It doesn’t seem to matter who occupies 1600 Pennsylvania
Avenue in Washington, DC, our nation’s capital is always a prime destination
for tourists. During my recent trip to DC, I was gratified to see a number of
school students, from all over the country, visiting historic sights and
museums, learning about our nation’s history.
I had the opportunity to visit two museums and one historic
home. The hot ticket at the Smithsonian these days is the National Museum of
African- American History. The museum traces the struggles of Blacks in America
from slavery through the Civil Rights movement and beyond. The museum is divided
into two facets, historical and cultural. The upper floors pay homage to
African- American leaders in art, music, and sports.
The second museum, one of my favorites, is the Newseum. It
traces the history of journalism and news reporting throughout the world. There
are newspaper headlines from around the world highlighting wars, triumphs in
space and the evils of terrorism. Visitors can see what is like to be in front
of a TV camera, reporting the news.
We also got to visit the DC home of President Woodrow Wilson.
There were not too many students there but the few at the home took interest in
his legacy.
There were hundreds of students at each location. They were
all quite polite and appeared to be engaged in the museums’ offerings. My hats
off to those teachers who organized and chaperoned these important trips. I
hope that schools throughout the United States will continue to bring their
students and engage them in an understanding of our history or government.
c. 2017 J. Margolis
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