Looking Back on the American Century

An Exhibition at the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum

February 5 – April 30, 2000

In 1940 publisher Henry Luce used the phrase "the American Century" to describe the emergence of the United States as the preeminent world power. Beginning with the accession of a young and energetic Theodore Roosevelt to the Presidency in 1901, the United States began to turn its vast resources onto the world stage. Since that time, through world wars, depression, boom times, social upheavals, scientific and technological developments, and cultural trends, the United States vigorously placed its stamp of influence on the 20th Century.

This exhibition presents a small taste of the American Century. It is, by no means a comprehensive or thorough examination of the times, but it brings together about three dozen important objects and documents that made the headlines during the last one hundred years.

"Looking Back on the American Century" is a retrospective of the past 100 years as well as a preview of the future. It is the Truman Library’s final museum exhibition prior to the beginning of an extensive two-year renovation. From the renovation will emerge the "Classroom for Democracy," a series of exhibitions, educational programs, and other new initiatives designed to infuse the Library with a new vitality, and to assure that it will serve new generations of Americans well into the 21st Century.

Examples of some of the objects featured in "Looking Back on the American Century" include the following:

• Original safety plug from "Fat Man," the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki, and a duplicate of the bomb casing itself
• Charles Lindbergh’s flight suit
• Russian-built full scale replica of "Sputnik," the first satellite, launched in 1957
• James Dean’s 1955 Triumph 500 motorcycle
• Microphone used by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during fireside chats
• Boat cloak worn by President Roosevelt, possibly at the Yalta Conference in 1945
• Original propeller from a 1911 airplane of Orville and Wilbur Wright
• A 1/4 scale model of the Wright Brothers’ 1903 flyer
• Amelia Earhart’s 1928 pilot license, signed by Orville Wright
• General Dwight D. Eisenhower’s signed D-Day message to his troops, 1944
• Stage suit worn by John Lennon during The Beatles’ rise in 1963-1964
• Stage suit worn by Elvis Presley
• September 9, 1957 telegram from Martin Luther King, Jr. to Dwight Eisenhower asking the President to intervene in the Little Rock school desegregation effort
• Original autograph of Baron von Richthofen ("The Red Baron), and fabric from his downed aircraft
• "Blue Max" decoration similar to that worn by "The Red Baron"
• A Ku Klux Klan robe and hood
• A 1915 Model T roadster
• Handcuffs used by escape artist Harry Houdini
• 1932 Academy Award presented to Walt Disney for the creation of Mickey Mouse
• Ship’s manifest from the Lusitania
• Dinner menu from RMS Titanic, dated April 14, 1912, the night the ship sank
• Fragment of a dresser from the Titanic
• Original score to "I’m Just Wild About Harry" by Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle
• Jeweled sword presented to General John J. Pershing by the City of London, 1919
• Eleanor Roosevelt’s knitting bag

Large photographic images of many of the major events and personalities of the century supplement the artifacts. In addition, visitors are tested on their knowledge of the century through a series of questions whose answers are revealed behind hinged doors. A concluding section of the exhibition describes the upcoming transformation of the Truman Library to create the "Classroom for Democracy."