Review of “A Burial Ground And Its Dead Are Given Life,” by Edward Rothstein (from the New York Times’ Art section):

Rothstein’s article discusses a museum created when a burial site of black New Yorkers was found in Lower Manhattan. Identified as being formed in 1755 and called the “Negro Burial Ground,” it provided great insight into the history of black people living in New York during an age of slavery. Months after the discovery of some 419 bodies, a visitor’s site was constructed to express the burial ceremonies of black culture in their historical context. It wasn’t until 1993 that the site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and protected as a national monument. In 2007, a sculpture was created and placed the site in a historical as well as a museum framework.
The museum itself consists of a class-room, a video, and a shop featuring models, statues, displays, recordings of songs and chants, and photographs; outside of the museum is the actual burial ground where there are many raised mounds where the coffins and bodies had been buried. Rothstein describes a display with several scrapbooks detailing the amount of political activism it took to preserve the site, something he found to be a bit exaggerated. In keeping with this cynicism, Rothstein describes his feeling that the museum was often times prejudiced and expressed the deplorable condition these specific slaves had endured as being debatable. Specifically, he notes that many of the skeletons feature signs of malnutrition, which should have been compared with an average white worker’s skeleton to put the malnutrition into a fairer plane. Rather than simply stating that these people had endured far more hardships than any other societal group of the time. In my opinion, this is a bit callous of a statement; the men and women buried at this site were on the lowest rung of society, therefore it is natural they would not have the healthy skeleton of their white counter-parts. Granted there are individual cases in which this would be false, but the overwhelming majority of cases would follow this patte

Arcitechture of A Museum

Architecture can often influence how you perceive a museum; it can sometimes give you an initial idea of what you may find in its collections. In my own experiences, I have found this to be true; an example of this is the Experience Music Project in downtown Seattle. Inspired by the look of a smashed guitar, the building has a lot of curved steel arranged in an eccentric pattern, very much similar to the Guggenheim museum in Bilbao, Spain. The EMP, however, has bright colors added to the steel, and it even has the downtown monorail running right through the middle of it. The fact that the museum is designed like this is very appropriate for the content inside. Mostly dedicated to musician Jimi Hendrix, the museum also has a lot of other exhibits dedicated to further enriching guests into the world of music. A huge guitar spiral and guitar room compliment the museum as well, which furthers the notion that the outside design is not only appropriate, but an attraction in and of itself.

Effectiveness of A Museum

When I think of what an effective museum is, the first thing that comes to mind is the museum staff. The museum staff is what inspires and educates the visitor, determining the overall outlook of the museum itself. I've been to museums that were filled with interesting artifacts and were obviously doing very well economically but they didn't really stick in my mind as great experiences. One example of this was the Bodies exhibit in Seattle; my biology class went to see the exhibit and despite the very intricate and fascinating exhibits, the staff did not seem all that interested or engaged in the subject or in informing their visitors of the educational knowledge around them. In the end, this field trip, which could have been a great experience with a lot of educational benefits, fell short of what it may have been and became an almost forgotten memory. On the other hand, an engaged staff that cares about their visitors can turn an old, perhaps run-down museum into a memorable and fascinating experience. An example of this would be when I went to the McConnell Mansion Museum in Moscow, Idaho. This old mansion used to belong to a family of prominent Idahoan politicians. Not only has the mansion been restored to its original framework, but many other interesting artifacts from the time period are showcased as well. When I first walked into the mansion, it was really cold and even had a terrible odor to it. Not looking forward to the rest of the visit, a staff member immediately came to me and said she would be more than happy to give me a tour of the place. She gave me one of the most intricate and informative tours I've ever had; to my surprise she even told me that she was brand new to the museum, which told me how passionate she was about her job, which made me excited about the museum as well.