On the morning of September 11, lame duck Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was watching the progress of the New York City primary election. Having lost popularity in a public split from his wife, and fighting prostate cancer, Giuliani was ready to step out of the limelight. Instead, the events of the day served to rocket him to the pinnacle of visibility. Arriving at the World Trade Center just after the second plane hit, Giuliani remained at the center of the crisis for the next sixteen hours. He held press briefings, visited hospitals, comforted families, and returned repeatedly to the attack scene. In the following weeks, wearing a succession of trademark caps, he inspired the city and the nation with messages of compassion, resolve, and resilience.
Wilson Jermaine Heredia wore this jacket as Angel in the original Broadway production of the musical Rent. The jacket is made from a clear plastic drawer liner encapsulating photographs cut from magazines, and was worn during the second act number "Happy New Year" when Angel and Collins arrive at the New Year’s party announcing themselves as James Bond and Pussy Galore. The costume was designed by Angela Wendt.
Rent is a critically-acclaimed and popular rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson that became one of the longest-running shows in Broadway history in its original run from 1996-2008. A modern adaptation of Puccini’s La Boheme, the show follows the story of a group of struggling artists and intellectuals living in Manhattan’s Alphabet City neighborhood as they wrestle with work, drugs, sexuality, identity, the HIV/AIDS crisis, the cost of living, and the meaning of life. The show premiered on Broadway at the Nederlander Theatre April 29, 1996 where it ran for 5,123 performances after a successful off-Broadway run at the New York Theatre Workshop beginning in 1993. The musical won 4 1996 Tony Awards including Best Musical, and Larson, who died suddenly just before the off-Broadway premiere, posthumously won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Rent’s breakout success provoked conversations about LGBTQ identity and people living with HIV and AIDS.
This jacket was worn by Martin Sheen when he played President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet on the NBC television drama The West Wing. President Bartlet wore this jacket in more casual circumstances such as when he traveled on Air Force One in Season 1, Episode 16, “20 Hours in L.A.” It is dark blue and has a presidential seal patch on the left side.
The West Wing is a one-hour drama that aired on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006. It is set in Washington, D.C., and follows the fictional Democratic President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen) and his senior West Wing staff behind-the-scenes during political and personal issues through two terms of office. The creator, Aaron Sorkin, was the lead writer for almost all of the episodes in the first four seasons, working with fellow executive producers Thomas Schlamme and John Wells. The West Wing is known for its quick dialogue and shots of staff walking and talking through the hallways of the White House—known as “walk and talks.” The series won 26 Emmy Awards and 3 Golden Globes.
About 32,000 Tejano music fans filled the seats of the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on March 14, 1994, to see their favorite regional musicians acknowledged at the 14th Annual Tejano Music Awards. The Queen of Tejano music, Selena Quintanilla-Pérez wore this leather jacket and satin brassiere combo during two performances that evening –singing “Donde Quiera Que Estés” with the Barrio Boyzz and fronting her band Los Dinos singing her iconic hit “Bidi Bidi Bom Bom.”
While Tejano music was (and remains) immensely popular with working-class Mexican Americans, Selena took Tejano music to the mainstream. Selena Quintanilla-Pérez and her band, Los Dinos, incorporated cumbia and pop into their sound transforming this regional genre into an international phenomenon.
Inspired by other musical divas like Janet Jackson and Madonna, Selena’s sexy outfits broke with the outdated expectations of what female performers in Tejano music should wear. She took the shiny embellishments and form-fitting silhouettes of these pop stars and made it her own with working-class sensibility and a Texan flair.
Selena’s family donated this performance costume to the Smithsonian, and it is the same one in which she is depicted at the Selena Memorial statue in Corpus Christi, Texas.
Description (Spanish)
Desde el doo-wop y el country blues, hasta la polka y el hip-hop, los compositores de música tejana se han visto forzados por la frontera a entender el valor del intercambio cultural. La cantante Selena Quintanilla-Pérez (1971-1995) interpretaba una fusión de cumbia, pop y música tejana contemporánea. La joven estrella surgió y a duras penas llegó a la fama en los mercados de Estados Unidos y Latinoamérica, pero su carrera quedó truncada a la edad de 23 años, cuando fue asesinada por una ex manager a quien había despedido por robar. Selena fue un éxito comercial de un modo jamás imaginable por sus predecesores más tradicionales como el Flaco Jiménez, Freddy Fender o Little Joe. Este traje, integrado por botas de cuero, pantalones ajustados, corsé de raso y chaqueta de motociclista, ejemplifica la idiosincrasia de un estilo que oscilaba entre la rebelde sexy y la niña buena mexicoamericana. Procedente de Lake Jackson, Texas, Selena nació en el seno de una familia de músicos. Como creció hablando inglés, debió aprender a cantar en español por fonética para grabar sus primeros álbumes dirigidos al mercado de habla hispana. Irónicamente, su material crossover para la radio en inglés no salió al aire hasta el final de su carrera, poco después de su trágica muerte. Selena, quien pasó su niñez en medio de la banda de música familiar, actuando en celebraciones de bodas, restaurantes, ferias y otros modestos escenarios a lo largo de la frontera entre México y Estados Unidos, vive aún consagrada en la memoria de la gente como una de las grandes estrellas de la música tejana.