Exhibit draws on archives to imagine the future

  Wednesday, February 10, 2016 2:00 AM
  News

Pittsburg, KS

A new exhibit at Pittsburg State University’s Axe Library draws from some of the university’s unique collections to imagine the future and explore the science fiction and real science of space travel.

“Dystopia, the Future and Space Exploration: Science Fiction and Real Science,” is a new Special Collections and University Archives exhibit that features popular paperback books focusing on science fiction and futuristic settings, leading to the reality of space travel and the missions that resulted in the Apollo moon landings in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Steve Cox, curator of special collections and university archives at PSU’s Leonard H. Axe Library, said some of the library’s collections were a treasure trove for this exhibit.

“Books from the Irene Ertman Collection of Science Fiction, including those from masters such as H. G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Arthur C. Clarke, are featured,” Cox said. “Many show colorful, fantastical art covers.”

Also included in the exhibit is a recently donated original painting by Kansas City artist Michael Young, which envisions the dystopian society of Oz a year after the wicked witch is killed.

“Material in the exhibit showing the Apollo missions come from the Joe Skubitz Congressional Collection,” Cox said. “That includes photographs given to Congressman Skubitz from Apollo astronauts, as well as other items from private collections.”

The exhibit is open for viewing normal Special Collections hours, which are 8 a.m.-noon and 1-5 p.m. Monday-Friday. PSU Special Collections and Archives is located in the basement of Axe Library, 1605 S. Joplin Street.

For more information, call 620-235-4883.