We grabbed junior ranger books first thing so the kids could get started. The first part of the museum was dedicated to his political life and the struggles Lincoln had bringing the nation together. The kids' favorite part of this section was a quilt made by ladies of what is a modern day Red Cross supporting the efforts of peace. It was signed by all kinds of fascinating people including Ben Franklin, Henry Longfellow, and of course Abraham Lincoln.
The part they were most interested in was the assassination of Lincoln. They had tons of artifacts on exhibit related to the event including the gun John Wilkes Booth used as well as the boot that had to be cut off his broken leg. We learned so much about the events leading up to the assassination and the people involved.
Once the kids finished their activities they were once again sworn in as junior rangers. This ceremony was a bit special as it was situated right in front of the original ticket booth to the theater. Unfortunately the theater was closed as they were in rehearsals for a show but since they'd finished their activities the park ranger allowed them to peek inside from the sound booth.
Next door was the Petersen house where Lincoln was taken and later died. The living room was still arranged as it was when his wife Mary sat and waited for him to awake.
Next we learned all about the search for Booth and his accomplices. Apparently Booth thought when he was able to return to Virginia he would be praised as a hero for his acts, but he soon discovered he was that was not quite the case. The kids were all spooked once they peeked into a replica of the barn where he was eventually shot.
The remained of the floors of the house were come of my favorite with lessons and exhibits on the character and ideals a person should live up to. There were five sections, each of which we were asked to write what the word meant to us or what we would do in a situation: equality, courage, creativity and innovation, integrity, and empathy and tolerance. I was surprised by some answers and thrilled with some answers the kids gave. And I'm thinking we need to delve a little further into Lincoln's teachings.
During our evening tour days before our tour guide mentioned Abraham Lincoln was one of the most written about people in history. There were more books about him than any other person except Jesus. I'd believe it too once we saw this stack that reached the fourth floor!
Our next stop was a place all the kids were excited about once I'd mentioned it to them. In any children's museum with a television news area, my kids go wild to see themselves on television and pretend to be news anchors. The Newseum was offering kids free summer so we made sure to hit this museum too. We had the misfortune to visit Washington D.C. when the Washington Monument's only elevator was broken and the other high observation area, the Old Postal Museum, has been purchased by Donald Trump for luxury apartments. We found out the next best place was the terrace here!
Once we got oriented inside and planned our attack on the six floors we got started. After seeing a chunk of the Berlin Wall earlier in the week and learning a little bit about it from Dave and me, the kids were in awe of pieces they could stand in front of.
So our family has lived without cable for a few years now and I don't believe the kids have ever seen the news except at relatives homes possibly. I don't watch the news and simply skim the newspaper. This place was overwhelming with the artifacts and exhibits on the role the media has played in all kind of historical events. There was a very interesting area that had real time statistics on social media. There were screens especially related to Clinton and Trump that were all over the place each few seconds.
We learned about the media in World War II, Vietnam, the Civil Rights movement, the Women's Rights movement, and September 11th and that was about all I could handle in one day. I was overwhelmed and shocked and sad. It didn't help we ended with first hand journalism accounts of September 11th. This is the lower portion of the broadcast tower that was on top of Tower One.
We decided to grab some dinner to wait out rush hour on the train and return for the interactive exhibits the next day. We ended up eating a delicious pizza a few blocks away and talking about all the events they'd seen. The kids were obviously not as affected as I was but we'd all seen images we definitely weren't prepared for and the time we had for conversation was perfect. We would be learning much of what we'd seen this year for history so they were glad they had a little bit of a preview.
We made it back to the campsite full and happy so we played games until dark and read until all our eyelids would need to be held open. Tomorrow would be an early day and what Ryan was probably most excited about!
