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: An extraordinary year. An unforgettable exhibit.
There has never been another year like it, before
or since. It began with one of the Vietnam War’s
bloodiest battles and never let up. MLK and RFK.
Urban riots and college sit-ins. An Olympic year
and an election year. Women’s Lib and Black Power.
Stir it all together, mix in a lot of sex, drugs and
rock ’n’ roll, and you get 1968. A relentless year of
culture-shifting, life-changing, memory-stamping
events. all of it vividly detailed like never
before by television’s advancing influence.
Inescapable. Incomparable. Unforgettable. 1968.
comedy tragedy Step Down Shot Down

Love Hate Front Line Home Front

Grace POWER LAW & ORDER HEAVEN & EARTH

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

These materials are available online at: www.the1968exhibit.org/media

MARCH: “Clean For Gene”
Walking into this section, exhibit goers experience unrest on campuses
and student activism, especially the “Clean for Gene”
movement in support of Eugene McCarthy during his
run for the Democratic Party nomination for president.
Artifacts are incorporated into a dorm room setting.
The sexual revolution is represented by stories from
Linda LeClair, the Barnard co-ed who made national
headlines when she was disciplined for living off-campus
with her boyfriend.
APRIL: “I have been to the mountaintop.”
The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and its impact on the
American people is the centerpiece of this section. A media presenta-
tion unfolds in a small space suggesting the interior of an African-
American Church, much like the Masonic Temple where King deliv-
ered his “Mountaintop Speech” the day before his murder. That speech
along with oral history excerpts, film footage, radio broadcasts and
music convey the impact of King’s assassination.
MAY: “I Am Somebody”
Visitors continue their journey through the year by turning to the
Poor People’s Campaign and its “Resurrection City” on the National
Mall in Washington, D.C. Original artifacts include a pair of boots
worn by the campaign’s leader, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Another
part of this section deals with the role of the campaign in fostering
Mexican-American solidarity.
JUNE: “Death of Hope”
Robert F. Kennedy and the affect of his assassination on the
Democratic Party contest in 1968 is explored in this section. Visitors
come upon a collage of photographs taken from Kennedy’s funeral
train as it moved slowly from New York to Washington, D.C. Presi-
dential candidate Hubert H. Humphrey is also presented through a
case of campaign memorabilia ranging from buttons to flyers to a
mini-dress emblazoned with “HHH.”
Lounge: Take a Music Trip
In this vibrant space, hundreds of original albums cover the wall,
and shadowboxes contain artifacts like concert tickets, programs,
posters, photos and autographs from musicians such as Jimi Hendrix.
Visitors can test their knowledge of 1968 music by playing along
with an interactive music quiz projected on the lounge wall. Through
a “make-your-own album cover” interactive, visitors can create
1960s-inspired cover art and share their work both in the exhibit and
with friends on Facebook.
JULY: “Love it or Leave it”
This section focuses on the rise of conservatism: the emergence of
George Wallace as a viable third-party candidate; Ronald Reagan as a
candidate for the Republican nomination; Richard Nixon’s campaign
for “law and order;” and the growing power of conservative organiza-
tions in middle-class suburbs. Artifacts include campaign memora-
bilia from Wallace and from Georgia Governor Lester Maddox, among
others. A poster from the John Wayne film “The Green Berets”—
released on the 4th of July—draws attention to the backlash against
anti-war protests.
AUGUST: “Welcome to Chicago”
This major environment places the visitor in the center of the
confrontations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
Visitors hear the angry shouts of protestors, view news footage of
convention speeches and riots, and see candidates speaking to a
fragmented American public. Interviews from convention goers,
protestors, reporters and the Chicago police help frame the story, and
artifacts and images set the context.
SEPTEMBER: “Sisterhood is Powerful”
In September, visitors go to the 1968 Miss America pageant and
witness protests by feminist activists on the Atlantic City board-
walk. An installation recreates the protest scene: a stuffed sheep with
prize ribbon and a “Freedom Trashcan,” filled with “instruments of
torture”—high-heeled shoes, bras, girdles, hair curlers, false eyelashes,
typing books and copies of “Cosmopolitan,” “Playboy” and “Ladies
Home Journal.” Images of women in media and advertising, and the
increasing role of women in the American workplace are explored.
Lounge: Wish Book
Entering this lounge, visitors encounter the world of consumer goods
including plastics — molded into furniture, stitched into clothing and
shaped into household goods — along with denim jeans, wood panel-
ing, shag carpeting and other trendy items. Like the popular annual
Sears “Wish Book,” this area chronicles what Americans wore, how
they furnished their homes, how they spent their leisure time and
what they purchased as they achieved their dreams.
For a calendar of the year’s events, go to: www.the1968exhibit.org/media
OCTOBER: “Power to the People”
This section opens with the famous “Black Power” salute at the Mexico
City Olympic Games, and focuses on several social movements fight-
ing for inclusion and identity. Stories are drawn from the American
Indian Movement; women involved in the “Black Thursday” protest
at the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh for the creation of an African
American studies department; and the Brown Berets, the radical group
working for equal rights for Chicanos. Artifacts include a torch from
the 1968 Olympics, a Black Panther jacket, and personal items from
protestors.
NOVEMBER: “The Votes Are In”
A curtained voting booth—used in the
1968 elections—is set up for visitors.
Levers are marked with the names of
the presidential candidates. Visitors
learn about the candidates’ platforms,
cast their votes and then compare their
preferences with how the country voted
in 1968 and how other visitors voted
today. A monitor shows how the results
compare with the results from other
museum stops on the exhibit tour.
DECEMBER: “In The Beginning”
On entering the last area in the exhibit, visitors are confronted with
the same living room as in the January section—but instead of a
helicopter there is a full-sized replica of the Apollo 8 Command
Module. On a television, news reports of the launch and mission
unfold while the living room wall displays the image of the “Earthrise”
accompanied by the crew’s reading from the Book of Genesis. Artifacts
from the mission are on display.
The 1968 Exhibit: Spokespeople
Brian Horrigan, Lead Exhibit Developer
Brian Horrigan joined the Minnesota Historical Society in 1990 and
since then has led the development of more than a dozen exhibits,
many of which have earned national award recognition. Most recently,
Horrigan was the lead developer of “Minnesota’s Greatest Generation”
which in 2009 was honored by the National Endowment for the
Humanities with a prestigious “We the People” designation for promot-
ing knowledge and understanding of American history and culture.
As curator for the “The 1968 exhibit,” Horrigan is responsible for
developing thematic concepts, conducting oral history interviews,
securing loans for the exhibit and overseeing the exhibit’s comple-
tion. He has also been a contributing writer for the Society’s quarterly
periodical, “Minnesota History” magazine and has authored the blog
“Covering 1968” at www.the1968exhibit.org since July of 2009.
Interview subject areas:
• History of the 1960s • National scope of exhibit
• Design of the 1960s and partnering institutions:
• Music of the 1960s Oakland, CA, Chicago
• Exhibit artifacts and Atlanta
• Exhibit design & development
Dan Spock, Director, Minnesota History Center
Dan Spock has worked in museums for more than 28 years and has held
numerous positions including exhibit designer, exhibit developer and
program administrator. At the Minnesota History Center he oversees
exhibits, educational programs, visitor services and facilities management.
Over the past ten years as head of exhibitions, Spock has led a team in
the production of major and small exhibitions, many of which have
earned national award recognition. These exhibitions have appeared
at the History Center as well as venues across the country. Spock is
an ardent proponent of visitor-centered, experiential interpretive
approaches that value visitors as active learners. He believes exhibits
should explore informal uses of the past by the public as natural
avenues for generating active engagement with history. The exhibitions
developed by Spock and his team have ranged from multidisciplinary,
high immersion, interactive and media rich approaches designed for a
general family audience, to intensive community-based collaborations,
to site specific interpretive centers and trails, to more traditional art or
photography shows. More recently, Spock has led the development of
traveling exhibitions of national and international scope.
 Exhibit Tour Dates
Minnesota History Center
Oct. 14, 2011–Feb. 20, 2012

Oakland Museum of California

Mar. 31, 2012–Aug. 19, 2012

Atlanta History Center

Oct. 6, 2012–Feb. 24, 2013

National Constitution Center,

Philadelphia
Mar. 23, 2013–Sep. 2, 2013

Chicago History Museum

t.b.d.

Media Contact:
Jessica Kohen,
Minnesota History Center
651-259-3148
jessica.kohen@mnhs.org
345 Kellogg Boulevard West, St. Paul, MN, 55102-1906 • www.minnesotahistorycenter.org ©2011 MHS