Reflections of Three Important Museums

Over the course of our class, we have visited three amazing museums. Each one had its own unique focus which contributes a lot to these museums.  

The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

This museum had a very interesting focus on the Underground Railroad since Cincinnati played a large role at the time. I think they could fill a lot more of the empty space with more exhibits and information about various topics, but I still loved it. One thing I was very shocked to learn was that Danville was a key city in the slave trade. Arguably the museum's major exhibit, the slave pen, made me feel very emotional. I could not imagine what the people who stood in the same spot I was standing in had to go through. Overall, I would definitely recommend everyone I know to visit this museum, because I think it is a good start to learning about African American history. 

The National Museum of African American Music

Like the Underground Railroad Freedom Center, this museum had a specific focus, this time being African American music, hence the name. I really liked how this museum had many different interactive features that also had informational aspects to them. One of the most interesting things that I learned was the influence that African American spirituals and musicians had on British folk rock bands, which then in turn influenced musicians like Jimi Hendrix. This is similar to the interactive screens they had that showed the influence, the peers, and the followers of many African American artists. One thing is common between the vast majority of past and current musicians: the influence of African American spirituals on their music. This topic really interests me and I will probably do some more research about this in the future. One thing that was highlighted was the Harlem Renaissance. We have learned about it in class and it was very cool to learn more in-depth about it and to see all of the items used by the great artists of the period. I would recommend this museum to everyone also. There is a lot of music that has been influenced by African American musicians and spirituals that a lot of people don't know about. 

The National Museum of African American History and Culture

This was by far my favorite museum. There is so much in this museum that I was on the bottom floor for at least an hour and had to skip a lot of reading and exhibits because they were about to close. This museum is by far my favorite of ANY museum I have ever been to. There was not a certain focus like the first two, which could have contributed to it being so massive. There are a lot of heavy and painful exhibits that are important in understanding African American history. The most interesting thing I saw in this museum is hard to decide considering how many pieces of history were there. If I had to choose one, I would probably have to pick the original Martin Luther King Jr's "I Have A Dream" speech that he read off of. There is just something about standing right in front of such an important piece of history and thinking about what it has done for our society and our world. I could not recommend this museum enough to any person. It is such an important museum to visit for everyone.