Wednesday Review: The National Civil War Museum

Last week, Blue was in school for a total of 6 hours. The entire week was thrown into chaos by the MLK holiday (which, for the record, I'm totally fine with), a snow day (it would have been at least 3 snow days in Kentucky) and something Pennsylvanians refer to as an "Act 80 day" (which is essentially a catch-all phrase for any reason they are scheduled to be out of school, i.e. parent/teacher conferences, teacher in-service days, strategic planning, etc. It would be super helpful if Act 80 days were all lumped together and held around the same time as everyone else's spring break or if they at least coincided with the Pennsylvania Farm Show. But alas...).

On Monday, since it was MLK Jr. Day and we were 4 hours round-trip from any museum dedicated solely to African American history, we decided to check out the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg. Having been to the National World War I Museum in Kansas City, our expectations were high. Perhaps a little too high. Let's revisit the WWI Museum for a second...
Well...crap. Apparently I visited that museum three times and this is all I have to show for it. 

I can't even explain how this happened. I have roughly 237 photos of food on Dropbox. At least 125 photos of Blue swinging on playground equipment in various cities. And another 214 of road signs. How do I not have a single photo from inside this museum? I even have a photo of the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, which was taken on the sly because that's totally prohibited (but if it makes the Pope happy, it's blurry). And yet, not a single photo of the awesome that is the National WWI Museum in Kansas City. I think I will blame the then-3 year old who wanted to touch everything. After all, that's how toddlers fall into gorilla cages, right? 

Anyway...because it is called the National Civil War Museum, I think we expected a larger collection of artifacts and more ways to engage with the information they were presenting. But they did have a lot of guns. Rifles, pistols, ones with swords on the end. So, there's that. And there was this disturbing scene...

While a little overwhelming for a 5-year old, it did bring up some questions for which I had no easy answers. Although we have Henry's Freedom Box and have read it many times, as well as a couple of children's books about Abraham Lincoln and his role in ending slavery, the wax figures were pretty realistic. And I hadn't yet seen the need to explain how children were often sold off from their parents. I mean, we're getting there, but he still can't manage to get his shoes on the right feet consistently. I feel like there's a natural order to things. I was also not quite prepared to explain torture or the devices used...

So, we moved on. Although not before I snapped this picture, which I'm sure was purposely juxtaposed for the more intellectual crowd...at least the ones who understand irony.

Speaking of Henry's Freedom Box, perhaps my favorite part of the entire museum was the reconstructed wooden crate, built to represent the box Henry Brown used to escape slavery after his wife and children were all sold into separate families. We've been reading this book for about a year and being able to squeeze Neal into this interactive exhibit helped Blue visualize how desperate Mr. Brown must have been to mail himself to Philadelphia (which Blue knows as the city with the broken bell and the meerkat maze...imagine what it would be like if we hadn't lived here for 2 years).

After Neal climbed out, a mother and her 3 children came over to look at the box (presumably led by the two boys who found something they could actually touch in a museum). One kid climbed in and decided it wasn't so bad. She asked all 3 kids to crowd in together. Suddenly, Mr. Brown's experience became quite real for them, too.

But that was the extent of the exhibits regarding slavery. Maybe a few paragraphs here and there about what it was like for African Americans to serve in the war and a little bit about freed slaves fleeing to the north after the war, but not enough to impress Blue. I assume that's a different museum for a different day.

There was also a conspicuous lack of information about women or children who were left to tend the homes during the Civil War. A campfire scene depicted soldiers singing around the campfire and buying liquor out of the back of a wagon, but nothing about what the families were forced to endure. How do you talk about the Civil War without discussing what it was like for the wives and mothers on southern plantations or the families who were ripped apart by their beliefs regarding slavery?

Maybe that's also a different museum for a different day.

Actually, all of the students in Blue's school are reading Because of Winn Dixie and when we got to the part this morning about "the Yankees burned down his house during the Civil War", Blue had 2 questions: 1. Who are the Yankees? 2. Are they the bad guys? (After all, why would the good guys burn down a perfectly good house just to be mean? Which, you have to admit, is a fair question.) So, it could be argued that Blue is learning more about the Civil War from a YA book about a mutt named after a now-defunct grocery store than this museum, but sometimes that's just the way it goes. Fortunately, his admission was free.

Blue did love the dioramas and set to work re-creating them as soon as we got home.

Blue is lacking actual Civil War soldiers, but he made do with the classic green and tan men and a few "Red Coats" thrown in for good measure.

We also enjoyed listening to the music of the era through hand-held devices that look like a phone (although that reference is utterly lost on our child). Also, if you are squeamish about ear germs maybe skip this part. We were 3 of approximately 10 people in the museum that afternoon so it was fine. Although only 3 of the receivers were working, which seems to be the universal sign of any museum that is struggling financially.

Blue immediately recognized Swing Low, Sweet Chariot so I took a moment to pat myself on my Southern Baptist back.

Most of this museum is focused on the actual battles that comprised the Civil War...the soldiers, the strategy, the outcome. We've been to Gettysburg, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Petersburg, Chancellorsville and Appomattox Courthouse. We are pretty familiar with strategy and outcome. And, personally, I couldn't care less about which general used which route to circumvent a river or an enemy camp. That doesn't make the Civil War more relatable. It makes people skim storyboards and rush out to find something more interesting to do, like the Turkey Hill Ice Cream Factory. If we, as average folks who are exceptionally attracted to history, are bored, what about Americans who are exceptionally bored by history? If we don't find a way to bring history to life beyond wax figures and artifacts, most people will never take the time to see it. And you know what they say about not knowing your history...

Photo Credit: US News & World Report

I would argue they are missing one, but maybe in time he will get added. 

Oh also, there's this...which we sort of hurried on by because there's no reason Neal and I should be awakened at 2 AM by the terror-stricken screams of a 5 year old who is dreaming his leg is being cut off. No reason whatsoever.

Would I recommend this Civil War museum over others? Probably not. Neal and I agreed that the best Civil War museum we've visited so far is The National Museum of the Civil War Soldier and the adjacent Pamplin Historical Park in Petersburg, VA. Even their website is a little peek back in time. The museum and surrounding park is their attempt at inviting people to step out of their comfort zone and into the 1860's. The museum features 7 galleries (25,000 square feet) of interactive computers, life-size dioramas, over a thousand artifacts and a "multi-sensory battlefield simulation". Pamplin Park is filled with costumed interpreters tending the gardens and the livestock and Confederate soldiers offering instruction in soldier life skills, period clothing and how to fire a weapon. That is how you bring history to life, my friends. 

Maybe I'm being a bit hard on the National Civil War Museum. It's difficult to read signage with a non-reader in tow. And maybe Blue was free because he isn't their target audience. But the truth is, even I was a bit bored. But you can't win 'em all. Just ask General Lee.