National Underground Railroad: Freedom Center
Jason and I went to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center a few weeks ago; coincidentally the same day as the race riots in Charlottesville, VA. We had the visit planned for a while as we want to catch the Nelson Mandela exhibit, Mandela: the Journey to Ubuntu.
We spent a little under 2 hours in the museum, starting at the top with the special exhibit and then moving to the rest of the exhibits. The entrance to the special exhibit was timed. We were told that the exhibit would take about 30 minutes to go through, but we were able to get through it in about 20 minutes. The exhibit was put together by a photographer than covered Nelson Mandela for at least a decade. It walked the viewer through the birth of Mandela, the beginning of the apartheid, the time in jail and after he was released and his time as leader of South Africa. The exhibit was quite thoughtful. Jason did bring up one item that I found curious as well: for an exhibit that was created by his photographer, it really did not have a ton of photographs, and the photographs it did have seemed to be ones that were fairly common. The exhibit though did prompt a good discussion with my husband over dinner.
We also went into the modern slavery exhibit, which highlighted what situations modern slavery exhibits and its impact to all ages, races, and genders. It was obvious this exhibit was relatively new as it was edited, quite interactive and multi-media. It also made an effort to be quite rich in first person accounts, stories and testimonials.
We then headed over to the history of slavery, predominantly focusing on the US geography. This exhibit could use a little editingas it was quite overwhelming. Great content, but a lot to look through. It lightly touched on the underground railroad, but there is a full additional exhibit specifically focused on that.
After we wrapped this exhibit up, we did a quick walkthrough of the rest of the museum as they were getting ready to close.
We will definitely be back to see the rest of the museum, but will make sure to time it with another special exhibit.
Time in museum: 2 hrs
Times visited: 1
Overall: B+
We spent a little under 2 hours in the museum, starting at the top with the special exhibit and then moving to the rest of the exhibits. The entrance to the special exhibit was timed. We were told that the exhibit would take about 30 minutes to go through, but we were able to get through it in about 20 minutes. The exhibit was put together by a photographer than covered Nelson Mandela for at least a decade. It walked the viewer through the birth of Mandela, the beginning of the apartheid, the time in jail and after he was released and his time as leader of South Africa. The exhibit was quite thoughtful. Jason did bring up one item that I found curious as well: for an exhibit that was created by his photographer, it really did not have a ton of photographs, and the photographs it did have seemed to be ones that were fairly common. The exhibit though did prompt a good discussion with my husband over dinner.
We also went into the modern slavery exhibit, which highlighted what situations modern slavery exhibits and its impact to all ages, races, and genders. It was obvious this exhibit was relatively new as it was edited, quite interactive and multi-media. It also made an effort to be quite rich in first person accounts, stories and testimonials.
We then headed over to the history of slavery, predominantly focusing on the US geography. This exhibit could use a little editingas it was quite overwhelming. Great content, but a lot to look through. It lightly touched on the underground railroad, but there is a full additional exhibit specifically focused on that.
After we wrapped this exhibit up, we did a quick walkthrough of the rest of the museum as they were getting ready to close.
We will definitely be back to see the rest of the museum, but will make sure to time it with another special exhibit.
Time in museum: 2 hrs
Times visited: 1
Overall: B+
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