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1957: A Year In The Collections

In 1957, the post-World War II baby boom peaked. President Eisenhower sent federal troops to Arkansas to uphold the court-ordered integration of public schools, and the Little Rock Nine bravely integrated Little Rock’s Central High School on September 25, 1957. In October, the Soviet Union launched the first space satellite, Sputnik I. It was followed in November by the spacecraft Sputnik 2, which carried Laika, the first animal to orbit the Earth. In December, the first U.S. satellite launch effort failed spectacularly when its Vanguard rocket exploded during liftoff. In reaction, American interest in space-related toys and science education soared.

It was a banner year for music. Elvis bought Graceland in Memphis, and he made his third and final appearance on "Ed Sullivan's Toast of the Town Show," where he was seen only from the waist up. Folk singer Pete Seeger was indicted for contempt of Congress in March for refusing to name personal and political associations before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Lennon and McCartney met for the first time, and great jazz, such as Miles Davis' model jazz, contintued to develop.

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, one of the first record labels to document “world music,” released an astounding number of recordings in 1957, including children’s songs, poetry, ambient sound, stories, experimental music, and landmark recordings like anthropologist Colin Turnbull’s Music of the Ituri Forest. These influential sounds helped fuel the American folk music revival (including Woody Guthrie, Seeger, and Lead Belly) and the protest music explosion of the '60s.

  • Sidewall

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • The Two Kings, Elvis Presley with B.B. King at WDIA Goodwill Review, Memphis, TN

    National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • Concept Car

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Satellite, Vanguard TV 3

    National Air and Space Museum
  • Model 71

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Child's Chair with Adjustable Seat

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Music Box, Sputnik Model

    National Air and Space Museum
  • light

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Desegregation of Central High School Little Rock, AR

    National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • Outfit worn by Carlotta Walls to Little Rock Central High School

    National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller

    National Museum of American History
  • Miles Ahead

    National Museum of American History
  • 40d Aniversario de la Revolucion Socialista

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Medal, Sputnik 1

    National Air and Space Museum
  • Dwight David Eisenhower and Richard Milhous Nixon Inaugural Medal

    Smithsonian American Art Museum
  • Model 800

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Die 3 Groschen-Oper [The Three-Penny Opera]

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Combination Desk

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • United Nations

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Design for a Clock Radio

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Textile Design: Cats and Birds

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Coronet

    Smithsonian American Art Museum
  • New Directions in Prose and Poetry, 16

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Drawing for Advertising, table and molded chairs

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Satellite Lunch Box

    National Museum of American History
  • Microscope and Lab Set

    National Museum of American History
  • Tulip

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Cup and saucer

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Homemaker

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • Bias Pull

    Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
  • Photograph of Terrence Roberts and soldiers at Little Rock Central High School

    National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • Report card for Carlotta Walls from Little Rock Central High School

    National Museum of African American History and Culture
  • South Elevation of a Split-Level House to be Erected in Palo Alto, California

    Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
  • 33c Sr. Seuss' "The Cat in the Hat" single

    National Postal Museum

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