This exhibit explored how Disney theme parks serve as locations of public memory, their relationship to stories of American history, and how the parks and the public are both adapting to new understandings of the American experience by complicating historical narratives. Our understanding of American history doesn’t just come from the classroom. The places we visit, the media we consume, and the experts we listen to all tell their own stories about history. The Walt Disney Company has been telling historical stories for decades, and as time and values have changed, Disney theme parks have changed in response. As important locations for American public memory, the narrative presented at the Disney theme parks both represents and shapes larger conversations about the American Experience. Through objects, images, maps and more, this exhibit looked at how Disney and the public are in conversation to create the national narrative of today and the future.
The National Museum of American history exhibit, “Mirror, Mirror: Reflections of America in Disney Parks,” is not affiliated with Disney Enterprises, Inc.
Entrance to the exhibit
Tomorrowland and Main Street
Diversifying the Disney Princess
LGBTQ+ Guests at Disney
