Ray guns, robots, and plans for a nuclear-powered car are all part of “Yesterday’s Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future,” a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition that will have its Arizona premiere at the Challenger Space Center on March 15, and will remain on view through April 26, 2003. The exhibition examines what Americans of the past century expected our lives to be like at the millennium’s turn. Yesterday’s Tomorrows is presented by the Challenger Space Center, and is made possible by the Arizona Humanities Council. The Humanities Council has announced that after its premiere at the Challenger Center, the exhibition will visit 13 rural Arizona communities throughout 2003 and 2004. The exhibition was developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) with the National Museum of American History.
Yesterday’s Tomorrows features five, large, three-sided kiosks, each with a very visual and vibrant theme: Robots and Automation; Media and Visions of the Future; The Home of Tomorrow; The Future of Transportation; and Communities of the Future. The exhibit uses popular culture objects such as toys, books, movie stills, World’s Fair memorabilia, car designs, advertisements and models of architectural designs to examine ways in which Americans of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries have envisioned the future. Illustrations from a 1950’s Popular Mechanics magazine predict a house in which everything is made of plastic. (“The housewife in the year 2000 will be able to do her daily cleaning with a hose!”)
On Saturday, March 15, NASA’s official artist, Mr. Robert McCall, will open the exhibit with a presentation about his vision of the future. In addition, each Saturday of the exhibition will feature a theme relating to one of the kiosks (ie, Robots and Automation, Home of Tomorrow, etc.) For example, the Future of Transportation themed Saturday will feature an electric car on display from APS, while the Robots and Automation themed Saturday will feature a Robotics competition event. The exhibition will close on April 26 with a birthday party for several spry, 100-year-old local residents. Specific information about weekly speakers and activities is still being confirmed, and will be sent at a later date.
Yesterday’s Tomorrows is part of the Museum on Main Street program, a partnership of the Smithsonian Institution and State Humanities Councils. This partnership, established in 1991, was formed as a creative response to the challenge faced by rural museums to enhance their own cultural legacies. In addition to touring Arizona, the exhibition will simultaneously tour similar rural cultural institutions in Nebraska, Virginia, Ohio, and West Virginia.
Yesterday’s Tomorrows is generously supported by the United States Congress, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, and the Hearst Foundation. The exhibition is adapted from a larger one originally produced in cooperation with the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. Detailed information about the exhibit can be found at www.yesterdaystomorrows.com .
Each year, SITES shares the wealth of Smithsonian collections and research programs with millions of people outside of Washington, D.C. One of the Smithsonian’s four National Programs, SITES makes available a wide range of exhibitions about art, science, and history, which are shown not only in museums but wherever people live, work, and play. In the year 2002, SITES will celebrate 50 years of connecting Americans to their shared cultural heritage. Exhibition descriptions and tour schedules are available at www.si.edu/sites .
