Sentimental Sunday: My Stuff in a Museum Exhibit!

Back in January, I was contacted by the exhibit curator at the Institute of Texan Cultures (ITC) in San Antonio, who was working on an ITC 50th anniversary exhibit that would open in April. A colleague shared a blog post I'd done about the ITC with her, and she wrote to ask if I might let them use my photo of the ITC taken in August 1968 from the Tower of the Americas (part of Hemisfair '68, the 1968 World's Fair).

Of course I said yes!  I pointed them to my Hemisfair blog post, and they wanted to borrow a postcard (front and back) from that as well.  I sent high resolution images of all three.

Last week I was in San Antonio for a workshop, and went by the ITC briefly to view their Viva Hemisfair exhibit.  I knew from the exhibit's web page that my stuff was there, but I wanted to see it for myself.

Here's the wall that my three items are on.  They are just to the right of the big "Hemisfair '68 Souvenirs" sign, and just to the left of the white magnet board where visitors are invited to share their own Hemisfair '68 memories.





Below is an enlargement showing the three items (or really two, as the postcard had a reverse side) that I gave permission for the ITC to use in the exhibit.

Here is the photo (enlarged in the display) on the right in the grouping above, which I took in August 1968, along with the caption the ITC staff put below it:

It reads, "Eleven-year-old Amanda Pape captured this photo of the Texas Pavilion from the Tower of the Americas.  She wrote about her visit to the fair in a postcard to her pen pal Mimi.  Courtesy Amanda Pape."

On the left hand side of the grouping are the front and back (enlarged of course) of a postcard I purchased at Hemisfair to send to my Girl Scout pen pal Mimi.

On the back of the postcard, I wrote, "Aug. 15 - Dear Mimi, Hemisfair was great!  We didn't get to see everything, though.  The best thing[s] were the Texas and Italy pavilions, the IBM [and] Coke pavilions, Tower of the Amer[icas], the Laterna Magica show, and the rollar [sic] coaster.  Many other things are good, too, but I can't remember them right now and I'm in a hurry.  I bought a Japanese fan, in a Japanese shop.  I'll tell you about more things at Hemisfair later on.  We're having fun. ALP!"

What a thrill!

I plan to go back with my husband later this year (the exhibit is open through December 31, 2018), to explore this exhibit and the ITC's 50th anniversary exhibit in more detail, as well as to re-visit the displays of the ITC, which was the Texas Pavilion during Hemisfair.  The ITC still documents the contributions of various immigrant and ethnic groups to Texas history and culture.

© Amanda Pape - 2018 - click here to e-mail me.