Hi Susannah,

I think the question that underpins your dilemma is: How and why do we
maintain the innocence of our children on any one of a number of issues? It
is not an easy issue to try to resolve, and I am not sure how successful
people are in resolving it. For example, though I may try to shield my
children from knowledge about sexual issues, what do I do when a seemingly
innocuous show talks about people sleeping together, or suddenly there is a
commercial about genital herpes treatments? What about listening to the
radio and you find your 9 year old daughter singing along with "My Humps" by
the Black Eyed Peas? How about shileding children from the effects of war
while getting them a Batman action figure as a gift, or buying them a new
x-box with the newest version of "Death, Dismemberment and Disembowlment"?

If we try to sanitize the past too much, we are denying people access to the
realities of their past and present as well. Someone learning the tragedy of
the Underground Railway put into the context of racial tension and Neonazism
in Ohio may come to a greater understanding of why there is such anger and
fear about 'White Pride' movements. Blacks who do not see the hardship their
ancestors went through to bring about freedom are separated from pride in
concepts of liberty and democracy that were prized as much among blacks as
among their white owners.

The Cincinnati disclaimer you quote raises in my mind several questions, not
the least of which is: who are images of non-freedom unsuitable for? Is it
unsuitable for a white child to see the effects of supremacist attitudes?
Does it do more to shield the white child from the shameful reality of their
ancestors' past, and thus decrease pride in a family history that is less
than perfect? Does it in fact challenge the American myths of liberty and
freedom, as well as the myth of semi-divine Founding Fathers, many of whom
were slave owners?

If parents complained about the images in the museum, then what needs to be
examined is why the parents were complaining? Also, is the muesum concerned
about the effect on the exhibit because of falling off of revenue? Did
revenue fall off among certain sectors of the population while other sectors
actually increased? Is the museum actually trying to reach a more mature
audience anyway?

In the position you are in, I would first ask myself: who is the audience I
wish to speak to? If your audience is going to be 4th graders, then gear
your display to that age group. Your texts are going to have to reflect that
level of comprehension, and the amount of information is going to have to be
smaller. If you are looking to serve a more general population, then all
aspects of the past should be available. If you censor for the child, then
you are necessarily censoring for the adult. One thing that I have heard
being experimented with in some museums is the use of textless exhibits, but
iPods are used to help guide people through. People of different backgrounds
and interests are asked to interpret the past according to their perspective
and leave the podcast for later use by others as they then experience the
exhibits. Perhaps part of the podcast experience, with their new iPod which
can show video clips, is to have available for more mature audiences
podcasts that show the more disturbing images. These devices could be picked
up from the front desk as people enter, and returned when leaving. This
would allow for much more flexibility in the tailoring of the display, and
ultimately, be less expensive to modify as sensibilities change.

Hope this responds to your questions.

Darryl MacKenzie





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Susannah West" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, December 16, 2005 10:04 PM
Subject: [MUSEUM-L] "whitewashing" unpleasant facts


> > ------------------------------
> >
> > Date:    Fri, 16 Dec 2005 15:53:34 -0500
> > From:    Julia Moore <[log in to unmask]>
> > Subject: Re: mature audiences
> >
> > I was just at the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in
> > Cincinnati and one of their exhibits, containing images of oppression
> > around the world, had a disclaimer on the wall prior to entering the
> > gallery that went something like this:
> >
> > "Due to strong images of non-freedom, this exhibit may not be suitable
> > for all audiences."
> >
> > They did have some images of starving children and physical violence
> > that would probably terrify young viewers.  In fact, a friend tells me
> > that the Cincinnati Public Schools won't take school groups younger
> > than 6th grade to the Center after parents of younger students
> > complained.
>
> I have trouble explaining slavery to young children but is it right to
> "whitewash" it?  Since Ohiohistory is taught in fourth grade, we probably
see more fourth graders
> than any other schoolage group.    They learn about the Underground
Railroad, which has been
> pretty wellwhitewashed and sanitized itself.  If you were to go by the
juvenile
> fiction (especially picturebooks) about the Underground Railroad, you
would assume that every fleeing
> slave "made itto freedom" which of course was tragically not the case.
How do those of
> you who are atmuseums that interpret slavery or the Underground Railroad
deal with this
> issue?
> Susannah West
> John Rankin House (home of abolitionist John Rankin, 1793-1886)
> Ripley, Ohio
>
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