Time Covers the 1960s @The National Portrait Gallery

Welcome to this week's Monday Must-See, Must-Do post. On Mondays, we offer an entry about some current exhibit, event, or dining experience in DC you should take in. Sometimes, we will write the post. Sometimes, it will be taken from another publication. But no matter who is the writer, we believe Monday Must-See, Must-Do will showcase something you shouldn't miss. 

Week in and week out, Time magazine covered the 1960s using all manner of covers created by some of the foremost artists of the day. 

A new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery featuring original cover art from the museum’s Time collection explores a selection of the major newsmakers, trends, and happenings that defined the 1960s.

Chronologically, the 1960s began with the inauguration of John F. Kennedy and ended with “one giant leap for mankind,” as Apollo 11 ferried 3 astronauts people to the moon and back.

In the intervening years, Time covered the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the escalation of the Vietnam War, civil rights, the women’s movement and cultural phenomena such as the Beatles, hippies and the sexual revolution

In addition to the artwork above, here is some more of what you will see if you visit the exhibition. Can you name them?

And if you want to recall or learn more about the 1960s, the NPG gift shop is ready for you.

Back to the 60s: History and Culture

1964. The Beatles had kicked off the musical British Invasion. LBJ was president. The Cold War was heating up in places like Vietnam. A World's Fair in New York City was promising a new tomorrow of technology and wonder.  And on January 23 of that year the Smithsonian opened the Museum of American History.

Today, all of the above are gone with the exception of the History Museum. To celebrate its founding year, the facility is showcasing 3 exhibits dealing with the time of its early 1960s establishment.

Here is a post of 1 of those exhibits including pictures of some of what you will see if you visit.

Of course, as a history museum, the Smithsonian Museum of American History deals with ... are you ready for this ... history.

But history is more than just dry facts and forgettable dates that you may have suffered in a boring history class. It is people, and activism, and service, and culture, and the arts and entertainment. It's lunch boxes and LPs. It's signs and sounds. It's from the past and gone, but it still has a life and lives. Sort of like these things:

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.