Cronkite exhibit spans newsman's career - LBJ School through through Jan. 3

[sonias]

AAS 5/15/10
Cronkite exhibit spans newsman's career

Walter Cronkite is coming home. Or, at least, his stuff is. The legendary American newscaster and former University of Texas student — he attended during the 1930s and worked as a Daily Texan reporter — died July 17, 2009, but the university has been collecting his personal and professional effects since 1988.

That's when Don Carleton, executive director of UT's Briscoe Center for American History, met Cronkite to put in his bid for the center as a repository for Cronkite's papers and other memorabilia. The two became fast friends and remained so until Cronkite's death, when Carleton was dispatched to the newsman's office and New York apartment to identify and organize the remainder of his belongings.

Cronkite's passing, the new acquisitions and an offer of space from the LBJ Library and Museum resulted in an opportunity to showcase ‘the most trusted man in America's' legacy in the exhibition ‘Cronkite: Eyewitness to a Century,' which opened Saturday, May 15 and runs through Jan. 3.

The exhibit explores Cronkite's entire life, emphasizing his proximity to history. Artifacts reveal his perspective on D-Day, the Kennedy assassination, civil rights, Vietnam, Watergate and, of course, the space program. But relics and papers can't tell the whole story, so the exhibit includes copious audio and video clips of Cronkite on the job.

‘It was very important to me that Walter be there,' Carleton explained. ‘You can go through and look at memorabilia and papers, but the person's not there. The only way you could really appreciate and understand Walter was actually seeing him in action.'

‘Cronkite: Eyewitness to a Century'

* Where: LBJ Library and Museum, 2313 Red River St.
* When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Jan. 3 (Closed Christmas Day)
* Cost: Free admission and parking
* Information: 721-0200, cronkiteexhibit.com


I'm super excited about seeing this. I hope other people from around the state who might be coming to Austin before January 3rd will get a chance to see this exhibit. I plan on going tomorrow. And that's the way it is!

:woohoo::bounce::woohoo::bounce:

[sonias]

1. The Cronkite exhibit - It rocks!

I hope lots more Texans get an opportunity to visit the LBJ Library and see the exhibit. Lots of great multimedia stuff, as expected. Of course there was the Kennedy assassination coverage and the moon landing coverage, and a good segment on political conventions as well. There are lot of clips of him talking about the particular news moments in an interview. The segment on his editorial comments about ending the Vietnam war was particularly good. A lot say this was the reason LBJ decided not to run for re-election. Once LBJ lost Walter Cronkite - the war was lost.

The segment on Watergate was very interesting. I don't think I remembered that Cronkite had such an important role in keeping that story alive. He did the first ever TV special coverage of the scandal. Brought everyone up to speed, so to speak. Made it easier to understand. The right wing really hated him for that.

The space section of the exhibit is really neat. Cronkite was a space buff and collected some nice props. This is probably only the second time I've seen footage of his reporting on the day we landed on the moon. He was speechless - he was so moved.

There are lots of his early career segments as well. He typed his letters home - he was a reporter from day one. :)

I wish I could have met him. He was a great journalist. :loveya: Walter!

[Princess Buttercup]

2. Great exhibit

I lucked out and got to go to a preview Friday evening. Very nice! Will take the parents this weekend.

[white cloud]

3. A great man

Can't wait. Thanks

[sonias]

4. Good for you

I'm sure they will enjoy it too. It was pretty busy even last Sunday. I still took my time to read as many of the letters as I could. I just had to wait while others got to read them too. But you can of course go back and forth as the crowd moves so you pick up anything you missed. And we have until Jan 3rd too.

:hi: