|
-
- UNITED STATES
- Within a glittering facade of multi-colored glass, this huge building, 330 feet long, offers a vivid and varied view of America's "Challenge to Greatness" - a theme endorsed by the late John F. Kennedy. Included are two films - one of them a dramatization of the nation's immigrant origins, the other a color spectacular that whisks the visitor through America's past to a future landing on the moon. There is also a modern, computer-run research library. Engraved in the pavilion's foyer, lines from a poem by Archibald MacLeish provide a keynote to the exhibit: "America is never accomplished."
- * Admission: free.
- Highlights
-
- VOYAGE TO AMERICA. Beyond the entrance foyer is the first of the building's two theaters. It has continuous showings of a 10-minute film, dramatizing the nation's continual renewal as refugees reach the shores to begin life afresh.
- PEACE AND FREEDOM. Two large halls are filled with illustrations of the American pursuit of peace and liberty.
- ¶"The Challenge to Freedom" presents the effects of progress on American life. For example, a piece of highway machinery that replaces 30 men symbolizes both production advances and the problems of unemployment. The displays also include three-dimensional examples of miracles of modern science - including an oscilloscope that picks up sounds made by stars and by snails eating lettuce, demonstrating that the paths of pure science may lead anywhere.
- ¶ "Challenge of a Peaceful World" depicts America's role in international affairs and looks ahead to uncharted space. Here, among other things, world news pours in over teletype machines; Peace Corpsmen talk about their experiences; a seismograph and a nuclear-detection satellite illustrate new techniques of arms control; and an operating model of the Mariner spaceship that made the Venus probe in 1962 is on display. In addition, an exhibit of children's art portrays the worldwide hope for peace.
- THE PAST AS PROLOGUE. The entire second floor of the pavilion is the setting for an extraordinary film, prepared with new motion picture techniques, which whips the whole American past into a prologue for the future. The production brings history back to life: lightning flashes as Franklin flies his kite, the waters churn as Fulton launches his steamboat, and the cannon roar as Civil War breaks out. The viewer is swept into the future as a rocket soars past the swirling Milky Way, to the moon and then beyond. Shown continuously, the film employs a host of revolutionary techniques - sliding screens, rising screens, screens that form a tunnel, and explosive sound effects. Visitors see the movie as they ride on moving grandstands.
- PAVILION POSTSCRIPT. Before leaving the building, visitors are offered the following services in the specially created "Challenge of Information" Library.
- ¶ Reference lists on every subject covered in the pavilion are prepared for any one of five educational levels - elementary, high school, adult, college or graduate research. In addition, librarians use computers to provide listings of current periodical literature on almost any subject.
- ¶ Copies of short essays (about 700 words) are available on each of the 76 basic concepts of the U.S. Pavilion program.
- ¶ An adult reading area is built around the collection of books selected for the new White House library.
- ¶ A children's room, with more than 2,000 domestic and 500 foreign books, also features movies and storytelling hours.
-
|
|
|
|
-
- UNITED STATES
The nation's past and its progress toward President Johnson's "Great Society" are outlined in many dramatic exhibits and a spectacular 15-minute film-ride.
Behind the pavilion's colorful facade, monumental staircases and an escalator lead up to a huge inner court. An introductory film dramatizes the nation's immigrant origins. A large exhibit hall leads to a spectacular, multiscreen film-ride that transports the visitor through America's past to its future in the Space Age.
VOYAGE TO AMERICA. The opening film is a tribute to the millions of immigrants who have made priceless contributions to the culture and capabilities of the U.S.
THE GREAT SOCIETY. Exhibits illustrate the challenges that face the U.S. in such fields as science, the arts, and world peace.
AMERICAN JOURNEY. Visitors travel on a moving grandstand through 472 years of American history as an extraordinary 15-minute film production unfolds. Novel multiscreen techniques and startling sound effects bring the past to life: lightning flashes as Franklin flies his kite; the waters churn as Fulton launches his steamboat; old-time movies recall the Roaring Twenties. In the finale the viewer is swept into the future on an imaginary rocket flight into space.
HALL OF PRESIDENTS. A separate new exhibit area is filled with the memorabilia of eminent U.S. chief executives: Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Jackson, Polk, Lincoln, Cleveland, Wilson, the Roosevelts, Truman, Eisenhower and Kennedy.
LIBRARY/USA. Members of the American Library Association answer visitor's questions and provide reference lists on every subject covered in the pavilion. A Univac computer produces 700-word essays in four seconds on any of the concepts exhibited. An adult reading room is built around some of the late President Kennedy's favorite books and the collection selected for the new White House library. A children's area with more than 2,500 books also features movies and storytelling hours.
¶ Admission: free.
|
|
|
1.21.01
|
