1960s. Fewer Americans
Indeed, during the 1960s students on campuses across the country lived in poverty, the elderly got better healthcare and America’s
took up the cause of creating a “new” and more just society. Highly workplace was more diverse and flexible. And towards the end of the
idealistic, they demanded desegregation, championed free speech and decade for the first time the United States landed a man on the moon.
protested the U.S. involvement in the war in Vietnam. They challenged
views of material culture, supported new roles for women and Still, optimism was fading and in its place was a growing sense of
explored alternative views of sex and marriage. Searching for a new doubt, anger and fear. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Robert Kennedy
identity, many dabbled in illicit drugs, created a new style of dress and were assassinated; American military power was challenged at home
Love Hate Front Line Home Front listened to new forms of music. and in the field; a growing tax burden created by expanding govern-
ment programs and a mounting war debt pushed the economy to the
After a landslide win in 1964, President Lyndon Johnson took up brink, while peaceful protests turned into violent displays of public
the call for social and economic justice, pushing through domes- disorder and rioting. The new youth slogan became “turn on, tune in,
tic programs including the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, the Voting and drop out.” Drug use was blamed for the deaths of Janis Joplin and
Rights Act of 1965, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, and the Office Jimi Hendrix. By the end of the 1960s women held nearly half the jobs
of Economic Opportunity. Prosperity meant the money was there to in the United States, but they earned only 60 percent as much as their
support these programs. Unemployment was low and salaries were male counterparts. And the manned space program was scaled back in
rising. Idealism was not just for students or counterculture groups, it favor of cheaper and more effective unmanned flights.
was embraced by people of all ages in public and private life.
Some argue the events of the 1960s fostered a culture of immoral-
But not every American took up the call for change. Many defended ity while creating a welfare state at the expense of an immense tax
the traditions of segregation and pushed for a limited role of govern- burden. Others say civil and political rights improved, social inequities
ment. A generation gap developed between parents who came of age were leveled and a renewed sense of American idealism was fostered.
Grace POWER LAW & ORDER HEAVEN & EARTH in the 1940s and 50s and the more experimental views of youth in the The debate is never more important than it is today. Those who lived
1960s. Some viewed long hair and bell bottoms as signs of anarchy through the 1960s are now in positions of leadership in American
while others saw explorations with drugs and sex as immoral. Critics government and society, and they are raising families and passing on
often labeled student protesters as self-indulgent and inexperienced. their beliefs to a new generation.
www.the1968exhibit.org/media
The 1968 Exhibit: Walkthrough
A National Traveling Exhibit, Premiering Oct. 14, 2011 at the Minnesota History Center
“The 1968 Exhibit” has 12 sections, corresponding to the months of the year, and three interactive
“lounges” focusing on movies, music, television and design. Throughout the exhibit, visitors experience
the sights and sounds of this media-saturated age, and hear stories from people who were a part of these
transformative times. As visitors explore the gallery, they will be able to use mobile devices to access a
web site featuring a calendar of events with film footage and oral history excerpts. The interface will allow
visitors to share links and make comments via social networking sites. A kiosk in the gallery will allow
access to the same content.
Introductory area:
In a huge title panel, the cutout numbers of “1968” are filled with helicopter while sounds of fighting on the front lines plays. A kiosk in
a dazzling montage of moving images from the year’s tumultuous this section highlights the increasing opposition to the war. Artifacts
events. include anti-war buttons and handbills, draft cards and induction
letters, and the personal effects of a soldier killed in action.
JANUARY: “The Living Room War”
Visitors find themselves in a living room where a Huey helicopter, Lounge: 1968: The Moving Image
flown in Vietnam in 1968, has “landed.” This setting underscores the The overall feeling of the lounge is playful and colorful. Visitors settle
enormous disruptive invasion of the war in Vietnam — the “living- into bean-bag chairs to watch clips from the year’s top television
room war.” A television features news reports and footage about the shows —“Laugh-In,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Smothers Brothers’ Comedy
war, particularly the escalating conflict of the Tet Offensive. Hour” and “Hawaii 5-0” — and movies — “Bonnie and Clyde,” “The
Graduate,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “2001: A Space Odyssey,” and “Bullitt.”
FEBRUARY: “We’re losing this war.” Highlights also include the year’s major televised sporting events —
On the opposite side of the helicopter, visitors encounter a media the Olympic Games, Super Bowl II and the World Series. Artifact cases
presentation featuring combat stories from war veterans, including are filled with lunchboxes, dolls, board games and sports memorabilia
celebrated novelist Tim O’Brien. Archival film is projected within the that evoke memories of the era’s pop culture icons.