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We, as a society of peoples, need self-reflection as a form of finding ourselves. The humanities showcase our artistic and cultural richness, while creating understandings of our diverse heritage. As Washingtonians’ lives become more complex and society spends less time in reflection, we need to bring our diverse people together in harmony through exploration of the past, culture, race, and religion. There is no better way to experience life than through the humanities.

 Greg Bever
Publisher, Spokane Journal of Business
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Yesterday's Tomorrows

Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future

Mars AttacksExamining the history of the future teaches us about the past. Visions of the future are cultural predictions that tell us something about the times and culture in which they were created. In examining these predictions, we can see how forecasts change as societal needs, fears and conditions change. During the past 100 years, American visions of the future have fluctuated between secular utopias characterized by breathtaking leaps of science and technology and urban chaos fraught with danger and disintegration. Yesterday's Tomorrows provides a unique opportunity to reexamine futuristic visions and the society which created them, thus giving us a deeper understanding of American history and culture.

Finding the Future
Westinghouse RobotThe future exists only in our imaginations. But, during the twentieth century, Americans have expressed their imaginings about the future in books, movies, magazines, television, radio, toys and advertising. The future presented in these media ranges from cheerful utopias of technological wizardry to dark visions of societal dysfunction.

Home of Tomorrow
During the nineteenth century, Americans thought that proper housing was essential to the future social and moral health of their families. But ideas about the home evolved: the home became a "machine for living," and modern architecture, mass production and increased automation within the home took precedence over real human and societal needs. Home designs continued to reflect contemporary beliefs about family life, gender roles and social relations. Many of today's home designs show exteriors that hearken back to the past with interiors replete with the latest gadgets.

Visionary CityCommunity of Tomorrow
"Ideal" American communities envisioned in the early twentieth century reflected hopes, excitement and fears about the reality of an increasingly urban society. Strategies for future communities were marked by a series of contradictions: communitarianism v. individualism, image v. social reality, utopia v. urban chaos. Today, planned communities where work, leisure and domestic life can be harmoniously integrated echo the communitarian utopias of the nineteenth century.

Transportation of Tomorrow
Futuristic vehicles are uniquely American ways of imagining tomorrow, reflecting Americans' faith in progress and technology. Before the 1920's, mass transit systems dominated Americans' visualizations of tomorrow's transportation. But the automobile became the dominant mode of transportation and so was the focus of designers' and planners' futuristic visions.

Yesterday's Tomorrows toured Washington State in 2004-2005. Yesterday's Tomorrows offers a unique history of popular expectations and beliefs about the shape of things to come. It examines ways that Americans of yesteryear have envisioned our collective future.Humanities Washington toured the exhibit to twelve small and rural museums in Washington State in 2004-2005, drawing over 319,000 admissions.

March 20 - May 1, 2004

Columbia River Exhibition of History,
Science and Technology (CREHST)

 Richland

 
May 8 - June 19, 2004 Moses Lake Museum of
Arts and Culture		 Moses Lake
June 26 - Aug. 7, 2004 Shoreline Historical Museum Shoreline
Aug. 14 - Sept. 25, 2004 Polson Museum Hoquiam
October 2 - Nov. 13, 2004 Cowlitz County Museum Kelso
Jan. 8 - Feb. 19, 2005 Gig Harbor Historical Museum Gig Harbor
Feb. 26 - April 9, 2005 Dayton Historical Depot Museum Dayton
April 16 - May 28, 2005 Kittitas County Historical Museum Ellensburg
June 4 - July 16, 2005 Yakima Valley Museum Yakima
July 23 - Sept. 3, 2005 San Juan County Historical Museum Friday Harbor
Sept. 10 - Oct. 15, 2005 Upper Valley Museum Leavenworth
Oct. 22 - Dec. 31, 2005 Snohomish County Museum Everett

 

Following is a list of literary, film and internet resources related to the Yesterday's Tomorrows exhibit:

Book List for Adults

Moon PortCompiled by Nancy Pearl, former Executive Director of the Washington Center for the Book

  • Atwood, Margaret: Handmaid's Tale
  • Bradbury, Ray: Fahrenheit 451
  • Burgess, Anthony: A Clockwork Orange
  • Clarke, Arthur C.: Childhood's End
  • Graves, Robert: Seven Days in New Crete
  • Hoban, Russell: Riddley Walker
  • Huxley, Aldous: Brave New World
  • Lowry, Lois: The Giver
  • Morris, William: News from Nowhere
  • Orwell, George: 1984
  • Piercy, Marge: Woman on the Edge of Time
  • Skinner, B.F.: Walden Two
  • Verne, Jules: Paris in the Twentieth Century
  • Vonnegut, Kurt: Galapagos
  • Wells, H.G.: The Time Machine

 

Filmography

Prepared by Paul West, movie reviewer for Seattle Times

  • A Clockwork Orange (1971) Story of a technologically-overwhelmed society run amok by violent gangs
  • A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) Futuristic fable centered around an eerily lifelike robot-child
  • Alien series (1979 - 1996) Showcase futuristic platoons combating aliens and encountering species
  • Back to the Future series (1985 - 1991) Second installment has vision of future, 2015
  • Blade Runner (1981) Futuristic detective neo-noir, centered around expansive vision of city
  • Brazil (1985) Update of "Metropolis"
  • Dark City (1998) Blend of sci-fi and film noir, with apocalyptic setting
  • Escape From New York/L.A. (1981; 1996) Gloom-and-doom sci-fi visions of NYC and LA
  • Fahrenheit 451 (1966) Futuristic drama about a fireman who burns books
  • Forbidden Planet (1956) Update of Shakespeare's "The Tempest"; outer-space exploration on new planet
  • Gattaca (1997) Plausible vision of human cloning; combines murder mystery and love story along with sci-fi
  • Mad Max series (1979 - 1985) Three films set in society overrun by motorcycle gangs
  • Metropolis (1927) Ultimate vision of futuristic city; man-vs.-machine
  • Minority Report (2002) Cop thriller about privacy invasion and controversial legal system; set in 2054, mix of contemporary and futuristic ideas
  • RoboCop (1987) Satire of news, police procedural dramas, marrying man with machine
  • Sleeper (1973) Comic vision of the future by Woody Allen
  • Solaris (1972; 2002) Somewhat futuristic, character-driven drama set in space station
  • Soylent Green (1973) Set in 2002 and dealing with overpopulation, environmental problems, and a society gone insane
  • Star Trek series: Space travel
  • Star Wars series (1977 - present) Outer-space adventures
  • Strange Days (1995) Semi-futuristic film where people "deal" virtual reality much like drugs are dealt; sci-fi apocalyptic setting, vision of what future could be like
  • Terminator series (1984 - 2003) Gloom-and-doom, man-vs.-machine; also involves nuclear holocaust
  • The City of Lost Children (1996) Futuristic wonderland with bizarre sets, costumes, characterizations
  • The Fifth Element (1995) Light-hearted variation on "Metropolis"; similar to "Star Wars"
  • The Truman Show (1998) Man lives inside television show; semi-futuristic
  • Total Recall (1990) Travel to another planet, live inside another man's dreams
  • Waterworld (1994) If the ice caps melt…
  • White Man's Burden (1996) Quasi-futuristic movie, reversing the stigmas associated with races
  • 12 Monkeys (1996) Man sent back in time to stop a lethal virus that wipes out billions in the future
  • 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) Set in 2001, but timeless vision of what the future could be like; stages of evolution play role

 

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