Frontiers Past and Future: Science Fiction and the American West
June 17 – October 8, 2023

A special exhibition, organized by the Upcountry History Museum.

Frontiers: Past and Future, featuring objects and archival materials from the private collection of William Bradshaw, former Director of Roper Mountain Science Center, Greenville, explores the impact of the legendary American West on science-fiction and futuristic space odysseys.

In 2023, Bradshaw generously donated a portion of his extensive “Wild West and Sci-Fi” collection to the Upcountry History Museum. Both the collection and the current exhibition examine the natural comparisons between the American West and space with its science-fiction adventures.

Bradshaw collected both historic and contemporary toys, board games, marketing materials, comic books, playsets, and more, to provide new insights into our probable pasts and possible futures, and to illustrate the concept of “seeking out new life and new civilizations…to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

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