Lorenzo Center's Exhibit Is a Blast from the Past

The 1950s may be decades behind us, but the influence of the era still lingers heavily on our world today. Don't believe it? Check out the new exhibit at the Lorenzo Cultural Center on Macomb Coummunity College's center campus. The 1950s: Affluence and Anxiety in the Atomic Age opens Feb. 26 and runs through May 7.

Sure, the Cold War may be over and we know duck-and-cover won't amount to a hill of beans, but those years were a bigger influence than one would think.

"The 1950s was a time when many of the patterns of life that we now live in with the Detroit region were first beginning to form," said Christine Guarino, director of cultural affairs at Macomb Community College. "From the rise of the suburbs–which obviously was a crucial part of the development of Macomb County–to the rise of local TV news, the 1950s was when the foundation was laid for much of what we now take for granted."

So what can show-goers expect? Two ongoing exhibits will be set up in the cultural center–Atoms for Peace, a display of lithographs on loan from The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History; and Affluence and Anxiety in the Atomic Age, a multimedia look at life in the 1950s.

The exhibit also includes more than two dozen free presentations on topics as varied as The Detroit Six, McCarthyism, the Korean War, toys of the time, the space race, civil rights, women in the time and much more. They–and the exhibits–are free to see, but an appointment is necessary for presentations.

Presentation highlights include:

• Autoworkers in Detroit in the 1950s, March 3.
• Building the Mackinac Bridge, March 18.
• Remembering Hudson's: The Grand Dame of Retailing, March 23.
• 1950s Detroit Music: Jazz, Rhythm and Blues, Rock 'n' Roll, March 27.
• Ozzie Virgil Breaks the Tigers' Color Line, March 30.
• Detroit in the 1950s: Tail Fins, Freeways and Fears Below the Surface, April 2.
• Soapy: A Biography of G. Mennen Williams, April 3.
• The History of the Lone Ranger and the Detroit Connection, April 10.
• Crabgrass Frontier: The Past and Future of Metropolitan Detroit, April 13.
• Separating Space: The Suburbanization of Detroit, April 15.
• Rust and Race: Detroit and the Myths of the 1950s, April 29.

Plus, there will be chances to enjoy the sounds of the times, including a concert by The Platters  and Cornell Gunter's Coasters (March 18, $15-40), and a 1950s Sock Hop (April 30, $10), which includes dance contests, hula hooping and more.

The exhibit also includes the Speaker Series, featuring lectures by award-winning authors and historians:

• The 1950s: American Life in the Shadow of the Bomb, featuring historian Paul Boyer, March 10.
• Polio: A Look Back at America's Most Successful Public Health Crusade, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David M. Oshinsky, March 30.
• McCarthyism to Terrorism, featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Haynes Johnson, April 14.
• The Russians Are Coming! Eisenhower and the Cold War, featuring author Susan Eisenhower, the granddaughter of the former president, May 5.

Tickets must be purchased for the Speaker Series presentations, all of which begin at 7 p.m. Those interested can buy a package for all four presentations, at the price of $60, which includes admission to the Meet & Greet reception with each presenter at 5:30 p.m. Individual tickets for presentations are $15, or $5 for seniors, students and military personnel. Individual tickets to presentations with the Meet & Greet are $20.

To buy tickets, call 586-286-2222 or visit www.MacombCenter.com.