8/22/2009
We arrived at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History around 2:00pm. We were the only people there, which is a shame since it’s a pretty interesting museum. You move through the exhibits chronologically, starting with the rise of mankind in Africa all the way to black Americans in modern-day Detroit. I found the pre-European slavery exhibits the most interesting, as it is not a period in black history that I feel gets a lot of attention. What I mean is, the slavery era and the civil rights movement are both thoroughly covered in several museums (The Freedom Center and The Henry Ford to name just two we recently saw ourselves) so the pre-slavery element really made this museum more unique. The guide who introduced the exhibits to us before we entered described them as more of a history of mankind, rather than just black people. I think starting with the rise of mankind in Africa and then spreading out to form various ethnic groups actually really helped bring that point home. I’ve rarely seen a museum that’s trying to say, “See, we’re all alike after all” without appearing out of touch or naïve – the Charles H. Wright actually does it well. It did make me think.
Once you do reach the slavery era you pass through a recreation of a slave ship, complete with mannequin bodies crammed in to give you a perspective of the inhumanity of the conditions. As a history teacher, I’ve seen a lot of diagrams and read descriptions of these conditions, but the recreation helped really show me what it must have been like. This museum definitely sent off “teacher bells” in my mind – as in, I wish I could bring my students here.
It’s hard not to compare the Charles H. Wright Museum with the Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Both Laura and I agree that the Charles H. Wright is far superior – it covers some of the same ground as the Freedom Center, but much more. Also, the Charles H. Wright is far more interactive and less about display cases. As I mentioned above, when we were there we were the only visitors. Maybe it was the time of day. I don’t know. But I hope this great museum isn’t getting lost amidst the other, more famous attractions in Detroit.
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