State Museum wants 'Gen X' contributions for fall exhibition

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Tired of Baby Boomers' stories of the 'œgood ol' days,'ť of Millennials' tiny attention spans or the fatuous complaints of Zoomers?

You must be part of the 'œforgotten'ť Generation X, and the Illinois State Museum wants to hear from you.

The museum's Springfield facility will open an exhibition entitled 'œGrowing Up X'ť in October, dedicated to those born generally from 1965 to 1980, described by the museum as 'œthe last generation to have had an analog childhood.'ť

'œWe think it's time Gen X got some love,'ť said Illinois State Museum Curator of History Erika Holst.

Holst is inviting Xers to complete an online survey about their experiences growing up and to loan the exhibition items from that era, from portable cassette players to inline skates.

'œWe want to dig into the experience of being a child in the '70s, '80s and '90s,'ť Holst said. "How did growing up adapting to new technology, often unsupervised, in the shadow of the Cold War, Reaganomics, Just Say No and the AIDS crisis shape this generation of people who are now coming into their own in middle age?'ť