Today started fairly early! Off to the African History Museum, which we walked to as it was only 1 Metro stop away. Interesting enough, we took a different route that took us between the US Treasury buildings which are next to the White House, where there was a small Farmers Market set up! Very cool to see this on downtown Washington DC streets! The new African History museum is beautiful from the outside – it has a brown/burnished copper looking lace design surrounding it – I cannot find any information with regards to why this was chosen however compared to the other “stately” older buildings it really stands out!
On entering the museum, we procured a map from an volunteer and he was eager to talk to people – as a person of colour, he admitted that he did not know all about his history until he started volunteering for the museum and how wonderful the museum was! He explained how to get around it and then we were off to take the elevator down to the History section which is 3 floors underground. It is one of the biggest elevators I have been in as all the people are taken from the main exhibit floor where this section starts, down the 3 floors to the beginning of the exhibit and then ramps are used to get back up to the starting point. I found the display fascinating and powerful – some of the history I was aware of and some interesting facts were new to me, however it was all new to Andrew and he enjoyed it. Here are our pictures as we walked to the museum and then through, up the ramps of all the exhibits. Many of these pictures speak for themselves.
Walking towards the US TreasuryMarket between Treasury buildingsVery famous street addressUS Mint buildingView of Capitol buildingView of American History buildingHuman commodities were bought, sold and exploited in the USAPeople who navigated life for others due to their past experiencesSugar – one of the main slave productsSlave experiences on east coast was vastly different from north to southShackles used on mainly menShip life was hard – men shackled and women/children were free in holdsSouth Carolina became a rich colony – swamps to rice fieldsBritish offered enslaved men freedom in exchange for servicePaper issued to release a man from slaveryThis war was really freedom from slaverySome moved to Canada/Caribbean or fought to stay as equals in the USAAfrican Americans built their own identities1808 no more slave imports so procured from within breaking up familiesThese slaves would be taken to “market” to be soldCotton production increased Nations wealth and the enslaved organizedA fight for freedomHarriet Tubman – one powerful woman!African Americans fought for founding promise of equalityThe ramp going to the next levelWith end to slavery, now they found they were to be segregated African American only townsLaws were passed to restrict rights of African AmericansS0me of the lawsSite of civil unrestActual setup of Greensboro counterDifferent quotes madeBarack Obama displayObama InaugurationSculptures in lobby of museumInteresting wall hanging
ow, walking back towards the hotel there was one last thing on my list to do and that was to visit the White House Visitors Centre – which is the alternative for people who are not American. It was an EXCELLENT display! It is in a part of the Treasury building which is quite beautiful and elegant and the informational displays are quite well done. Here are some of my pictures:
The White House compoundHouse of the NationA Changing LandscapeWhite House as an OfficeThe West WingWorking from HomeRoosevelts DeskThe Daily ScheduleHistory Happens HereFirst LadiesA Public OfficeWhite House Press CorpsEvents and CelebrationsStage and CeremonyHost for the NationA National StageOutside teh White HouseThe White House GroundsServing the First FamilyChina wearThe top of the Flagpole, replaced in 1993Chief Usher’s DeskNo Place like HomeLady Bird Johnson Family picturesPressures of Daily LifeAdapting to a New LifeMoving DayThe Presidents HomeStage and CeremonyClinton and Rosa ParksHelen Keller and Lady CoolidgeBush and ADA Act signingCarter and Peggy Flemming (Fake Ice)Living in the White HouseFree Speech in Presidents ParkThe White House CollectionFamily CelebarationsAll the Presidential Men…so far!Baldridge Hall – White House Visitor Centre
Now, on our walk back at the hotel we saw some pretty historic Washington DC Hotels, which I had to take pictures of!
The Willard – Famous HotelWWI Memorial
Now, back at the hotel it is time to pack and get an Uber to the Marriott Hotel at the airport! Managed to pack and rearrange some things however I am going to have to optimize more for tomorrow’s flight! Off to bed early as we have to get up at 6am to get to the airport and fly to Montreal!
