"What we landed on were those moments where individuals or communities had fought for recognition and advocated for their own sense of identity and self in their role in creating and becoming a part of the United States. But we also wanted to do the playful. Hartig describes the US as amazing, beautiful, complicated, and cites the African American writer James Baldwin's celebrated observation: American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it."
"Its answer is with 250 objects that tell the American story, ranging from a revolutionary war-era gunboat to gloves worn by a Miracle on Ice hockey player, from Thomas Jefferson's desk to a Donald Trump fan's Make America great again hat. How do you structure a commemoration, celebration and time for reflection? asks Anthea Hartig, the museum's director."
"Opening on 14 May, In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness will display 250 objects encompassing 250,000 sq ft across all three floors of the museum. They range from old to new, from big to small and from sublime to mundane. Seventy-six of them — many rarely or never seen by the public — will be concentrated in cases lining the entry halls, while the remainder will be embedded throughout the museum's existing galleries, connected by a ribbon design to guide visitors on a historical treasure hunt."
"Each is paired with an action verb to underscore Hartig's view of democracy as a highly participatory sport. She adds: We believe that this anniversary is so important not only to the nation but the world, and that our past 250 years are filled with so much"
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History will commemorate 250 years of U.S. independence with an exhibition opening 14 May titled In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness. The exhibition presents 250 objects spanning revolutionary-era and modern items, including a gunboat, Thomas Jefferson’s desk, hockey gloves from Miracle on Ice, and a Make America great again hat. The objects are organized to balance commemoration, celebration, and reflection by focusing on moments when individuals and communities fought for recognition and advocated for their identities within the United States. The museum will display 76 rarely or never seen objects in entry-hall cases and embed the rest across existing galleries, connected by a ribbon design for a historical treasure hunt. Each object is paired with an action verb to emphasize democracy as participatory.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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