New Exhibit | Tomorrow’s Scientists: Children’s Literature of the Cold War Era
University of Oregon Libraries and Eugene Public Library are pleased to announce a joint exhibition titled Tomorrow’s Scientists: Children’s Literature of the Cold War Era, now on display.
As we reflect on the 50th anniversary of the manned moon landing, this exhibition presents original manuscripts, artifacts, illustrations, and rare books which explore the intersection of politics, space, and technology in children’s literature published during the height of the Cold War.
The joint exhibits are on display at two locations:
Special Collections and University Archives
Knight Library, Paulson Reading Reading Room, Second Floor North
On display through March 2020 | check open hours here
Drawing upon Special Collections and University Archives’ extensive Children’s Literature Collections, this display presents original materials from twentieth century children’s book illustrators, authors, and publishers that highlight the complex intersections between American politics and children’s literature during the Cold War era.
This exhibit documents a range of political issues represented in juvenile popular culture during this period including: science education initiatives in America, responses to the launch of Sputnik I, developments in nuclear energy, the history of the US space program, and Communism ideologies and reactions.
Eugene Public Library
Downtown Library, Children’s Center, First Floor
On display through January 2020 | check open hours here
Little Golden Books, science texts for children, facsimile illustrations, and vintage toys on display at Eugene Public Library illustrate the impact of the space race on popular culture and boom of science publishing in the mid-twentieth century. In many of these works, authors and illustrators presented children of the 1950s–1960s with utopian visions of a future filled with space suits and flying cars on the eve of space exploration.
Tomorrow’s Scientists was curated by by Danielle Mericle (Curator of Visual Materials) and Alexa Goff (Special Projects Processing Archivist).
University of Oregon exhibition production support by Mandi Garcia (Library Design and Exhibits Coordinator), Marilyn Mohr (Collections Conservator), Jason Stone (Strategic Communications and Writing Specialist), Randy Sullivan (Digital Production Manager), and DJ Wyrick (Microcomputing Support Technician).
Eugene Public Library exhibition production support by Hadley Brown (Youth Services Librarian) and Laura Philips (City of Eugene LRCS Marketing & Public Information).
Original materials courtesy of Special Collections and University Archives, Knight Library, Danielle Mericle, and Eugene Public Library.
Facsimile materials courtesy of Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum and NASA.
