Civic Learning Trip to the Newseum Inspires Students
by Hannah Morgan, Beyond the Classroom Student
On Friday, February 10, BTC students visited the Newseum, a remarkable museum in the heart of D.C. which features exhibits dealing with the press throughout history. I was lucky enough to be one of the students, and I spent a full four hours there wandering around the exhibits – I learned so much!
Highlights definitely included touching the Berlin Wall. There is a section of the wall in the museum, and a separate chunk next to it for visitors to touch. The exhibit on the wall was one of the first we visited, and was fascinating, I found it hard to believe that such a thin piece of stone pulled the entire world apart for so long, and during the lifetime of many of my professors.
The author and three of her fellow Beyond the Classroom students posing in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall. The wall dividing East and West Berlin fell in 1989, and the Newseum has a piece to commemorate its existence. The museum also offers comprehensive, interactive online exhibits about the wall (click the photo to visit the exhibit site).
One of my favorite exhibits was the Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, I stopped and looked at each and every one (I felt bad, I think I made some of the other students mad that they were waiting for me). There was an awesome video where the Newseum had interviewed the photographers many years later, and it was really interesting to hear that, at least for the majority of the pictures, they were taken completely with luck and by chance. Makes me rethink this whole professional photography thing….
There was an exhibit as well on September 11, which included the front pages of what must of been hundreds of newspapers from around the world the day after the attacks. It was really interesting to see how, now that I am a bit older and able to comprehend the enormity of what happened, the entire world seemed to unite. I remember only vaguely what happened that day. I was only in 5th grade, and I teared up walking through the artifacts, which included letters from family members of victims. The exhibit also had a video, which showed news coverage and reflections from many of the journalists who were on the scene while it happened. As a journalism major, and as an American, I was really proud of the work that they did, and impressed at the ability of the journalists to get as much coverage as possible, given the physical and emotional circumstances. For example, one of the shots was from the camera man literally running for his life down the street.
There was an exhibit on the ever-changing media business, which had a room that was running the most recent “Colbert Report” and “The Daily Show” episodes. They were hilarious, and a nice breather after the 9/11 exhibit.
I barely had time to get to every floor, and I was literally running up to the 6th floor to see my favorite part of the museum: the door from Watergate. THE DOOR. There is a funny sign on it that reads, “This door is to remain closed at all times,” and a handwritten statement after it, directing confused people to a specific person within the department.
I feel like I needed more time, that I barely got a taste of what this remarkable museum has to offer, and I will definitely be going back. I challenge all BTC students to add the Newseum to their list of things to do in DC before they graduate. Maybe I’ll run into one of you there!
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This story was edited by Dr. Caitlin Haugen, Assistant Director, Beyond the Classroom.
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