Exhibits : Special Exhibits

Women in War: Reflections of Courage
July 1 – September 16, 2007

Presenting Sponsor: AT&T
With support from the City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs

To kick-off Fair Park’s annual Independence Day Celebration on July 1, The Women’s Museum will premiere Women in War: Reflections of Courage; a snapshot of American women and their experiences during wartime using rare photographs, artifacts, textiles, and manuscripts. This exhibit will invite guests to take a three-dimensional “walk in women’s shoes” through the wars that have changed and shaped America over the last two hundred years. Guests will have the opportunity to study historical documents and artifacts from some of the nation’s leading collections pertaining to women in war and conflict. Notable items include military uniforms from the Woman’s Collection at Texas Woman’s University, a large photograph collection from the Arthur and Elizabeth Schlesinger Library on the History of Women in America at Harvard University, and full fatigues from the present-day War in Iraq.

Other items will be drawn from the Pearce Civil War Museum at Navarro College, the Texas Civil War Museum, and other repositories around the state of Texas. The collections featured in Women in War: Reflections of Courage will demonstrate the historical context and significance of women during times of American conflict by illustrating how war affected women, giving them the chance to change the course of history.

Star-Struck: Hollywood Costumes & Designers, 1932 – 2006
September 28 – October 28, 2007

Mary Rose, the curator of the famous Marilyn Monroe Exhibit at the Museum during the State Fair of Texas 2006, brings her knowledge and expertise with authenticated Hollywood memorabilia to produce this astonishing exhibit of famous costumes worn by our most captivating “leading women.” The exhibit, Star-Struck will premiere at The Women’s Museum: An Institute for the Future, just in time for the State Fair of Texas, September 28 through October 28, 2007. Fans will be Star-Struck all over again when viewing major movie stars costumes from favorite films spanning the years 1932 to 2006. A retrospect of costumes worn by Claudette Colbert, Elizabeth Taylor, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews, and Barbara Streisand’s finest moments on film combined with a jolt of such pop culture divas as Kate Winslett, Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and the Dreamgirls is not to be missed! A spectacular array of 50 original designer’s sketches will accompany the costume collection. Many sketches are Academy Award winning or nominated films from 1965 to 2006, from “Sound of Music” to Hollywoodland. Various movie posters and film clips will make this walk of fame as memorable as a visit to Groman’s Chinese Theater.

This exhibit is a once in a lifetime experience unless you saw parts of it in Japan last year. Following its exhibition at The Women’s Museum, it will go back to its various owners around the country. The span of the actual garments worn by or designed by such living legends will attract tourist from the youngest pop star follower to the Gone with the Wind generations.