It's Back to the 60s

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most treasured and visited places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry that initially appeared in one of those highly-readable blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian

The Acid Test

Pop goes the 60s

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its opening to the public by showcasing a Ford Mustang made in 1964 and taking a look at the early 1960s from the aspects of culture, technology and science in two exhibition cases. 

The displays will be surrounded by newspaper headlines that will appear as floor graphics and set the stage for transporting visitors back to the year in which civil rights legislation passed, American casualties in Vietnam rose, the Beatles arrived and IBM announced its System 360, a mainframe computer-system family.

“The early 1960s found Americans caught between the optimism of a future where humankind could reach the moon and the pessimism brought about by President Kennedy’s assassination,” said John Gray, director of the museum. “Much like today, technological advances were changing American culture and life in complex ways. We help our visitors understand the complexities of the past; by learning about our rich history, we can be better prepared to move forward despite the difficulties or uncertainties the future may bring.”

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian Newsdesk, click here.