The Hidden 1980s Series: Pop Culture in the Reagan Era - The Filson Historical Society

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The Hidden 1980s Series: Pop Culture in the Reagan Era - The Filson Historical Society

This event is part of the Filson’s year-long 140th Anniversary Celebration.

What can some of the 1980s biggest hit movies and television shows tell us about the conservatism of the Reagan Era? While pop culture and politics may seem like separate spheres, each has always influenced the other, especially during the 1980s. We will revisit iconic bits of 80s popular media in order to see how America was dramatically shifting over the course of the decade.  Discover how in many ways we are still living in a world created by 1980s television and film.

Daniel Gifford, Ph.D. is a public historian who focuses on American popular and visual culture, as well as museums in American culture. He received his PhD from George Mason University in 2011. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Filson Historical Society, and his career spans both academia and public history, including several years with the Smithsonian Institution. He is the author of American Holiday Postcards 1905-1915: Imagery and Context (2013) and The Last Voyage of the Whaling Bark Progress: New Bedford, Chicago and the Twilight of an Industry (2020). He is currently working on his third book, which explores the founding era of the Filson Historical Society, 1884-1899.

For more information, please visit filsonhistorical.org/