Today I checked out the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. I've lived in St. Louis for nearly seven years and I've never made the time to go. The museum is located on the northern edge of Forest Park right off of Lindell Blvd. It's broken up into different sections and includes a restaurant, gift shop and an auditorium. Outside in the concrete is a map of Lewis & Clark's expedition route.
I started with the 1904 World's Fair wing, which is a Continuing Exhibition. It includes artifacts and artwork, stories about the Fair's creators and attendees, and facts and stats surrounding the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. It was really cool to learn more about the World's Fair and about how existing structures and parks were created specifically for this event. So much of St. Louis was built around and for this exposition. I liked looking at the clothes people wore back then too. I think it would be cool to try on the clothes, but I'm definitely glad we don't have to wear that kind of stuff today. I'd be sweating bacon bits if I had to wear all those layers of clothes in the summer. No thanks!!
Across from the World's Fair wing is a small installation recognizing St. Louis's history in the beer industry, "From Kettle to Keg". People may not realize that there's more brew history than just that of Anheuser-Busch. St. Louis was once one of the largest brewing cities in the country.
Past the brewery installation is another Continuing Exhibition, a celebration of the life of Charles Lindbergh. The exhibit contains quite an extensive collection of photos, film footage and personal artifacts donated to the museum by Lindbergh himself. You learn about this stuff in school, but it's always neat to view the collection in person. There's also a life-sized re-creation of the cockpit of Lindbergh's plane, the Spirit of St. Louis. Good thing he wasn't claustrophobic!
Next, I went into the Special Exhibition called Katherine Dunham: Beyond the Dance. This documented the life and work of one of the 20th century's greatest dance pioneers. Even though the museum is free, the special exhibitions have a small entrance fee. It was worth it. This woman was amazing. Not only was she a dancer, but she was also a choreographer, teacher, anthropologist, author, activist and a mother. She had such a profound effect on the world, being African American and breaking through racial barriers. Her dance was very earthy and real and takes many years and training to perfect.
Upstairs houses two different sides of St. Louis as seen from 1794-1904 on one side and 1904-2000 on the other. Again, both sides housed tons of artifacts and displays, along with audio clips, video clips, interactive games for kids and lots of info to absorb. You can really get lost in history there. I spent two hours there and I didn't get a chance to read everything that I wanted. If I had done that, I'd probably still be there! One thing I thought was cool was their 1950's inspired kitchen display. They have a stand mixer that is nearly identical to a mixer that my grandma gave me recently.
The display mixer.
My grandma's mixer.
I had a fun time today. I spend time at the art museum looking at the past, and I may have to add the MO history museum to my rotation. :)
1 comment:
What else is in your rotation?
As for the World's Fair stuff, my friend Katie this summer read a book that she LOVED about the World's Fair, it was called "The Devil in the White City." She found it fascinating.
Have a HAPPY TURKEY DAY!
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