Our institution hosted the traveling version of Daniel's Story about five years ago. One of my job duties was to do a daily walkthrough of that exhibit almost every morning. I cried more than once near the end of it's run when I went through that exhibit, because I was an adult and really understood how the story ended. There were some pretty powerful components that would probably mean nothing to a small child, but would hit an adult. Just very subtle differences with lighting and temperature as one proceeds through the exhibit and "Daniel" moves from a warm, comfortable home to ghetto to concentration camp in dead of winter. It is quite simply one of the best "children's," and adult museum exhibits that I have ever seen. My son was 7 years old at the time and he "got" the exhibit, understood it, didn't have nightmares or a negative response, and realized that children and adults died. I think my response was cumulative, because I went through it more than 30 times and eventually I knew it so well. I know that everyone will not agree, but I feel that Daniel's Story "got it right." The blend of truth, without giving nightmares, without whitewashing, on a level that children can comprehend. It was not graphic, but to an adult who has seen or heard stories about the Holocaust, it becomes easy to fill in certain details. A child doesn't have that cultural background yet, so they can't. There were a few photos of starving men on liberation, but I've seen similar photos of Courtney Cox and one of the Olsen twins on magazines at the grocery store checkout lanes. I've not seen the permanent installation of Daniel's Story, but I can only assume that it is very similar to the traveling version. I apologize if it isn't, because my comments are based on my experiences solely with the traveling exhibit. Lisa Lisa Shockley, Collections Technician Union Station Kansas City 30 W. Pershing Road Kansas City, MO 64108 "Where there is Peace; there is Culture; Where there is Culture; there is Peace." Nicholas Roerich (1874-1947) -----Original Message----- From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Deb Fuller Sent: Saturday, December 17, 2005 12:18 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: "whitewashing" unpleasant facts On 12/17/05, Pamela Silvestri <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > In answer to your question I would have to say that yes, it is right to > 'whitewash' it. And it's important and sometimes difficult to separate what > we have now learned and know as adults, from that which children will learn > as they get. But if the info is inaccurate to begin with...that is not right > to present this. And then we have to ask - what you are concerned about and > are asking. I have to agree with Pam. There are age appropriate ways to deal with difficult subjects. Even young children can understand the basics of why slavery was wrong and in their own way sympathise with the plight of slaves. But do they need to see pictures of people being beated and chained or starved to death? No. It will most likely give them nightmares and completely overshadow the overall history lesson. Case in point, in my opinion, Bambi is the most horrible movie ever made. I saw it when I was 3 and the only thing I remember is that Bambi's mother got shot and the forest burned down. I am over 30 and to this day, hearing the theme song will put me in tears. The next worst movie is Old Yeller. I saw that when I was older, probably around 10 or so but again, Old Yeller gets shot. How awful is that? People will argue that old fairy tales are equaly violent and the original versions are but with a purpose. They were to teach kids how to act and not to do stupid things like wander through the woods alone or to treat their step-sibblings nicely. There are ways of getting the message across without resorting to traumatising children. We don't need to give them happy stories that lead them to believe that all slaves escaped to freedom either but there is a balance. Has anyone seen the US Holocaust Museum's exhibit for children called something like "Danie's Story"? It was supposed to be really good at getting the point across to younger children without being as graphic as the rest of the museum. deb ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes). ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).