|
|
Post by monklady123 on Mar 28, 2025 11:46:28 GMT
I am going to Washington DC in June on a school field trip. I have said before on here, and told my kids, I wouldn't be surprised if it looks like Biff's apartment from Back to the Future 2 by the time I get there... The Smithsonian is on the itinerary. Which part of the Smithsonian? There are a LOT of museums that make up the Smithsonian. Hopefully the African American History Museum is on your last since that's under attack. And it wouldn't surprise me if I heard they were coming for the Holocaust Memorial Museum, although that's not part of the Smithsonian. But depending on the age of your kids that one might be too intense. How many days will you be here? |
|
|
|
Post by monklady123 on Mar 28, 2025 11:51:53 GMT
I wonder why the zoo was on that list mentioned in the executive order. "Divisive race-centered ideology"... at the zoo?  I can understand them taking on the African American History Museum because of course we don't want to teach white people about how Africans were held as slaves and how racism has been such a big part of the history of the USA. [of course please read that with the sarcasm and derision that I intend  ] -- But the zoo?  |
|
ashley
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,571 
|
Post by ashley on Mar 28, 2025 11:58:35 GMT
I wonder why the zoo was on that list mentioned in the executive order. "Divisive race-centered ideology"... at the zoo? I can understand them taking on the African American History Museum because of course we don't want to teach white people about how Africans were held as slaves and how racism has been such a big part of the history of the USA. [of course please read that with the sarcasm and derision that I intend ] -- But the zoo? The zoo does contain an exhibit of jelly fish and panels describing their gender fluidity. |
|
|
|
Post by monklady123 on Mar 28, 2025 12:01:54 GMT
I wonder why the zoo was on that list mentioned in the executive order. "Divisive race-centered ideology"... at the zoo?  I can understand them taking on the African American History Museum because of course we don't want to teach white people about how Africans were held as slaves and how racism has been such a big part of the history of the USA. [of course please read that with the sarcasm and derision that I intend  ] -- But the zoo?  The zoo does contain an exhibit of jelly fish and panels describing their gender fluidity. My first reaction to your comment was  . And then . And then  . Not directed at you, but at the MAGA thinking if that is indeed the reason. |
|
ashley
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,571
|
Post by ashley on Mar 28, 2025 12:44:10 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Mar 28, 2025 13:18:37 GMT
Absolutely. I stood next to a woman in our science museum once telling her kids not to listen to the docent talking about evolutionary history because is was all fake. I would expect our institutions to be required to give equal billing to creationism in the future. |
|
|
|
Post by ntsf on Mar 28, 2025 13:21:32 GMT
if he is doing this maybe he will come after the nps again.. as an interpreter for NPS, (years ago), we concentrated on telling many sides of any story.. much has no or little documentation, so you try to convey that history is often told by the winners and history is a much broader story than that. often we can't know exactly what happened when, but we tried to give many perspectives.. (like on alcatraz.. you have the view point of the public, the guards, the inmates, their families, the people who lived on the island and so on...which is the truth?)
we don't even know who fired the first shot at Lexington/concord battle. trump is so ignorant and arrogant.
|
|
breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,316
Location: PNW
|
Post by breetheflea on Mar 28, 2025 13:52:22 GMT
I am going to Washington DC in June on a school field trip. I have said before on here, and told my kids, I wouldn't be surprised if it looks like Biff's apartment from Back to the Future 2 by the time I get there... The Smithsonian is on the itinerary. Which part of the Smithsonian? There are a LOT of museums that make up the Smithsonian. Hopefully the African American History Museum is on your last since that's under attack. And it wouldn't surprise me if I heard they were coming for the Holocaust Memorial Museum, although that's not part of the Smithsonian. But depending on the age of your kids that one might be too intense. How many days will you be here? The main Smithsonian with the airplanes and space stuff. The trip is five days, 6th-12th grade but the middle and high school have different plans so won't always be doing the same things (I won't get to see the Liberty Bell or Philadelphia  ) DS will be 16 so I'll be with the high school group. |
|
|
|
Post by revirdsuba99 on Mar 28, 2025 16:01:15 GMT
Unfortunately the narratives may be very different come June!
|
|
|
|
Post by epeanymous on Mar 28, 2025 16:37:09 GMT
if he is doing this maybe he will come after the nps again.. as an interpreter for NPS, (years ago), we concentrated on telling many sides of any story.. much has no or little documentation, so you try to convey that history is often told by the winners and history is a much broader story than that. often we can't know exactly what happened when, but we tried to give many perspectives.. (like on alcatraz.. you have the view point of the public, the guards, the inmates, their families, the people who lived on the island and so on...which is the truth?) we don't even know who fired the first shot at Lexington/concord battle. trump is so ignorant and arrogant. Can I just say, I remember going to Alcatraz as a child, and it was sensationalistic and not particularly informative; I never wanted to go back. A few years ago, one of my kids wanted to go, so we went, and I was incredibly impressed with the audio tour. You are right obviously — you get all different experiences and perspectives, and the tour treats the people incarcerated there as human. It takes so much work and thoughtfulness to do a good job. |
|
|
|
Post by ntsf on Mar 28, 2025 16:45:31 GMT
when I worked on alcatraz, we did not have the records of who had been there.. and it was known that occasionally you may have an former inmate or guard on your tour. we did meet the guys who were there selling their books. so the stories change, get added to, and by thinking everything USA is rosy you are doing a disservice to the public. all countries make mistakes. all countries should be trying to do better. it is sort of "look at this shiny object over here" not the trash in the corner.
one of the greatest thing about having Alcatraz as a NPS site is that we are preserving the federal prison history of the 1930's-1960's. not a sexy call. and the rise of the Native American protest movement. and most of us spend no time thinking about or knowing anything about prisons. visitors often had a big surprise on the limitations and the size of the cells and so on. we all need to think more about prisons.. as most people put in prison get out at some point and our country spends a massive amount of money on prisons comparatively.. and I would argue we are not safer for doing so.
like the history of the slave in america.. most have no idea of the reality of it, the justification for it and the pain and struggle to end it. heck, most can't tell you which century we fought the civil war.
|
|
ellen
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,128
|
Post by ellen on Mar 28, 2025 18:43:28 GMT
I am feeling pretty sick about this. My daughter was stationed in the DC area and we spent a lot of time in the Smithsonian museum es - the African American museum is outstanding. It would be absolutely awful if a bunch of racists have any input on that museum. This is a hill to die on.
|
|
ashley
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,571
|
Post by ashley on Mar 29, 2025 12:32:36 GMT
Which part of the Smithsonian? There are a LOT of museums that make up the Smithsonian. Hopefully the African American History Museum is on your last since that's under attack. And it wouldn't surprise me if I heard they were coming for the Holocaust Memorial Museum, although that's not part of the Smithsonian. But depending on the age of your kids that one might be too intense. How many days will you be here? The main Smithsonian with the airplanes and space stuff. The trip is five days, 6th-12th grade but the middle and high school have different plans so won't always be doing the same things (I won't get to see the Liberty Bell or Philadelphia ) DS will be 16 so I'll be with the high school group. The National Air and Space Museum is so fun! They have some amazing artifacts on display. Some of them are almost whimsical, like the lawn chair the guy who floated into air space with balloons used, and the Tribbles from Star Trek. But I was totally unprepared for the weight of seeing THE space suit that Armstrong wore. Wow. And by the way, there is no “main” Smithsonian. There is no museum called The Smithsonian. There are over 20 separate museums and the National Zoo that are operated by the Smithsonian Institute; most are in D.C. but a few are in New York. |
|
artbabe
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,844
|
Post by artbabe on Mar 29, 2025 13:56:46 GMT
Every year I go with the 8th graders (250 of them!) to the Smithsonian's Natural Science Museum and American History Museum. Sometimes we can get into the African-American museum but it is ticketed (but free) and it is sometimes hard to get times for our group that work with our schedule. It is awesome, though. We used to go to one of the space museums but they have been redoing it for the past couple of years (is it done yet?) and I hear they are making that ticketed, too. Occasionally I can talk a guide to take us to the National Portrait Gallery, too.
On my own I've been to the Native American one, several of the art museums, and the zoo. I also visit the National Gallery of Art sometimes, although that one isn't a Smithsonian (still on the mall, though).
I love the Smithsonians. I'm terrified of what is going to happen to our museums.
|
|
|
|
Post by peano on Mar 29, 2025 15:28:18 GMT
When I saw this news yesterday, I wailed to DH, "Now I'll never get to see the Smithsonian!" We're going to try to wangle a trip to DC next month. I was also wanting to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit that's opening at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, so maybe we'll make it a long weekend.
|
|
breetheflea
Drama Llama
Posts: 7,316
Location: PNW
|
Post by breetheflea on Mar 29, 2025 15:52:03 GMT
The main Smithsonian with the airplanes and space stuff. The trip is five days, 6th-12th grade but the middle and high school have different plans so won't always be doing the same things (I won't get to see the Liberty Bell or Philadelphia ) DS will be 16 so I'll be with the high school group. The National Air and Space Museum is so fun! They have some amazing artifacts on display. Some of them are almost whimsical, like the lawn chair the guy who floated into air space with balloons used, and the Tribbles from Star Trek. But I was totally unprepared for the weight of seeing THE space suit that Armstrong wore. Wow. And by the way, there is no “main” Smithsonian. There is no museum called The Smithsonian. There are over 20 separate museums and the National Zoo that are operated by the Smithsonian Institute; most are in D.C. but a few are in New York. The part of Washington DC with all the museums operated by the Smithsonian then. The final plan/schedule for the trip hasn't been announced yet... |
|
Tearisci
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,964
Nov 6, 2018 16:34:30 GMT
|
Post by Tearisci on Mar 29, 2025 15:57:56 GMT
The National Air and Space Museum is so fun! They have some amazing artifacts on display. Some of them are almost whimsical, like the lawn chair the guy who floated into air space with balloons used, and the Tribbles from Star Trek. But I was totally unprepared for the weight of seeing THE space suit that Armstrong wore. Wow. And by the way, there is no “main” Smithsonian. There is no museum called The Smithsonian. There are over 20 separate museums and the National Zoo that are operated by the Smithsonian Institute; most are in D.C. but a few are in New York. The part of Washington DC with all the museums operated by the Smithsonian then. The final plan/schedule for the trip hasn't been announced yet... You probably won't have access to it because it's out of DC proper, but the Udvar-Hazy Air museum is amazing. So much better than the one on the Mall. |
|
|
|
Post by Merge on Mar 31, 2025 0:55:46 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by Scrapper100 on Apr 1, 2025 3:41:09 GMT
This is so sad. Visiting DC and going to all the museums has been on my bucket list. I love museums. It’s just amazing the reach of this administration. Visiting all the national parks is also a dream of mine and I know they are being effected and may not be around later.
|
|
casii
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,588
|
Post by casii on Apr 1, 2025 17:27:32 GMT
My kids grew up going to see the various Smithsonian museums in DC for school field trips or when we'd take a weekend to play tourist in DC. I hope there's some way my grandkids will get to share in that experience.
Has Trump or most of his admin even visited one of the museums? I just picture them stealing all the art like WW2.
|
|
|
|
Post by epeanymous on Apr 1, 2025 19:54:02 GMT
My kids grew up going to see the various Smithsonian museums in DC for school field trips or when we'd take a weekend to play tourist in DC. I hope there's some way my grandkids will get to share in that experience. Has Trump or most of his admin even visited one of the museums? I just picture them stealing all the art like WW2. Air and Space, baby. They have only gone to Air and Space. |
|
luckyjune
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,788
Location: In the rainy, rainy WA
|
Post by luckyjune on Apr 2, 2025 12:40:51 GMT
I'm in Washington DC right now, getting ready to catch the train to go to the Holocaust Museum. As I've visited various Smithsonian museums, the thought they might not be the same in the future has crossed my mind an made me sick. I took lots of picutres of displays that might be disappeared. On a tour of the capitol yesterday, I was pleased to hear the tour guide refer to Jan. 6 as "the insurrection" and make the point that police officers were injured in the capitol. The "PR" film at the beginning felt sickening, like it was portraying a past version of who we thought we are. Exciting to be there on the day of Cory Booker's filibuster...couldn't get into the gallery, though.
|
|
I can understand them taking on the African American History Museum because of course we don't want to teach white people about how Africans were held as slaves and how racism has been such a big part of the history of the USA. [of course please read that with the sarcasm and derision that I intend 
] -- But the zoo? 
I can understand them taking on the African American History Museum because of course we don't want to teach white people about how Africans were held as slaves and how racism has been such a big part of the history of the USA. [of course please read that with the sarcasm and derision that I intend 
] -- But the zoo? 
. And then 
. Not directed at you, but at the MAGA thinking if that is indeed the reason. 
) DS will be 16 so I'll be with the high school group. 
