Y2K T-Shirt
date: label: Date made
content: 1999
name: label: user
content: Taylor, Lee I.
label: designer
content: Cohen, Lynne
label: maker
content: Taylor, Lee I.
label: maker
content: Cohen, Lynne
notes: label: Description
content: The University of Miami, School of Medicine, Jackson Memorial Hospital Medical Center hired Lee I. Taylor as their Y2K project manager in 1998. He was responsible for ensuring that nearly 14,000 devices, applications and systems were ready for the year 2000. The State of Florida’s Y2K Governor’s Advisory Council required that institutions create a public awareness campaign as part of their remediation efforts. The donor, in talking with the university’s General Counsel’s Office, was informed that any campaign statements should not make any definitiveY2K readiness assertions, in case they were wrong.
label: Description
content: The announcement Mr. Taylor submitted to the Chief Information Officer (CIO) read: “Are we Y2K OK? That’s a good question. I can tell you that we’ve done everything humanly possible – short of actually spending money – to handle this issue. We’ve wasted countless hours dealing with people we don’t like and frankly don’t trust, compiling data I wouldn’t bet my life on to conclude this project in a manner that makes our lawyers happy. What does this mean to you? Not much I’m afraid. But, then again, I bet 12:00 midnight has been blinking on your VCR since the early 1980’s, so who are you to judge us? 1 JANUARY 2000 IT’S A CRAP SHOOT.”
label: Description
content: While it is not certain that this compliance statement satisfied the governor’s office, the CIO did have it printed on the back of t-shirts. These shirts were given to the Y2K team members who had to work through New Year’s Eve 2000. (The front graphic was designed by the chief web designer and co-donor, Lynne S. Cohen.) Co-donor Lee Taylor wore this t-shirt from sunset on December 31, 1999 until well past midnight – the School of Medicine and its three hospitals experienced no major glitches.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Florida, Miami
topic: label: Subject
content: Y2K
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Computers
label: See more items in
content: Computers & Business Machines
label: See more items in
content: Y2K
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Lynne S. Cohen and Lee I. Taylor
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2000.3064.01
label: catalog number
content: 2000.3064.01
label: nonaccession number
content: 2000.3064
objectType: label: Object Name
content: T-Shirt