Greetings Internet!
This has been a good summer for connecting with my history. In the past two months, I've traveled to two family reunions - one on each side of the family - and at each, had the opportunity to visit a museum that touched upon black experiences in the U.S.
First stop: Harrisburg, PA, where Coopers and Cooper-Cummings (and their various branches) from all over the nation came together for the 4th of July weekend. In between a trip to Hershey Park - where I rode all the rides guaranteed to seriously injure a person - and a family luncheon, I met cousins I had never met before and heard (dubious) tales of my grandfather and great-uncles as gangsters who may or may not have done work with/for Al Capone. But, I also learned a bit more about how my mother's mother's family came from working the fields of Georgia to owning two homes on Capitol Hill (which, tragically, are not in the family any more).
On top of this, I also got to visit the National Civil War Museum, where, from the top of a hill in Reservoir Park, it seems one can look all the way across the City of Harrisburg. While the view made me want to stay outside, what was inside the museum was worth coming in for.
When you think of the Civil War, what do you think of? Slavery? States' rights? Gettysburg? Fort Sumter? Of course you do, and you should. But, have you ever wondered what daily life was like for the men involved in this staggering conflict? Have you ever asked yourself how the soldiers kept themselves clean and fed, or whether (and with what) they wrote home to loved ones? What did they carry with them as they traveled? What hung from their hips, what did they hold in their hands and carry on their backs? My favorite parts of the museum - the second floor galleries on Camp Curtin, the Making of Armies, and Weapons and Equipment - answered just these sorts of questions and really helped put what is often discussed as a political and military experience into a light where we could see the players as human beings. I appreciated that. These were men (and women) who were bored, lonely, hungry, tired, mischievous, playful and real - they didn't live on ideals alone and they were more than just the faded images we sometimes see on paper.
I only wish there had been more time to really see the rest of the galleries - most of my time was spent in those three.
Second stop: Cincinnati, Ohio, for the Harris Johnson West Family Reunion. This was my first trip to Cincinnati and, I have to say, I liked it, at least enough to want to visit again. The downtown area had restaurants (shout out to half-price sushi after 10:30 pm at Mr. Sushi!) and clubs and seemed to be going through a good moment. And while the outer areas that we drove through seem a little run-down and economically depressed, that made for some amazing architecture, in that "look, all these homes on these hills have been here since the turn of the century and they show it - I wonder who built them and who lived there and did they earn their livings on the river" kind of a way.
The river loomed large in my trip out to Cincinnati - while my travel companions and I stayed in downtown Cincinnati, the rest of our family was across the river in Kentucky, meaning we crossed the river several times, both on foot and in a car, during our stay. The Geotta Festival was also taking place on the other side of the river, so we walked along the banks there for a while. (What is Goetta? Ground meat with oats in it. I can't judge - I'm from Philly and I eat scrapple. What's scrapple? Don't ask.) Our family dinner was held at a restaurant on the waterfront, when we hung out later that night with the family, we could see the river less than a mile from the motel, and when we visited our museum of the trip, it was on the river, too.
This time, it was the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. There were many good things about this museum as well - reenactors in the galleries who told compelling stories (though one of the actors I saw was a little less than believable), free audio guides with interesting things to hear, interactive gallery activities, and a BEAUTIFUL collection of quilts celebrating the jazz tradition - what I loved the most was a two-part movie exploring freedom fighters on the Underground Railroad who helped move runaways from one side of the Ohio River - the line between free Oho and slave Kentucky - to the other.
The movie, called Brothers of the Borderland, is narrated by Oprah Winfrey and takes viewers through a night of intrigue and action as two runaway slaves reach the river with slave catchers right on their heels and are subsequently helped by black and white abolitionists stationed immediately across the river. I was disappointed when the short movie ended - I wanted to know more about Alice and her friend, the Rankin Family and John Parker! The production value was good, the story compelling, and the fact that you pass through a dark passage with crickets chirping and cicadas rattling to get to the foliage-lined second theater makes the experience even richer. Definite thumbs up.
Like I said, it's been a good summer for family reunions and museums. May I see more family and more museums in the coming year!
