Word: New 90s exhibit at History Colorado Center is Da Bomb -- Fo'shizzle!
History Colorado opens its exhibit "The 90s – Last Decade Before the Future" on Friday with a look at a decade of massive change in culture, music, industry and events in Colorado and the world.
The exhibit at History Colorado Center in downtown Denver is a walk through history for those with memories of the times and a lesson in what has shaped us since for those whose memories were not yet formed. There are big news stories that endure in an era when there was a shift from analog to digital.
"And that's represented through the technological inventions of the decade, the shifting global politics of the decade and just all the cultural shifts that happen and are represented throughout the events here," said Jeremy Morton, exhibition developer and historian for History Colorado.
In a way, the decade started with the fall of the Berlin Wall at the end of the 80s. Global politics were re-shaped with the fall of the Soviet Union and then efforts to create a free Russia that eventually failed. But it shifted Europe and freed up money for investing in a new future. In the United States, the AIDS crisis continued. Magic Johnson announced he would leave the Lakers due to his infection. In 1991 the beating of Rodney King by police in Los Angeles opened discussion and spawned riots after the officers involved were acquitted.
"Police brutality was always a thing, but the fact that there was video of it," said Morton. "It shone a light on the brutality that already existed," said Morton.
In 1992 Bill Clinton won the presidency moving the country away from a generation of political leaders who had served in World War II but were aging out. In the middle 90s, home computing took root after the heavily promoted Windows 95 emerged. Cellphones began to be standard accessories.
"This is why we all needed to wear huge cargo pockets on our pants," joked Jason Hanson, History Colorado's chief creative officer. "I remember going to the airport and having camera, cellphone, Discman."
Walkmans were in use for music and people left their homes to rent videos at Blockbuster stores.
It was an era when baggy was in. Mom jeans were common and the material requirements called for a plentiful portion of denim. Track suits were full and purple was a big color along with a teal greenish kind of thing.
The language of the 90s evolved with slang with origins in television and street culture: Schwing! Da Bomb puzzled those who thought it might mean a destructive force. Not at all. It meant the absolute coolest thing going.
Well that was fresh wasn't it?
Fo-shizzle.
"There was a Blockbuster everywhere and now you won't find one anywhere," recalled Hanson.
Televisions were huge and physically heavy and TV still dominated life. Big events that dominated television were seen ubiquitously. The chase of OJ Simpson was watched by the nation. His subsequent trial filled daytime television.
"It speaks to how we consumed information in the 90s. This was a world where people were glued to their television sets and we absorbed so much of the outside world through the TV and if you weren't there you missed it. So you had to be there to see, 'If it doesn't fit, you must acquit,'" said Morton. It became known as the latest trial of the century, rivaling the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and murder trial of the 1930s, before television.
Colorado had its own television events. The killing of JonBenet Ramsey in 1996 dominated news locally and nationally.
"The 24-hour news cycle was sort of formulating and news networks started to more and more take stories and lean into the sensational nature of some of them," Morton pointed out. The tragedy of the killings at Columbine High School in 1999 portended more tragedy and changed how law enforcement handled such events and schools attempted to prevent them. The portion of the exhibit devoted to the violence was hard to conceive. Ultimately History Colorado chose words about the tragedy and the display of a solitary yearbook from the school. There are no images from the incident.
Other portions of the exhibit were difficult as well. "One of the things that we wanted to capture throughout this exhibit is the progress that was made in the 90s for LGBTQ rights said Morton. But they also include the brutal beating of Matthew Shepard near Laramie, Wyoming that led to his death in a Fort Collins hospital six days later.
"We have stories like the tragic murder of Matthew Shepard to draw attention to just how different things were as far as the rights for gay people. And Matthew Shepard becomes sort of a rallying cry," Morton related.
Denver's growth became a big story. While John Denver was tragically killed in an aircraft accident off California, he had been part of the creation of the love for the state that drew people. Housing went up and new communities were born.
Morton points to how they included the increase in population on Colorado's Front Range.
"The growth of Denver on the national scene can be seen in our sports teams. You get the Rockies, you get the Avalanche, the Broncos winning the championship. But Coors Field opening in particular just revitalizes Lower Downtown."
Denver International Airport was built and opened, though some wondered what it was doing so far away from town. The town soon grew to it.
All of it is covered in the exhibit.
History Colorado is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
Here are some of the parts of the exhibit:
● A piece of the Berlin Wall
● Iconic items used by Bill and Hillary Clinton in the White House
● Costumes donned by some of the decade's biggest movie stars, including Whoopi Goldberg's pink suit from Ghost and Tom Hanks' combat uniform from Saving Private Ryan
● Signature outfits from era-defining music superstars like Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Jay-Z, The Notorious B.I.G., and the Backstreet Boys
● Memorabilia from star athletes like John Elway, Michael Jordan, Kristi Yamaguchi, Patrick Roy, Kerri Strug, Amy Van Dyken, Wayne Gretzky, and Vinny Castilla
● Vintage fashion, toys, and technology highlighting the trends and innovations of the decade