Free to Be. . . You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs

November 16, 2024 - April 6, 2025
Central Gallery

Free to Be…You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs celebrates the profound and enduring impact of the groundbreaking 1972 record and its subsequent picture books and TV specials. The exhibition features original artwork from the 1974 publication by Barbara Bascove and Arnold Lobel along with original illustrations by John Steptoe, Susan Jeffers, Jerry Pinkney, Leo and Diane Dillon, Lonni Sue Johnson, Stacey Schuett, Susan Stillman, and Martha Perske from Free to Be…A Family, published in 1987. The exhibition also displays art from the 35th anniversary edition, including pieces by Joe Mathieu, Peter Reynolds, Tony DiTerlizzi, and LeUyen Pham. Music, video, photographs, and ephemera bring the multimedia enterprise to life and illustrate the origins and impact of Marlo Thomas’s radical project.

Curated by Margi Hofer.

What to Expect

The exhibition will showcase approximately 50 works, including first edition books, the classic album cover, period photographs, audio recordings, newspaper articles, and other ephemera. 

Illustration of faces and rainbow

Jerry Pinkney, Illustration for Free to be…a Family: A Book about All Kinds of Belonging (Running Press). Courtesy of R. Michelson Galleries, Northampton. © 1987 Jerry Pinkney. 

Photograph of woman holding book

Marlo Thomas on Captain Kangaroo, December 13, 1974. Courtesy of CBS Broadcasting Inc. 

Scholars Advisory Council

We are grateful to the following scholars for their support in developing this exhibition:

  • Rachel Conrad, Professor of Childhood Studies, Hampshire College  
  • Laura LeeAnn Lovett, Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh and co-author of When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children’s Classic and the Difference It Made, University of North Carolina Press, 2012. 
  • Lori Rotskoff, cultural historian, educator and co-author of When We Were Free to Be: Looking Back at a Children’s Classic and the Difference It Made, University of North Carolina Press, 2012. 
  • Karen Sanchez-Eppler, Professor of American Studies, Education Studies and English, Amherst College  
Explore Further
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A special Members’ preview of Free to Be…You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs!

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Enjoy a curator-led tour of The Carle’s new exhibition, Free to Be… You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs.

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Enjoy a curator-led tour of The Carle’s new exhibition, Free to Be… You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs.

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Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song…

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Take my hand, come along, lend your voice to my song…

In the Bookshop

Free to Be T-Shirt (Berry)

Free to Be Tote Bag

Free to Be...You And Me 35th Anniversary Edition