From maritime and fashion history, to the postwar tourism boom and more, this panel has something for everyone!
In celebration of the success of our inaugural digital exhibition, Advertising the United States: Discovering America's Flagship through Prints, Posters, and Advertisements, the SS United States Conservancy hosted an exciting and engaging panel discussion on August 11, 2021. Opulent Crossings: Post War Tourism, Advertising, and Design brought together scholars and curators from multiple disciplines to discuss the connections between post-war tourism, travel, advertising, and design. From the evolution of fashion from the 1950s to the 1960s - and what that said about society - to the progression of ocean liner design and history, this panel discussion aimed to situate the SS United States within the shifting landscape that was Post-War America.
The panel discussion featured talks by curator Daniel Finamore and historians Raissa Bretaña and Richard K. Popp.
Daniel Finamore
Daniel Finamore is Associate Director–Exhibitions and the Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History at the Peabody Essex Museum. He has organized over 15 exhibitions on an international range of maritime subjects. He was curator for Ocean Liners: Glamour, Speed and Style, which was featured at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and as the inaugural exhibition at the new V&A museum in Dundee, Scotland. A graduate of Vassar College and Boston University, Finamore has written over 40 articles and chapters for academic and popular publications, and is the author and/or editor of six books, including Maritime History as World History, Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea, and most recently, In American Waters: The Sea in American Painting.
Raissa Bretaña
Raissa Bretaña is a New York City-based fashion historian. As a researcher, writer, lecturer, and educator, she takes an interdisciplinary approach to fashion history—working to find socio-cultural connections to the field, while also striving to make it more accessible through integration across various media platforms. Bretaña has lectured throughout the United States and internationally on varied topics—such as nineteenth century dress reform, the golden age of couture, and historical dress in Hollywood film. She currently teaches fashion history courses at the Fashion Institute of Technology and Pratt Institute. She also works part-time at the New-York Historical Society, educating museum visitors about fashion history and the women’s suffrage movement. Additionally, Bretaña hosts a video series for Glamour, in which she fact-checks historical costumes in popular media.
Richard K. Popp
Richard K. Popp is associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the author of The Holiday Makers: Magazines, Advertising, and Mass Tourism in Postwar America and is currently at work on a book about Time-Life and the changing place of media in American culture and society in the latter decades of the twentieth century. He and his family live in Milwaukee and they enjoy camping and exploring new places in their free time.
Miss the event? Check it out the recording below!