Standing In The Footsteps of Legends

If you haven't noticed by now, my camera's USB decided to stop acting up and allowed me to upload the rest of my Massachusetts pictures! (This is where you cheer and applaud loudly!)

The very first stop I made in Massachusetts was in Boston at the Museum of African American History. About a 20 minute walk from South Station (probably a little less when you already know where you are going) it cost $5.00 to enter. The organization is essentially split between two buildings, the Abiel Smith School (the first school in the country dedicated to educating free blacks) and the African Meeting House across the street (It's the oldest extant African American church building in the nation constructed primarily by free black artisans).

Abiel Smith School

The school building was built to house the classes that were taught in the basement of the African Meeting House. Today, there are three levels of exhibits and information that mostly focus on notable African Americans from the area/ of the abolitionist movement, and of African American military service up through the Civil War. There is a 15 minute video that they show on the third floor that features a high school student reflecting on what life was like for African Americans in the city of Boston from the time the buildings were being actively used, and other commentary from African American history experts. It was a great way to pack a lot of information in a quick punch for people like me who had no desire to read every single label in each room.

No photos were allowed inside the school, but they were allowed inside the meeting house. Crystal was our park ranger/tour guide, and she walked us from the school, over to the Meeting House and talked to us about the history of the building architecturally and cultrually. I think she did a really great job, and she was very kind to take a photo of me standing in the pulpit of the Meeting House- the same pulpit where Fredrick Douglass, Maria Stuart (first woman in America to give a public lecture- I didn't know about her prior to coming to the museum), and others stood and gave speeches. It was very humbling. The floors are original to the building, and there is also one original pew left-- very tiny indeed!

Me in that awe-inspiring pulpit.

View of the Meeting House from the balcony

I think it was a very well executed and meticulously maintained museum/historic site. I actually think they could probably get away with charging a little bit more for admission, and I loved how they kept the focus on one area of black history. Often in smaller museums you run into the problem of trying to cover too much, and don't get anything really conveyed to your visitors. Or, the focus is so narrow that there isn't much to display or discuss outside of academic lectures. This museum had great balance and an enthusiastic, friendly staff.

I actually only had one complaint while I was there. Crystal, who I already said was doing an excellent job, was asked a question by one of the visitors- if the building was used as a church, why wasn't there more religious regalia built into the building, such as crosses, or stained glass. As soon as Crystal opened her mouth to answer, some random woman who was with two other visitors jumped in and began a 15 minute (no lie) monologue about the building and history- everything Crystal had already covered- and never really answered the poor man's question. I was extremely irritated by that, not only because this woman wasn't answering the question asked, but it seemed she just wanted to look like a know-it-all. Crystal was very polite and didn't interrupt- but I felt as if she had been disrespected and that my time was being wasted.

The kicker is when I returned to the museum store to get my suitcase, I was asked by the employee there what I thought, and when I told him about this rude woman, he grinned and said "That's our Director of Education". I'll tell you exactly what I told him- I don't care who she is, what she did was rude and unnecessary. How can you not have on any credentials letting your visitors know who you are, but proceed to butt in on a tour and THEN not even answer the question that provoked your interrupting to begin with? I'm sure Crystal (and other tour guides) were given ample training when they were hired-- let them do their jobs next time.

Well, I'll be posting blog entries for the next few weeks every couple of days. I'll try and rotate between Rhode Island and Massachusetts to keep it interesting. Most of my postcards are out, and I'm trying to type up a few entries a day.

Thank you so much for reading my blog, and I'll see you on the next adventure!