By Travis Puterbaugh
A recent acquisition of materials relating to life in Central Florida from the 1970s to the 1990s contained some unexpected gems, including several archival items relating to a significant exhibition at the Kennedy Space Center in 1976.
Looking ahead in ’76
That year, as the United States enjoyed a yearlong bicentennial celebration, the federal government used the opportunity to look forward, rather than to the past, in creating “Third Century America” – the nation’s only federally funded exhibition of the bicentennial year – which focused on science and technology over the next 100 years. It opened on Memorial Day weekend and closed on September 7.
On May 30, 1976, an estimated crowd of 30,000 visitors took advantage of opening-day free admission to see exhibitions featuring 16 federal agencies and 10 technology firms inside of the 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building, as well as in 15 prefabricated geodesic domes set up in a pavilion outside the building.
The exhibition, which earned praise from visitors and critics alike, only earned low marks for its relatively brief run. Rather than being on display for the whole year – when more people including schoolchildren on field trips could see “Third Century America,” it ran for just 101 days over three summertime months. Still, more than half a million visitors viewed the exhibition, so it isn’t hard to imagine how attendance could have exceeded one million or more with a longer run time.
Space Shuttle competition
While Brevard County’s struggling economy received a huge boost from the popular exhibition, according to the Cocoa Beach Chamber of Commerce, the ultimate conflict of interest justified ending the exhibition on September 7: the Space Shuttle. Modifications to NASA’s newest spacecraft were scheduled to begin in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the host site of the exhibition.
The Kennedy Space Center, incidentally, served as a somewhat reluctant host for the exhibition after being chosen as the site by President Gerald Ford, who never actually visited “Third Century America.” Organizers contended that the president’s presence would have helped increase the exhibition’s profile nationally. On the day of the formal dedication on June 14, however, Ford spoke by phone from the White House to a crowd of 2,000 attending the dedication. He said, “I hope and trust thousands and thousands of Americans and visitors from abroad will come and see for themselves what we have done and what we will do in the future.”
If you were one of those visitors, we would love to hear from you! Please send us an email to HistoryCenter@ocfl.net if you would like to donate any photographs or souvenirs to our collection so we may continue to interpret and preserve this piece of history.
