Laurie Glick, Illustration for Free to Be…You and Me record cover. © 1972, Free To Be Foundation, Inc. Used by permission.
Free to Be. . . You and Me: 50 Years of Stories and Songs
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.
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.
Susan Jeffers, Illustration for Free to be...a Family: A Book about All Kinds of Belonging. Courtesy of R. Michelson Galleries, Northampton. © 1987 Susan Jeffers.
Bascove, Illustration for Free to Be…You and Me by Marlo Thomas & Friends (Running Press). Collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum. © 1974 Bascove.
John Steptoe, Illustration for Free to be...a Family: A Book about All Kinds of Belonging (Running Press). Collection of Bweela Steptoe. © 1987 John Steptoe.
Joe Mathieu, Illustration for Free to Be…You and Me (35th Anniversary Edition) by Marlo Thomas & Friends (Running Press). Courtesy of the artist. © 2008 Joe Mathieu.
LeUyen Pham, Illustration for Free to Be…You and Me (35th Anniversary Edition) by Marlo Thomas & Friends (Running Press). Collection of the artist. © 2008 LeUyen Pham.
Barbara Bascove, Illustration for Free to Be…You and Me by Marlo Thomas & Friends (Running Press). Collection of the Norman Rockwell Museum. © 1974 Barbara Bascove.
Arnold Lobel, Illustration for Free to Be…You and Me by Marlo Thomas & Friends (Running Press), 1974. Arnold Lobel Papers, Children's Literature Research Collections. University of Minnesota Libraries. © 1965 Arnold Lobel.
Free to Be…You and Me Learning Module (McGraw-Hill Films). Free to Be Foundation Archives. © 1975 Free to Be Foundation Inc.
I’m Glad I’m a Boy! I’m Glad I’m a Girl! by Whitney Darrow, Jr. Courtesy of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. © 1970 Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Book cover for Free to Be. . .You and Me conceived by Marlo Thomas. © 1974 Free to be Foundation, Inc. Used by permission.
Audrey Helen Weber, Dress Up, 2024. Collection of the artist. © Audrey Weber.
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
