Experiencing History Firsthand

One weekend this month Lady Hiva was busy so I took the two Muggles to Washington, DC to see some of the historical areas and a few museums. 

They have both been learning about American History so it was fun to go explore history in real life. One of the stops was the National Archives. We were excited to see the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. We have talked about both of those quite a bit lately around the dinner table and in the car.  

The Archives bookshop was like a museum and a library mixed. These two stood there reading books for a long time. We loved reading about influential people from US history. They had several shelves dedicated to people like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Martin Luther King, Madame CJ Walker, and Harriet Tubman. 

We laughed at this food truck. We know it was most likely named after the city Baku, but in Tongan 'paku' is pronounced baku and is the word for burnt food. We use it in our family as slang for anything bad or off. Example: That rollercoaster ride was baku. The food is baku. 

We stopped by Ford's Theater and went inside. This was really cool for all of us. They have both learned about Abraham Lincoln and Ford's Theater is such an important aspect of Lincoln's history. 

We went to the American Art Museum. Koala Bear wanted to go there to show us some of her favorite Portraits that she saw on a school trip. Lucky Dragon wanted to go there to see the Hampton Throne that he learned about in his history class. While we were there they had an exhibit for Chinatown and the history of Chinese Americans. They let the kids make a colorful tile to commemorate the colorful buildings and murals around Chinatown. 

We went to the Presidential Portrait section and saw all that they had to represent the 47 US Presidents. They both liked this death mask process of Lincoln. 

They both loved this painting of George Washington. Koala Bear wanted to make sure to show us all the small details of animals in the painting. She had found them while she was on her school trip. 

Her next favorite portrait is George Washington Carver. Both Muggles seem to respect him for his science and the developments he brought to the world. The last several months both have come up with "did you know..." facts about George Washington Carver. 

Koala Bear's favorite portrait in the Gallery was Obama's official portrait. She loved the flowers from Hawaii and that it was Obama. 

Lucky Dragon loved this hall of abstract art that was piles of candy on a cement floor and white walls. He wanted to just eat it.  He was bummed when I told him no, but then we saw one of the museum security guards eat some!! HAHA They both had so many questions about this exhibit and what it meant. I guess that is what good art does--starts conversations. 

We about each of these women in this painting. We talked about what they stand for, who they were, how hard they worked. I hope that both Muggles learn how important it is to be good at what you do and to stand up for what you believe in. 

This stone statue was beautiful. Look at the details of the skirt. It is crazy to think that it is stone. 

Lucky Dragon and I both gravitate to landscape paintings. We were amazed by this HUGE wall painting. I made Lucky Dragon stand by it to show how big it is.  

We watched the History Documentary "The Men Who Built America" as a family. We all loved it. Because of watching that, both Muggles were so excited to see the paintings of Carnegie, Edison, and Rockefeller. Then as we were leaving the room we saw the Frick painting and we all remembered how he was the somewhat 'evil' mastermind behind some of the horrible working conditions during that era. 

We saw an exhibit that covered the Asian American experience. One whole section was about the Internment camps for the Japanese Americans. It was a special opportunity to talk with the Muggles about the hypocrisy of telling the world that the camps from Hitler were bad, then we did the same thing to Japanese Americans. We also talked about loving people, even those different than us. And more importantly how we should stand up for those who do not have a voice. 

At the end of the exhibit we were invited to share our thoughts as we walked through it. I took photos of the cards that the Muggle wrote. 

Maybe I will take them to see Topaz in Utah when we are there next. 

Lucky Dragon wanted to go see the Hampton Throne. He had learned about it in his history class. I was excited that he was so interested in going to see art and history. When I saw what it was, I understood why. The Hampton throne was built by a man using trash and random things from around the house. Totally something that Lucky Dragon would do! 

Lucky Dragon did a history project on the way people in American history used scraps of material to make quilts. He even made a small quilt to show. He was happy to see the examples of quilts made to honor slaves who used all they could to make quilts for themselves. 

I liked this bust of RBG. She is up there for me with Esther and Harriet Tubman as some of the most amazing people in history!