Upcoming exhibitions

Cold War Crisis: The U-2 Incident

January 16–May 30, 2010
On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 reconnaissance plane was shot down over the Soviet Union by a surface-to-air missile. Francis Gary Powers—a civilian pilot flying for the Central Intelligence Agency—was unable to activate the self-destruct mechanism and the plane crashed largely intact. News of the event caused Premier Khrushchev to storm out of a summit conference in Paris with President Eisenhower. Because the U-2 was specifically designed for covert surveillance, Powers, a native Virginian, was tried and convicted as a spy and sentenced to ten years imprisonment. In 1962 he was exchanged in Germany for a Soviet agent.
This exhibition is organized by The Cold War Museum

What's related:
• Gallery walk

Memories of World War II: Photographs from the
Archives of The Associated Press

May 9–August 1, 2010
This exhibition will present 126 black-and-white photographic reproductions from the archives of The Associated Press (AP), representing all theaters of the war and the home front, ranging from AP photographer Joe Rosenthal's classic Iwo Jima flag-raising in 1945 to scores of pictures not seen in decades. (Pictured: February 23, 1945, photograph, Mt. Suribachi Flag Raising by Joe Rosenthal, AP Staff/AP Archives)

What's related:
• Gallery walk

An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia

February 4–December 30, 2011
From 1861 to 1865 Virginia stood at the center of a military and social revolution. How we define freedom, liberty, patriotism, and nation today is directly related to the diverse experiences of the individuals who participated in the Civil War. Using original objects, interactive technology, and state-of-the-art audiovisual programs, An American Turning Point: The Civil War in Virginia relates the personal experiences of the free and enslaved men, women, and children of wartime Virginia. Visitors are encouraged to consider what was lost, what was gained, what was decided, what was left uncertain, and how an event that occurred 150 years ago still influences us today. An American Turning Point is funded, in part, by the Virginia Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Commission.