The National Museum of Crime and Punishment is conveniently located near the Chinatown Metro in Washington, DC. We all know how big of a fan I am of free or very inexpensive museums I am, but this isn't one of them. The decor is post modern which reflects the old fashioned nature of the building and much of the items in it.
The museum starts with items of medieval torture on display. Some are actual relics while others are reproductions that you can touch. It turns to more colonial with stocks and examples of punishable crimes of the day. Next are some exhibits about pirates, the wild, wild west, then Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie and Clyde has a car that was used in a movie which truly brings the whole exhibit together.
Following Bonnie and Clyde, the historical chronology of the museum is abandoned but they still manage to keep it together. The age of mobsters and speakeasys are well displayed, with a lot of mobsters' hats on display, then a section united by a practice safe (which may imply bank robbing) but it's mostly about very famous people and their crimes (mostly misdemeanors), but really ended up being a little less united but cool nonetheless. The next room is about mass killers. There is a touch of confusion, as at first I thought it was about people on death row and methods of execution, but some notorious killers never got the shot to be arraigned. Still, it gave museum goers the opportunity to, just for a second, enter the minds of mass murderers.
The museum theme changes, and goes to a "live the crime" type section. It starts with the walls becoming faux brick lined, then you get sent to booking. After taking a finger print, you get issued a card with your crime on it (I was charged with prostitution). There are famous mug shots of people lining the hall between the "booking" and the line up. The lineup is behind a legitimate one way glass with cutouts of people on either side, making for some great photo opportunities. Then there was a polygraph (a cool effort, but just speaking through off my blood pressure). The next section had a holding cell (complete with toilet), with an "escape hatch"--if you dare-- to the prison portion.
The prison portion is a history and a sociological study of prison life. While there is Al Capone's cell, inmate drawings and other historical nuggets, but there are also a lot of prison life things. There was an extensive collection of tattoos and their prison meaning. The innocent butterfly tattoo...not that innocent.
Again, there was a small section on execution, and the history of law enforcement on different levels. For the more morbidly intrigued, there are an electric chair and a gas chamber that was actually used. I thought it was cool. My travel companion du jour did not really agree. Wrapping up the true part to the museum is a "CSI" lab, interactive with an "actual" crime that took place in the first bit of that section. There was an autopsy table complete with a tall man on it with fatal wounds, examples of dental identification records. At the end of the exhibits, you could choose to go up or down, if you go down, you'll be on the real set of America's Most Wanted. No John Walsh though. I guess you can't win them all.
The museum is a great option though maybe not for kids of all ages. It was a lot of money but it was worth it. The way it was broken down made perfect sense to me, and I appreciated how they didn't try to cram everything about the history of crime and punishment into the galleries. In my opinion, a museum should leave you wanting more, but not have you leave completely uneducated. The National Museum of Crime and Punishment does this perfectly.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Levine Museum of the New South (Charlotte, NC)
The Levine Museum of the New South is located conveniently in the middle of downtown Charlotte. There is parking that can be validated for you when you pay for your admission. Tickets to get in are only $5 for a student, and I failed to take note of the other prices.
The main permanent exhibit is titled "From cotton fields to skyscrapers". It begins with an intriguing short film about Charlotte's post Civil War history. It addresses racism that was present, and how after the Civil War the races had very different life styles. The first room in the exhibit has a small cabin which represents what a sharecropper and their family would have lived in and in this cabin are very hands on. You can touch the bed, pick up the plates, etc. In this room is also a cotton gin that would have been used in this 1865-1885 timeframe, and the ugly history of the KKK is addressed. What Levine does bravely is it addresses how racism was spread through early movies, and the movies implied racial superiority that many people took to be true.
The next room has a slightly more advances Charlotte with a factory for spinning cotton into threads. There is another little example of a home from the time complete with a stocked pantry. In this room, the communities created in the mills are shown through photographs and how coworkers became the lifeblood of an entire neighborhood. Also touched upon is the tradition of courtship, which actually made it make slightly more sense to me as some, mostly religious, communities, still utilize this practice.
The third room of the exhibit shows a street in downtown Charlotte in the between Wars years. There is a small store to buy appliances of the day, a clothing store (with ADULT sized dress-up clothes), a radio recording studio, a chapel, and a barbershop. The best part about this section is how able the visitor is to interact with it. You can get dressed up in the clothing store, then go to the chapel, sit in the barer chair, or listen to the radio.
The fourth room, separated by a film about World War two, addresses the racial strife of the 1960s. There is a segregated water fountain, a small example of a living room of the day complete with a TV and TV dinners. There is even a counter representative of the sit ins that were held though the 1960s. A unique thing the museum did was it had about six different perspectives of racial integration and peoples beliefs of what should be done. There were radical KKK members and leaders of the Civil Rights Movements, and people in the middle.
The final piece of the exhibit explains how Charlotte became a center for banking during the 1980s, and how Charlotte culture has improved because of this, such as larger hospitals making Charlotte their home, as well as sporting events making a home in Charlotte.
To make a few notes about the permanent exhibit, the theme of the home in Charlotte through history was powerful, from the Sharecroppers home to the TV and TV dinners reflecting giant progress in only about a century. It's a poignant notion that, no pun intended, brings it home to visitors, because people can relate to a living room.
The temporary exhibits were about emergency preparedness and about cultural differences. The one about cultural differences I believe is a bit more permanent but not static in it's contents. It has a kitchen of what would be an Asian Indian-American family, indicating how there are Indian foods and spices, but those aren't the only contents. There is a small wardrobe of Indian sari's in adult and child sizes. Very cool in this exhibit is a wire representation of a tall man with markings on the floor indicating how close people stand in some countries compared to others. Also addressed is a strong Vietnamese and Hispanic cultures in Charlotte.
Levine Museum of the New South addresses the dark history of the south, but shows how at least this sprawling metropolis is attempting to become a city to compete with the north. The permanent exhibit has a lot to offer to people of many different age groups and kept me intrigued the entire time I was walking through. They take a risk in allowing people to pick up everything right down to the plates off the table, but it pays off, because it adds that much of a quality of "They had to eat/sleep/work too".
The main permanent exhibit is titled "From cotton fields to skyscrapers". It begins with an intriguing short film about Charlotte's post Civil War history. It addresses racism that was present, and how after the Civil War the races had very different life styles. The first room in the exhibit has a small cabin which represents what a sharecropper and their family would have lived in and in this cabin are very hands on. You can touch the bed, pick up the plates, etc. In this room is also a cotton gin that would have been used in this 1865-1885 timeframe, and the ugly history of the KKK is addressed. What Levine does bravely is it addresses how racism was spread through early movies, and the movies implied racial superiority that many people took to be true.
The next room has a slightly more advances Charlotte with a factory for spinning cotton into threads. There is another little example of a home from the time complete with a stocked pantry. In this room, the communities created in the mills are shown through photographs and how coworkers became the lifeblood of an entire neighborhood. Also touched upon is the tradition of courtship, which actually made it make slightly more sense to me as some, mostly religious, communities, still utilize this practice.
The third room of the exhibit shows a street in downtown Charlotte in the between Wars years. There is a small store to buy appliances of the day, a clothing store (with ADULT sized dress-up clothes), a radio recording studio, a chapel, and a barbershop. The best part about this section is how able the visitor is to interact with it. You can get dressed up in the clothing store, then go to the chapel, sit in the barer chair, or listen to the radio.
The fourth room, separated by a film about World War two, addresses the racial strife of the 1960s. There is a segregated water fountain, a small example of a living room of the day complete with a TV and TV dinners. There is even a counter representative of the sit ins that were held though the 1960s. A unique thing the museum did was it had about six different perspectives of racial integration and peoples beliefs of what should be done. There were radical KKK members and leaders of the Civil Rights Movements, and people in the middle.
The final piece of the exhibit explains how Charlotte became a center for banking during the 1980s, and how Charlotte culture has improved because of this, such as larger hospitals making Charlotte their home, as well as sporting events making a home in Charlotte.
To make a few notes about the permanent exhibit, the theme of the home in Charlotte through history was powerful, from the Sharecroppers home to the TV and TV dinners reflecting giant progress in only about a century. It's a poignant notion that, no pun intended, brings it home to visitors, because people can relate to a living room.
The temporary exhibits were about emergency preparedness and about cultural differences. The one about cultural differences I believe is a bit more permanent but not static in it's contents. It has a kitchen of what would be an Asian Indian-American family, indicating how there are Indian foods and spices, but those aren't the only contents. There is a small wardrobe of Indian sari's in adult and child sizes. Very cool in this exhibit is a wire representation of a tall man with markings on the floor indicating how close people stand in some countries compared to others. Also addressed is a strong Vietnamese and Hispanic cultures in Charlotte.
Levine Museum of the New South addresses the dark history of the south, but shows how at least this sprawling metropolis is attempting to become a city to compete with the north. The permanent exhibit has a lot to offer to people of many different age groups and kept me intrigued the entire time I was walking through. They take a risk in allowing people to pick up everything right down to the plates off the table, but it pays off, because it adds that much of a quality of "They had to eat/sleep/work too".
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Billy Graham Library (Charlotte, NC)
The Billy Graham Library is located just outside of the city limits of Charlotte, North Carolina, off of the Billy Graham Parkway. Admission is free, but timed, and the grounds incorporate his childhood home, and the grave of his wife.
The first thing you'll notice as you drive up is someone stopping you as you enter with your "Parking Pass". I took the pass from the guard, and hung it obediently on my rear view mirror. As I got out of the car, I heard relaxing medatative music as a gently curving trail led between a silo, garden, house, and a barn with a glass cross on it. Upon entering the "barn" which was actually the library and getting the timed ticket, the exhibit started with a talking cow. Yes. A talking cow. She went through the early days of Billy Graham when he helped to take care of his family's dairy farm. The next part made me realize what this museum was going to be about.
The second part was a short film about three peoples' lives were before they realized their lives needed a major life change. Hmm... I wonder what changed their life? The following two rooms have films about the early life as an Evangelical minister. The third room has an interesting living exhibit using light and sound to enhance certain artifacts from the life that Graham and his wife led together. The artifacts are chosen wisely and reflect accurately how much religion was a part of her life before Billy. The fourth room explains, through a prerecorded segment, how Billy Graham took full advantages of the advents media presented during the 1940s and the 1950s. As I left that room, a docent indicated that a lot of the rest of the museum would be about the man behind Rev. Graham: Jesus.
Through the rest of the museum, the items on the walls covered his co-preachers with his church and values that a Christian should live by. In the middle of these rooms were various gifts and programs from his preaching throughout the world. As the museum ends, there is an awesome encompassing room with a Berlin Wall diorama that explains how Billy Graham broke the "Iron Curtain" to bring his message to communist Soviets.
I went to the Billy Graham Library mostly because it just seemed interesting, and I know how important religion is in more of the parts of the United States except for the areas I grew up. Although I was hoping for more of a historical look at the Evangelical movement in the United States, the conversion experience was something to admire too. The curators carefully chose the items to put on display to be of interest to visitors who may not be Christians. The scripture on the wall was a little bit repetitive, but they are important to the mission that Evangelists.
The house outside of the library was the house that Graham grew up in. It was picked up, moved, and made to look as it did as Graham was growing up. There wasn't much to the house, just a small velvet-roped walk through.
It was a great museum to go to, but it probably shouldn't be advertised as a museum/library and more as a cultural center. I suppose it was a museum of Evangelist religion, but I still think the designation could be debated. This does not take away from the experience. The curators chose film, audio, captions and items very carefully and each room and case follows through to the next. The museum gets major points for being well staffed and with the audio, keeps the people moving through at a good pace in the beginning which is important to allow the crowd to disperse quicker and have more people have more room to walk. It is a cautious recommendation for the Charlotte, NC area, as if you have strong religious feelings that do not align with Billy Graham you may not like it.
The first thing you'll notice as you drive up is someone stopping you as you enter with your "Parking Pass". I took the pass from the guard, and hung it obediently on my rear view mirror. As I got out of the car, I heard relaxing medatative music as a gently curving trail led between a silo, garden, house, and a barn with a glass cross on it. Upon entering the "barn" which was actually the library and getting the timed ticket, the exhibit started with a talking cow. Yes. A talking cow. She went through the early days of Billy Graham when he helped to take care of his family's dairy farm. The next part made me realize what this museum was going to be about.
The second part was a short film about three peoples' lives were before they realized their lives needed a major life change. Hmm... I wonder what changed their life? The following two rooms have films about the early life as an Evangelical minister. The third room has an interesting living exhibit using light and sound to enhance certain artifacts from the life that Graham and his wife led together. The artifacts are chosen wisely and reflect accurately how much religion was a part of her life before Billy. The fourth room explains, through a prerecorded segment, how Billy Graham took full advantages of the advents media presented during the 1940s and the 1950s. As I left that room, a docent indicated that a lot of the rest of the museum would be about the man behind Rev. Graham: Jesus.
Through the rest of the museum, the items on the walls covered his co-preachers with his church and values that a Christian should live by. In the middle of these rooms were various gifts and programs from his preaching throughout the world. As the museum ends, there is an awesome encompassing room with a Berlin Wall diorama that explains how Billy Graham broke the "Iron Curtain" to bring his message to communist Soviets.
I went to the Billy Graham Library mostly because it just seemed interesting, and I know how important religion is in more of the parts of the United States except for the areas I grew up. Although I was hoping for more of a historical look at the Evangelical movement in the United States, the conversion experience was something to admire too. The curators carefully chose the items to put on display to be of interest to visitors who may not be Christians. The scripture on the wall was a little bit repetitive, but they are important to the mission that Evangelists.
The house outside of the library was the house that Graham grew up in. It was picked up, moved, and made to look as it did as Graham was growing up. There wasn't much to the house, just a small velvet-roped walk through.
It was a great museum to go to, but it probably shouldn't be advertised as a museum/library and more as a cultural center. I suppose it was a museum of Evangelist religion, but I still think the designation could be debated. This does not take away from the experience. The curators chose film, audio, captions and items very carefully and each room and case follows through to the next. The museum gets major points for being well staffed and with the audio, keeps the people moving through at a good pace in the beginning which is important to allow the crowd to disperse quicker and have more people have more room to walk. It is a cautious recommendation for the Charlotte, NC area, as if you have strong religious feelings that do not align with Billy Graham you may not like it.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
National Constitution Center (Philadelphia, PA)
The National Constitution Center opened in the summer of 2003 on the southern end of a quad shared with the Philadelphia Visitors Center, the Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall. At a moderate fee, entrances are timed, and start with a one man multi-media show.
The show is moving, and they take advantage of a 360-degree screen running across the top of the auditorium. The purpose of the show is to display about how the Constitution isn't something that was written in 1787 and forgotten about, it is a living document, and they touch on several ways the Constitution has been adjusted in it's history. After the show, the museum begins upstairs.
Most people will describe the Constitution as the Bill of Rights, but the Center takes it past that and goes into much detail about the main body before the Bill or Rights as well. The outer circle of the museum is about the Bill or Rights, and what those rights have meant in different points in our history. There is however a clear time continuum through the exhibit which is difficult to explain. Along this outer loop there are "Can you vote yet?" booths. It starts with simple questions asking you to choose your state, and if you don't live on the east coast you aren't a citizen yet, so no suffrage (this applies more when there are more territories in the United States. If you are on the east coast, they'll ask if you are a man, if you're white, and it you're a landowner, and some states ask if you owe taxes or are a felon or something along those lines.
The inner circle goes into great detail about the three branches of government. In these sections, you can vote for your favorite president, preside over a Supreme Court case, take a citizenship test, and even take the oath for president.
The last part though is my personal favorite. The museum has made bronze sculptures of each of the people involved in the continental congress, including those who chose not to sign the Constitution. The bronze sculptures are close to life size, and make for great pictures. My picture on this site, I was at the Constitution Center, and noticed that my cell phone would fit just about perfectly in Benjamin Franklin's outstretched hand. So, I took advantage. Makes for a great picture, especially in a city where he is revered as a town hero.
I would put aside about an hour and a half to two hours at the museum, and there is a cafe on the first floor as well as a rotating exhibit. It would fit in at any point during a day in Philadelphia's Old City. For my suggestions of a walking tour, please contact me personally and I'll gladly set you up with a map.
The show is moving, and they take advantage of a 360-degree screen running across the top of the auditorium. The purpose of the show is to display about how the Constitution isn't something that was written in 1787 and forgotten about, it is a living document, and they touch on several ways the Constitution has been adjusted in it's history. After the show, the museum begins upstairs.
Most people will describe the Constitution as the Bill of Rights, but the Center takes it past that and goes into much detail about the main body before the Bill or Rights as well. The outer circle of the museum is about the Bill or Rights, and what those rights have meant in different points in our history. There is however a clear time continuum through the exhibit which is difficult to explain. Along this outer loop there are "Can you vote yet?" booths. It starts with simple questions asking you to choose your state, and if you don't live on the east coast you aren't a citizen yet, so no suffrage (this applies more when there are more territories in the United States. If you are on the east coast, they'll ask if you are a man, if you're white, and it you're a landowner, and some states ask if you owe taxes or are a felon or something along those lines.
The inner circle goes into great detail about the three branches of government. In these sections, you can vote for your favorite president, preside over a Supreme Court case, take a citizenship test, and even take the oath for president.
The last part though is my personal favorite. The museum has made bronze sculptures of each of the people involved in the continental congress, including those who chose not to sign the Constitution. The bronze sculptures are close to life size, and make for great pictures. My picture on this site, I was at the Constitution Center, and noticed that my cell phone would fit just about perfectly in Benjamin Franklin's outstretched hand. So, I took advantage. Makes for a great picture, especially in a city where he is revered as a town hero.
I would put aside about an hour and a half to two hours at the museum, and there is a cafe on the first floor as well as a rotating exhibit. It would fit in at any point during a day in Philadelphia's Old City. For my suggestions of a walking tour, please contact me personally and I'll gladly set you up with a map.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Sixth Floor Museum (Dallas, TX)
Recently, my travels with my job landed me in a Podunk little town of Killeen, Texas. When I found out I was going there (and for two weeks, giving me a weekend) I quickly searched nearby towns. Dallas was a little over two hours north, and Austin was about an hour south, leaving me with a host of options. Day one, was Dallas, mostly around the area of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
I knew there was a museum, and a Google search quickly found it. Located right at the corner of Dealy Plaza, and convenient to Interstate 35, it houses a one-floor collection, mostly centering around the timeline of the assassination of JFK and the investigation surrounding it.
The museum starts with the introduction of JFK formally into the political limelight, and the culture that was coming of age. Touching on the uniqueness of the Kennedy’s and their youth in the White House, it addresses political strife as well as successes. The sections about visiting Dallas and Texas that fateful November are extraordinarily detailed. In an excellent move of putting the pieces together, the curators put his less popular agendas close to the start of the section on Dallas. There are several advertisements of dissent and pamphlets against Kennedy that were handed out in the days approaching his visit. Also is a copy of a newspaper with a detail of the order of the motorcade that would be going through Dallas that day. Photographs of supporters and dissenters are also blown up on the wall, as well as a newsreel of the news in the days before about security concerns and excitement approaching the President’s visit.
The walls go black with stills from the Zapruder film on the walls. At the end of the hall is a still of a clearly murdered Kennedy slumped over and Jackie climbing, trying to get out of the car. The next section has a lot of information about how the news changed that day. Several original AP wires are on the wall, as well of photographs of people as they heard what happened, or even saw what happened. The first preserved corner (or rather re-done to extreme detail) is “the sniper’s nest” where Lee Harvey Oswald perched himself to shoot. There is some detail about the shooter, but the best part is a minute-by-minute account of the time between the shooting and the funeral of JFK in Washington, DC.
After a short film about the mourning of the world following JFK’s death, the investigation begins. There are samples of some of the cameras that witnessed the assassination, as well as criticisms of the investigations that took place, with a large model of Dealy Plaza, and criticisms in the forensics of the reports. It also addresses the different investigations that have taken place over the years and what they have proved and disproved. The museum closes with a film about what policies of Kennedy’s went through under the Johnson administration, and reflections on Kennedy by interview of everyday people.
What is well done about the museum is how it provides an evenhanded view about the Kennedy presidency. People tend to remember him as a very popular president and while that is true to a extent, if it were totally true, he wouldn’t have been assassinated. They do not go into an extreme amount of detail about the investigation, but by doing that, they encourage the visitor to make their own decision on the situation. They present a fair amount of physical evidence, but I’ve still seen more on websites. Another corner is preserved, which is the corner with the staircase that Oswald ran down after the shooting. Throughout the exhibit, a provided audio provides some additional background, and I actually found it helpful in places, but in others I just shut it off.
Right outside is Dealy Plaza, where two white Xs indicate the two locations where Kennedy was shot. There are several conspiracy theorists who I am sure are there every day selling pamphlets and books about the shooting. Dealy Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum are can’t-misses when in Dallas.
Old Red Museum (Dallas, TX)
The Old Red Museum is located on Houston Street in the middle of the more tourist-friendly part of Dallas. About a five minute walk from the Sixth Floor Museum, the Old Red Museum was the courthouse of Dallas for many years until it was renovated into a museum dedicated to Texas, and more specifically Dallas, history. The first floor is dedicated to a temporary exhibit, currently about a local town, Lancaster.
The second floor houses the permanent exhibit. They divided it into five sections, each with its own movie. Generally I don’t enjoy sitting still for an entire fifteen to twenty minute film about a certain aspect of history, but these films I didn’t find difficult to sit still. The first two parts deal with social aspects of Dallas, with half focusing on the development of Dallas and a part with social issues, such as the Civil War, racism, education and other basic social needs and issues. The second two serve a more specific purpose, focusing on the lives of early pioneers as they settled the land for the first time (Native American are also addressed), and the final part about business development of Dallas as well as reasons for which Dallas is famous the world over. The JFK assassination takes up one small panel.
For an entry fee of $8, it is a worth while visit to understand Dallas culture, but not by far is it as necessary as the Sixth Floor Museum. In about an hour and a half it will explain a very generalized history of Dallas to the first time visitor, but with knowledge of Texas’ development I could see where this museum would not be on everyone’s must-see list.
The second floor houses the permanent exhibit. They divided it into five sections, each with its own movie. Generally I don’t enjoy sitting still for an entire fifteen to twenty minute film about a certain aspect of history, but these films I didn’t find difficult to sit still. The first two parts deal with social aspects of Dallas, with half focusing on the development of Dallas and a part with social issues, such as the Civil War, racism, education and other basic social needs and issues. The second two serve a more specific purpose, focusing on the lives of early pioneers as they settled the land for the first time (Native American are also addressed), and the final part about business development of Dallas as well as reasons for which Dallas is famous the world over. The JFK assassination takes up one small panel.
For an entry fee of $8, it is a worth while visit to understand Dallas culture, but not by far is it as necessary as the Sixth Floor Museum. In about an hour and a half it will explain a very generalized history of Dallas to the first time visitor, but with knowledge of Texas’ development I could see where this museum would not be on everyone’s must-see list.
Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and Museum (Austin, TX)
On the Longhorn campus of the University of Texas at Austin is a ten story structure dedicated to keeping the records of Lyndon B. Johnson. Parking is free (albeit maybe difficult during a school day, or a football day), and admission is always free. I originally decided to visit the LBJ Library because I had been to the JFK Library in Boston, and was impressed with the extreme detail in the life of JFK and wanted to see another presidential library.
The museum exhibit chronicles his life as well as major work events that were taking place. Generally, the background has large pictures, and in the foreground are images of LBJ and other artifacts from his years. Chronicled are his life growing up in rural Texas, and coming of age in the middle of the Great Depression. In comparision to the life of JFK with a silver spoon in his mouth, the duality of a man who would become president who actually had to drop out of college to make money and earn his tuition is welcoming, as I was not born with a silver spoon. What made me actually think was that my childhood was actually better off than that of LBJ. Maybe one day I’ll be president…
Anyway, there is a small portion of the exhibit that is dedicated to the assassination of JFK as that was how LBJ became president. Artfully, the walls in this section are black and focus on the major details of the events of the day (obviously less than such a dedicated museum as the Sixth Floor Museum) and it focuses on how LBJ rose above the mourning country to raise the country up and pass legislation that JFK had been campaigning for. Through the rest of the museum pertaining to his time in office, a lot of focus is put on his unmatched number of social rights bills that he signed, most notably the Civil Rights Act. Probably my favorite exhibit in this museum is the majority of his bills represented by pens that he signed the bills with (of course the pen for the Civil Rights Act has its own case, rightfully so). What is also addressed is how the Vietnam War overshadowed all of the awesome things he did in office. The more human side of a man who has to accept what he is sending young men into is shown in a small exhibit. An actual limousine is on display as well.
The exhibit continues on the next floor, but before you get to it, a wall of glass is overshadowing the stairs with boxes visible. This is a cross section of the archives of Johnson. As a former student archivist, I can truly appreciate this display of all of the papers that archivists of past have organized and the historians that currently go through the archives through this day. The next floor shows gifts that LBJ received. Part are gifts that the American people gave him, which for the most part is typical Texan memorabilia; boots, belt buckles, anything majorly oversized basically. Other gifts are gifts from travelling ambassadors, which just show a beautiful cross section of the cultures of the world. A rather random but welcome section is a animatronic LBJ in cowboy gear standing by a fence telling jokes. The final floor is on the tenth floor of the building, which has a replica of LBJs Oval Office, and his post presidency. Much of this is dedicated to Lady Bird. There is also a pseudo-tour of Lady Bird’s favorite rooms in the White House. Reflected in this portion are the multi-functional uses of the rooms in the White House, such as the East Room as a reception hall for their daughter’s wedding and the wake of JFK.
The LBJ Library and Museum should top the list of history buffs in Austin. It will take about two hours to go through the museum, and it is an excellent use of time. The curatorial quality of the museum is second to none other museum dedicated to one person I’ve ever been in. They excellently address his life concurrently with events of the day.
Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum (Austin, TX)
Nearby to the State Capitol is the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. You can’t miss it. There is a Texas-sized star in front of it. Normally there is a fee to get in, but the day I went was museum day in Austin, so I got to avoid that.
The Texas state history museum is exactly that: starting with the Native Americans’ initial contact with conquistadores of Spain. There are several exhibits about their life pre-contact with settlers. Religious aspects are touched on, but much of the history is centered around cowboys. There is a solid portion about the massive effort to settle the land as well as about the Civil War. The last floor touches on many commercial aspects of Texas (aka the oil business). I’m going to be completely honest here: this was the third museum I visited that day on a large Starbucks coffee and an artisan breakfast sandwich, so I was famished. They did not directly advertise any place to grab something to eat so I tried to power through it. Halfway through the second floor I knew I failed. On the way down from the third floor (ready to pass out) I found the museum café. Too little too late I suppose, but I couldn’t take any more.
My reflections on the museum were that it was less of a museum and more of a cultural learning center. There were very few artifacts in the museum and many reproductions and beautifully sculpted scenes of early Texas history. Its organized well, and paints a very nice picture of much of Texas history in about an hour and a half for a younger audience. I like artifacts. Sorry. This museum goes in my “traveling with kids list” otherwise its something you can skip.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
U.S. Rocket and Space Center (Huntsville, Ala.)
Last December, I had the opportunity to travel to Huntsville, Alabama with work. When a meeting ended early one day, my travel partner and I found the opportunity to get to the Space and Rocket Center. Right off the highway, it was easy to find and get to (but maybe the rocket off the highway made it a little easier to find).
Walking into the museum there is an atrium that has a remodel of an early plane a la the Wright Brothers. It effectively ties history into what aeronautical scientists do today. The museum is laid out in a unique way, separated into two buildings. The first one (the one where we bought the tickets) houses a Saturn V rocket that was fully restored (to save you the trip to Wikipedia, it was the rocket for several Apollo missions, including Apollo 11 and was decommissioned in 1973). The rocket is larger than life. When seeing rocket take offs and landings, you know they're big, but seeing it laid on it's side just showed me how big it was. Along the sides of Saturn V, there are items from space history, such as a decontamination trailer, different modules for landing, and interstages. There was a lot around this part and it was overwhelming, however it all followed the common purpose of explaining the breakdown of a rocket. There were also places to listen to oral histories by astronauts.
Between the two buildings, there is an area best described as a rocket garden. It was a walking path and on every side there was some kind of rocket or space vehicle. In a very Cold War-era building with a rounded entry way and darkly tinted glass, which was just overall looming to walk into. Inside is just a myriad of old space equipment. The first floor has just everything not really organized into theme or anything, but just out there. There is a larger interstage that serves as a barrier for a couple of sections. There is even a decommissioned Soviet rocket to walk through. Some of the items are complete sets, shown as they would be used, which is very interesting. Others are more out to show off the circuits of years past, which basically makes a large portion of this museum an engineer's dream come true. To one side of the exhibit, there are a few hands-on activities, whose hours shut down well before I go there. Also over there are some examples of defense items being developed at Redstone Arsenel (where the Rocket Center is actually located) such as Future Combat Systems.
Along the other side of the building is a more friendly side to those who like a timeline process in understanding. They address the phases of development of a rocket and address how certain equipments were arrived at. Some parts are more juvinelle, but I think the epitomological standpoint of the curators was that kids would really only understand this part, and just think the other stuff before was cool, whereas adults would understand the entire museum. The part about being in orbit refers to children "putting away their toys." Also addressed in this portion of the museum are the dangers of space travel with a section paying tribute to those lost in flight. Finally there is a landing simulator that I lost control of three or four times.
The United States Space and Rocket Center is a great place to go, is family friendly, and is available at a moderately inexpensive price. There are a lot of decommissioned items in the two buildings and it is a very interesting visit. The only other real thing to do in Huntsville is to shop, so I feel the majority of visitors to the area are people in Defense, so if you get out of a meeting early, check out this gem in the deep south city.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (Washington DC)
Today's trip was to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC, right off of the Orange and Blue lines on the Metro system. Before getting into the museum itself, on a transportation note, I would suggest parking at one of the outer stations, then take the Metro in. Parking is free at most stations on the weekends, at the system is the easiest I've encountered.
This was my second trip to the Holocaust museum, but I believe I got the most of it with this trip. This is a testament to preparation for the museum: the first time I went to the museum was in 2000 after a year of learning about the Holocaust in 8th grade. Talking to survivors and reading testimonies was supposed to prepare us for what we were about to see, when in reality I believe it numbed us.
During the non-peak season (September-March) there is no ticketing. The exhibit begins in an elevator, and the three floors are succinctly organized into time periods, starting with Nazi takeover, then the "Final Solution", and liberation. After the elevator ride, there is a short video taken by American soldiers at the liberation of a camp. Taking full advantage of multiple medias, the museum in presentation does not necessarily overwhelm, though the content certainly does that job. The fourth floor (the first floor in the order of the exhibit) offers about a half hour combined of films, which helped today to thin the crowd out, since some watched and others didn't. The walls address what life was like for Jewish Europeans before the war. Most however starts with Hitler's rise to power in early 1933. Mostly photographs, and slide shows, a few ephemera mixed in really hits emotional points, such as German school textbooks with a clear racism towards Jewish people. Addressed as well are other factions of the population that were subjected to the harshness of Nazi rule, and "The Night of Broken Glass" when Jewish-owned shops' windows were broken.
The second floor is done with many more items and as many photographs. The first part of it, contextually centers around ghetto life, with a cattle car in the middle, that was actually used to transport people during the Holocaust. The items that were in the ghetto portion of this level were saved in a secret archive someone put into a milk container. There are a few video media portions, but for most of them there is a high wall around it. The images may not be suitable for some people to see, so they can still get the effect of the museum even if they decided to skip over the stuff the museum deemed too gruesome, which is saying a lot. After passing through the cattle car, the museum changes from ghetto life to concentration camp life. In this next part, there were barracks (more like 4 level bunk beds) that were actually in Auschwitz, as well as stone that was made by the prisoners and examples of other products that were made by prisoners of the camps. There is a big mold of a possible time in a death camp, but that can really only be understood once its been seen. In the middle of the large display is another set of televisions surrounded by high walls, where details are shared in regard to Nazi medical experimentation. This is saying a lot: I had to turn around from those monitors. Ending this floor, there is also a section called "Voices of Auschwitz" where survivors had talked about their experiences. It is also typed out for the hearing impaired.
During the transition, there are several ways of enumerating the lives lost. First there are piles of shoes collected from one of the camps, which have a musky smell but surround you and engulf you with emotion. Then there are images of older people with their number tattoos many years later. There is also an image of a pile of hair which they try to describe mathematically how much more hair was shorn, but by that point I was started to get emotionally numb.
The final floor of the exhibit is supposedly about liberation, but it mostly seems to be able the brave attempts by people to usher Jewish people out of harms way, for example families in France who took in borders, Dutch who snuck away in boats, and the story of Raoul Wallenberg. The level does address liberation in a unique way, there is another arrangement of televisions behind a high wall, but there is another set on the other side that is not covered, so people can see the initial film taken, but maybe not the most grusome parts. The final hallway addresses the children, some about how they escaped by feigning Christianity, and others were pictures that were drawn while in the ghetto. What was striking about the selection the curators chose was that they weren't that striking. Pictures of windows, family (perhaps in happier times), pets, and just stuff that comes out of kids' imaginations were on those yellowed pages. The last corner addresses what these survivors did, as some emigrated to America, others to what would be Israel, and others decided to stay. What sociologists have decided was that the desire of the people was to just move on with their lives, and they claim proof was how quickly survivors had children. The museum's end leads to an area for reflection, with an eternal flame lit on top of soil from every concentration camp as well as cemetaries where American soldiers are buried in Europe. Atop the eternal flame is a quote from Deuteronomy 4:9
This was my second trip to the Holocaust museum, but I believe I got the most of it with this trip. This is a testament to preparation for the museum: the first time I went to the museum was in 2000 after a year of learning about the Holocaust in 8th grade. Talking to survivors and reading testimonies was supposed to prepare us for what we were about to see, when in reality I believe it numbed us.
During the non-peak season (September-March) there is no ticketing. The exhibit begins in an elevator, and the three floors are succinctly organized into time periods, starting with Nazi takeover, then the "Final Solution", and liberation. After the elevator ride, there is a short video taken by American soldiers at the liberation of a camp. Taking full advantage of multiple medias, the museum in presentation does not necessarily overwhelm, though the content certainly does that job. The fourth floor (the first floor in the order of the exhibit) offers about a half hour combined of films, which helped today to thin the crowd out, since some watched and others didn't. The walls address what life was like for Jewish Europeans before the war. Most however starts with Hitler's rise to power in early 1933. Mostly photographs, and slide shows, a few ephemera mixed in really hits emotional points, such as German school textbooks with a clear racism towards Jewish people. Addressed as well are other factions of the population that were subjected to the harshness of Nazi rule, and "The Night of Broken Glass" when Jewish-owned shops' windows were broken.
The second floor is done with many more items and as many photographs. The first part of it, contextually centers around ghetto life, with a cattle car in the middle, that was actually used to transport people during the Holocaust. The items that were in the ghetto portion of this level were saved in a secret archive someone put into a milk container. There are a few video media portions, but for most of them there is a high wall around it. The images may not be suitable for some people to see, so they can still get the effect of the museum even if they decided to skip over the stuff the museum deemed too gruesome, which is saying a lot. After passing through the cattle car, the museum changes from ghetto life to concentration camp life. In this next part, there were barracks (more like 4 level bunk beds) that were actually in Auschwitz, as well as stone that was made by the prisoners and examples of other products that were made by prisoners of the camps. There is a big mold of a possible time in a death camp, but that can really only be understood once its been seen. In the middle of the large display is another set of televisions surrounded by high walls, where details are shared in regard to Nazi medical experimentation. This is saying a lot: I had to turn around from those monitors. Ending this floor, there is also a section called "Voices of Auschwitz" where survivors had talked about their experiences. It is also typed out for the hearing impaired.
During the transition, there are several ways of enumerating the lives lost. First there are piles of shoes collected from one of the camps, which have a musky smell but surround you and engulf you with emotion. Then there are images of older people with their number tattoos many years later. There is also an image of a pile of hair which they try to describe mathematically how much more hair was shorn, but by that point I was started to get emotionally numb.
The final floor of the exhibit is supposedly about liberation, but it mostly seems to be able the brave attempts by people to usher Jewish people out of harms way, for example families in France who took in borders, Dutch who snuck away in boats, and the story of Raoul Wallenberg. The level does address liberation in a unique way, there is another arrangement of televisions behind a high wall, but there is another set on the other side that is not covered, so people can see the initial film taken, but maybe not the most grusome parts. The final hallway addresses the children, some about how they escaped by feigning Christianity, and others were pictures that were drawn while in the ghetto. What was striking about the selection the curators chose was that they weren't that striking. Pictures of windows, family (perhaps in happier times), pets, and just stuff that comes out of kids' imaginations were on those yellowed pages. The last corner addresses what these survivors did, as some emigrated to America, others to what would be Israel, and others decided to stay. What sociologists have decided was that the desire of the people was to just move on with their lives, and they claim proof was how quickly survivors had children. The museum's end leads to an area for reflection, with an eternal flame lit on top of soil from every concentration camp as well as cemetaries where American soldiers are buried in Europe. Atop the eternal flame is a quote from Deuteronomy 4:9
Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them thy sons, and thy sons' sons
A poignant way to end the afternoon in thought and meditation. Between the concrete walls there are slivers of glass where the National Mall is seen. The architecture of the building is emotional and overwhelming and according to the website that was the point. Mostly constructed in a brash glass and industrial steel look, it reflects the industrialism that leads to power and greed. There are some points where the light of day can be seen through the exhibit, but not many. When the light hits you it tends to be a bit too much.
When it comes to who should come to this, I need to stress, if you can leave the kids behind, do it. The posted suggested age is 11, with a children's portion appropriate for those 8 and over. While that is to protect the children from undo scarring, there is also an effect that comes from silence. In one of those first films at the beginning of the museum, there was a little girl who cheered for Hitler. I don't think she was an anti-semetic, I just think that she was no older than three and bored. Still, there were a few times that I wanted to just scream "Do you really think your kid should be here?". My suggestion when it comes to kids, if you think they're old enough to understand that they're in a place where respect should be paid, take them through the children's exhibit. If they handle that well, then consider going through the other part, but don't drag the stroller in, if you know what I mean. In retrospect if the museum chooses to advertise a suggested age, the docents should consider pulling those families with young children.
Besides the children, which didn't really get in the way after the first floor, it was a good, if not depressing afternoon. It should top the list of a DC tourist.
When it comes to who should come to this, I need to stress, if you can leave the kids behind, do it. The posted suggested age is 11, with a children's portion appropriate for those 8 and over. While that is to protect the children from undo scarring, there is also an effect that comes from silence. In one of those first films at the beginning of the museum, there was a little girl who cheered for Hitler. I don't think she was an anti-semetic, I just think that she was no older than three and bored. Still, there were a few times that I wanted to just scream "Do you really think your kid should be here?". My suggestion when it comes to kids, if you think they're old enough to understand that they're in a place where respect should be paid, take them through the children's exhibit. If they handle that well, then consider going through the other part, but don't drag the stroller in, if you know what I mean. In retrospect if the museum chooses to advertise a suggested age, the docents should consider pulling those families with young children.
Besides the children, which didn't really get in the way after the first floor, it was a good, if not depressing afternoon. It should top the list of a DC tourist.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, Md.
The Walters Art Museum is located in the heart of Baltimore at 600 N. Charles Street, near the Washington Monument and Peabody Institute.
Well divided by time period, the Walters has a lot to offer to the curious eye. It's in what appears to be neo-classical. The museum, which started as a personal family collection is actually in their old family compound. To try to verbalize the design, there was an open air courtyard (now covered) and several floors and an additional annex (which I did not get into).
The first gallery I explored was The Ancient World. Here, there is Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. I had actually been to this museum before, as a jaded college sophomore and had a personal tour with my small Roman History class. Probably the only thing I remember about this tour four years ago was that there are a lot of head sculptures, and the docent who gave the tour explained that as rulers changed, the head on sculptures would change, and you can tell by the details if the head was made over an old head, when it was made and in what context. For example, one head was simply a redone Nero after his unpopular rule was over. This was determined because there was a strong resemblance to Nero and contemporary retouches to the head, such as a new nose, and deeper cuts in the hair.
Greek and Roman flow into each other, as so history is so adequately reflected. There are a lot of different representations of art, but it is mostly heads and busts in limestone. There is one excellent outcove of jewelry and of small trinkets. What is astonishing is the detail that went into the art, so they do provide a few magnifying glasses so you can observe the detail. Because a lot of the collection is a personal collection, it goes out for traveling exhibits and for special displays, but by no means does this take away from what is on display. There are also a lot of sarcophagus on display, and the detail in them, considering most are over 2000 years old, is astonishing. In the middle of the Greek and Roman exhibits was the Egyptian exhibit. The Egyptian collection had a lot more color to it because that was simply what was available to them. The colors are a strong contrast from the cream colored limestone of the earlier two. There is also a large gallery dedicated to the burial traditions of Egypt. I've been to some cool traveling exhibits before (King Tut in the Franklin Institute for one), but this was the perfect amount. There was a complete coffin set and a mummified cat. Kind of freaked me out because it was small enough to fit in a medium Coach bag, but I've always heard that pets were mummified and here was one.
Upstairs is where the Medieval exhibit is kept. The galleries flow nicely and as expected nearly all of the art is very Christian centered. What I was shocked at how well it was done, was how Byzantium and Eastern Orthodox art initiates the exhibit, and then it separates. There is also Islamic art addressed which I found to be very interesting. Christian art centers around images of Jesus, Mary and the apostles, where as Muslims don't allow the image of Mohammed to be created, so the words of the Qu'ran becomes the art. It was a great balance in the exhibit. Also on this floor is art from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries. These galleries got to be a bit too much for me to handle (I was under visual overload by this point) and I didn't get to go through them. Watch out for a new post (because these galleries are what most people like to see).
To take a few minutes, I just looked over the balcony to what was the sculpture garden at one point. I moved on to the fourth floor where there was 19th century art. At this point I just had to admit defeat, and tried again with some other galleries on the second floor surrounding the courtyard. Down here was some "Wonders" such as taxidermied animals and fossils along with guns and armor. Its a great break in the action from all of the paintings.
While I have come to appreciate the use of multiple medias, to go to a museum with items and captions is refreshing. I spent two hours in the building, and it was enough to appreciate half of the collection. There are things to keep kids occupied but to the true art fan, leave the little ones at home. Also leave the easily bored by art history buffs at home too. This museum is free though welcome donations and the gift shop is full of unique gifts at fair prices (but no shot glasses). It's a great way to spend a Saturday in Baltimore.
Well divided by time period, the Walters has a lot to offer to the curious eye. It's in what appears to be neo-classical. The museum, which started as a personal family collection is actually in their old family compound. To try to verbalize the design, there was an open air courtyard (now covered) and several floors and an additional annex (which I did not get into).
The first gallery I explored was The Ancient World. Here, there is Egyptian, Greek and Roman art. I had actually been to this museum before, as a jaded college sophomore and had a personal tour with my small Roman History class. Probably the only thing I remember about this tour four years ago was that there are a lot of head sculptures, and the docent who gave the tour explained that as rulers changed, the head on sculptures would change, and you can tell by the details if the head was made over an old head, when it was made and in what context. For example, one head was simply a redone Nero after his unpopular rule was over. This was determined because there was a strong resemblance to Nero and contemporary retouches to the head, such as a new nose, and deeper cuts in the hair.
Greek and Roman flow into each other, as so history is so adequately reflected. There are a lot of different representations of art, but it is mostly heads and busts in limestone. There is one excellent outcove of jewelry and of small trinkets. What is astonishing is the detail that went into the art, so they do provide a few magnifying glasses so you can observe the detail. Because a lot of the collection is a personal collection, it goes out for traveling exhibits and for special displays, but by no means does this take away from what is on display. There are also a lot of sarcophagus on display, and the detail in them, considering most are over 2000 years old, is astonishing. In the middle of the Greek and Roman exhibits was the Egyptian exhibit. The Egyptian collection had a lot more color to it because that was simply what was available to them. The colors are a strong contrast from the cream colored limestone of the earlier two. There is also a large gallery dedicated to the burial traditions of Egypt. I've been to some cool traveling exhibits before (King Tut in the Franklin Institute for one), but this was the perfect amount. There was a complete coffin set and a mummified cat. Kind of freaked me out because it was small enough to fit in a medium Coach bag, but I've always heard that pets were mummified and here was one.
Upstairs is where the Medieval exhibit is kept. The galleries flow nicely and as expected nearly all of the art is very Christian centered. What I was shocked at how well it was done, was how Byzantium and Eastern Orthodox art initiates the exhibit, and then it separates. There is also Islamic art addressed which I found to be very interesting. Christian art centers around images of Jesus, Mary and the apostles, where as Muslims don't allow the image of Mohammed to be created, so the words of the Qu'ran becomes the art. It was a great balance in the exhibit. Also on this floor is art from the thirteenth to eighteenth centuries. These galleries got to be a bit too much for me to handle (I was under visual overload by this point) and I didn't get to go through them. Watch out for a new post (because these galleries are what most people like to see).
To take a few minutes, I just looked over the balcony to what was the sculpture garden at one point. I moved on to the fourth floor where there was 19th century art. At this point I just had to admit defeat, and tried again with some other galleries on the second floor surrounding the courtyard. Down here was some "Wonders" such as taxidermied animals and fossils along with guns and armor. Its a great break in the action from all of the paintings.
While I have come to appreciate the use of multiple medias, to go to a museum with items and captions is refreshing. I spent two hours in the building, and it was enough to appreciate half of the collection. There are things to keep kids occupied but to the true art fan, leave the little ones at home. Also leave the easily bored by art history buffs at home too. This museum is free though welcome donations and the gift shop is full of unique gifts at fair prices (but no shot glasses). It's a great way to spend a Saturday in Baltimore.
Friday, September 4, 2009
United States Marine Corps Museum and Heritage Center
Located in Quantico, VA (about 45 minutes south of Washington, DC), I arrived at the Marine Corps Museum at its opening, 9:00am. The museum closes at 5:00pm so I knew I had plenty of time. First thing in the morning, there was only me, a tour group of retired Marines (those guys in their red hats and shirts stick out), and a bus group from a contractor.
Architecturally, the museum's external decor is concrete and glass. The triangular glass structure is at such an angle it resembles the flag raising over Iwo Jima. Outside, there is also a path (under construction) around the museum and a chapel that has a few monuments along the trail.
The museum is adequately staffed, but it was unclear how to get a personal tour. I'm sure the website addresses it, but, giving them the benefit of the doubt, there were like 40 people shuffling in at the same time as me. I only wanted a self guided audio tour.
The audio tour in the lobby is well done. There's not too much being said over the ear piece, but there is enough to supply some extra background. In the lobby, there are a few airplanes suspended from the ceiling, and a helicopter and amphibious landing vehicle (AMTRAC) set up with figures of men in battle. Along one side towards the back was a traveling exhibit. Four years ago, a Marine Reserve unit out of Ohio that lost 22 Marines in a summer (all mostly from one town), and upon hearing this an artist painted all of the lost men for the town to have and treasure. It has now turned into a traveling exhibit going around with boots of the men. A stunning and powerful traveling exhibit. I walked past the shoes and noticed that neatly tucked into one pair was a photograph of a man who resembled one of the painted men. This exhibit got much more powerful towards the end. The first gallery was all about the sacrifice of self for unit and the beginning of a career in the Marines. The gallery opens and there is a lot of stuff in one place. Taking full advantage of multiple medias, there is a screen playing recruitment commercials, a screen playing the inner thoughts of a recruit as they arrive at boot camp (on a physical bus in the museum), and holographic pictures of before and after the haircut the recruits get in their first hours. The details are very well done, with a place where you can stand surrounded by speakers with a Drill Instructor yelling at you. In this general area, they also address what it takes to become a Drill Instructor. The remainder of the gallery describes the first twelve weeks of a Marine's career using most full size displays and photographs. At the end of the gallery there is an opportunity to aim and shoot rifles down range for a nominal fee.
The museum continues on along a timeline, starting in 1755. Above the time line is the Marine history and below is the history of the world. Planes are suspended about, and there are three galleries that stem off of the main timeline. The timeline serves as a hallway between the exhibits and it is mostly photographs and text on the wall, in addition to the suspended airplanes and some Marine relics within the timeline itself. World War II, Korea, and Vietnam are covered, and the galleries for the American Revolution, Civil War and World War I are under construction with an approximate end date in 2010. The World War II gallery is long, but informative and has a lot of great visual encouragement throughout. It mostly covers the front lines, of course, but within the exhibit addresses the segregated units, the home front, Navajo code talkers and the involvement of women. World War II is heavily about the Pacific front, however so was Marine involvement. Though I don't personally know much about the Pacific front, the exhibit was well done, possibly a little overwhelming. It uses objectification to show how many lives were lost in Iwo Jima, which is extraordinarily powerful. There is also a simulation of being in one of the amphibious boats as it approached Iwo Jima.
The Korean conflict gallery goes into a lot of description about a complex situation that not many people understand, and the Vietnam gallery also goes into deep detail. There are some amazing exhibits describing the amazing danger that those who fought in Vietnam dealt with every day. Throughout the Korean and Vietnam exhibits, different factions of defense are addressed, such as body armor, Chaplins, and medical aide. After the World War II exhibit, to the total history buff, it got overwhelming. The current conflicts are addressed as part of a temporary (or rather growing) exhibit.
Through the galleries of the museum, the curators decided to use several mediums of exploration. Text heavy, there was always an opportunity to skip it and still get a large portion of the message they were conveying. If you didn't feel like reading, as I didn't in part of the World War II exhibit, you could turn on your audio tour as you glance over the ephemera on the walls. For a break in the action after the display heavy parts covering Guadalcanal, Tarawa, and the training and missions of Marine Raiders, there was a "newsreel" of coverage, as well as American advertisements for War Bonds (starring Bugs Bunny!!). In the Korean and Vietnamese galleries, tactile learning is explored, with some refrigerated rooms about the harsh winters in Korea, or a heated room for Vietnam.
Food is served at a moderate fee in the "Mess Hall" where there are photographs of preparation and serving of food to Marines in all aspects of their lives. There is also the Tun Tavern, the legendary place where the Marine Corps was founded in Philadelphia. Upstairs along with the food, there is an exhibit about the Marine Corps Band. As I walked back downstairs to get my shot glass (I collect shot glasses from every place I go) I noticed that within the shoe exhibit, someone had placed a single yellow rose and a wristband in one pair of shoes. It was so powerful, and I think it was evident that I was holding back tears. Someone came to this museum, and poignently placed a yellow rose in one pair of shoes. To me this man on the canvas was a painted man with shoes who met an early and unfortunate end. To someone else, he was so much more. That's what the museum represents as a whole; as Americans we are all a part of the Marines' lives, they serve to protect us. However to others, this museum means so much more.
For the price of free, the museum will live up to everybodys expectations. Whether or not you are a history buff, military fan or whatever adds up to what you will take from it. I left knowing that I can't wait to go again because I know I didn't catch everything, the descriptions are detailed and it could bore some kids, but then again most museums will. I went alone on a day off, and its hard to say if going with someone would have changed it, but you never know. Once the Semper Fidelis path is done, I believe it will be the perfect end to a day to reflect on what was in the museum.
Purpose Statement
Hello History Fans,
Today I traveled to the USMC Museum and Heritage Center at Quantico, VA. Built in 2006, I got the impression that the organization is trying to still be in their initial advertising campaign. I had read about it in a travel magazine for Maryland, and on my second real day off while working here, I decided to check it out.
When I first found out and decided that I was going to move to Baltimore, I couldn't wait to start going to Washington, DC whenever I wanted. About an hour away means that I could make DC literally a day trip. While at the museum today, I thought about a way to review museums as well as let more people know about them. As a History major at a major university, I had many options when it came to what kind of history I wanted to study. Most people would think growing up in Central New Jersey, I would have chosen Asian History (nevertheless that there are some great Asian historians on staff at Rutgers) but I went a different route. I wanted to become an archivist, so I took the opportunity to learn about how people perceive history. Through internships and public history classes, I learned about the flow of museums and became interested in the curator aspect of museums as well as the content.
This obsession was a long time coming. Although now my day job has close to nothing to do with history and even less to do with museums, the income and the schedule frees me up to see a lot of things in this area that most need to plan long weekends around. Although I'm not personally a fan of blogs, I decided to start one. If not for great public fame, at least I'll have a documented history of my own travels in this area for myself and for fellow history fan friends.
So spread the word about the blog. I'll be updating as I can get to museums, and if you have a suggestion, leave a comment! In addition to updating recent trips, I'll write about my past travels to the best of my ability. One thing I can promise you is that I will never leave a half-assed review. If I don't think that I can write a good review for a museum I went to in the past I won't act like I can. I'll try to figure out a way to document these travels.
So I hope you enjoy. And if you want to contribute, let me know!
Jackie
Today I traveled to the USMC Museum and Heritage Center at Quantico, VA. Built in 2006, I got the impression that the organization is trying to still be in their initial advertising campaign. I had read about it in a travel magazine for Maryland, and on my second real day off while working here, I decided to check it out.
When I first found out and decided that I was going to move to Baltimore, I couldn't wait to start going to Washington, DC whenever I wanted. About an hour away means that I could make DC literally a day trip. While at the museum today, I thought about a way to review museums as well as let more people know about them. As a History major at a major university, I had many options when it came to what kind of history I wanted to study. Most people would think growing up in Central New Jersey, I would have chosen Asian History (nevertheless that there are some great Asian historians on staff at Rutgers) but I went a different route. I wanted to become an archivist, so I took the opportunity to learn about how people perceive history. Through internships and public history classes, I learned about the flow of museums and became interested in the curator aspect of museums as well as the content.
This obsession was a long time coming. Although now my day job has close to nothing to do with history and even less to do with museums, the income and the schedule frees me up to see a lot of things in this area that most need to plan long weekends around. Although I'm not personally a fan of blogs, I decided to start one. If not for great public fame, at least I'll have a documented history of my own travels in this area for myself and for fellow history fan friends.
So spread the word about the blog. I'll be updating as I can get to museums, and if you have a suggestion, leave a comment! In addition to updating recent trips, I'll write about my past travels to the best of my ability. One thing I can promise you is that I will never leave a half-assed review. If I don't think that I can write a good review for a museum I went to in the past I won't act like I can. I'll try to figure out a way to document these travels.
So I hope you enjoy. And if you want to contribute, let me know!
Jackie
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