Critical Assessment of the Exhibit
After reviewing the exhibit in it's entirety, it seems that the
exhibition team did a very good job in putting together this particular
exhibition of Afro-American migration from the south to the north, from
1015-1940.
First of all, it seems that the exhibit did effectively tell the
story that the exhibitors were trying to tell. Because they used so many
techniques such as artifacts, story plaques, movies, audio components,
and actual life-size replica's, I really got a sense of their story, and
almost felt like I was going through this along with the
Afro-American's. They really catered to all of the senses, making the
world that they created in the exhibit much more real and important.
Second of all, it seems that this exhibit has many strengths.
One of these strengths was the fact that it used a lot of quotes and
individual life stories like that of Lilian Reuban-NcNeary. These things
solve one of Sclereth's' reflections, history should be personal. This
helps the visitors to understand the migration on a more personal level.
The quotes help the exhibit escape from the textbook generalizations
about the migration, and make it much more powerful.
Another strength is the fact that the exhibit seems to be very honest and
truthful in its presentation. Just as Carlos
Delasobera
said in
his
critique of this particular exhibit, " it's very refreshing to see that
some people are not afraid to show us
history as it really was; as it should have always been taught: in a
straightforward manner."
Third of all, the exhibit is very enjoyable. I don't tend to
like learning about history very much, but this exhibit truly caught my
attention. In reflecting upon the entire exhibit, though, I think that I
definitely liked the southern part better. The humongous picture of the
farmer plowing his field
and the segregated doors were really dramatic
and gave me a sense that I had now entered the world of the south. The
north, though, was just not the same. Perhaps it was just because I had
been in there for such a long time before I finally reached the northern
section of the exhibit, though. I found it to be a little boring. The
south had larger artifacts and a wider variety of artifacts than the
north. The northern section simply didn't seem to have as many
artifacts. I guess that just shows how important the artifacts were to
me, in making the story of the migration come alive.
As far as the actual understanding of the exhibit, I really think
that they presented it very clearly. The labels and plaques were well
written and simple. Although, they didn't tell as much as they could
have. I think that they really acted as a sort of "teaser" to go and
learn more about what they are talking about. I really think that this
is one of the main purposes of exhibits like this. They present
information on a certain topic, and make it so appealing that it makes
the visitor want to go and learn more about the story or artifact. I can
honestly say that I learned a lot from this exhibit. (Probably more than
I ever have from any exhibit or textbook). The exhibit is amazing and it
really made me want to go out and find out all I can about the
Afro-American Migration.
Finally, as part of my critical assessment of the exhibit I
looked for biases. As far as I can tell, though, I do not see any biases
or hidden agendas. The exhibit seems to be presented in such a way, as
to pretty much let the visitor make up their own mind about the exhibit.
The doors, for example, don't have a label on them saying that the
segregation is bad. It just has the doors. People can walk through and
make their own judgment about the practice of segregating the blacks and
whites. I think that this is the best way to do it. I also didn't see
any indication that the exhibitors felt that some objects were more
important than others. There are many objects from tools, to report
cards, to even packages for hair gel. The exhibitors seemed to have
cover a wide variety of artifacts, which seems to indicate that they
believe that all kinds of artifacts are valuable and that it is important
to look at all different kinds of things when looking at the migration.
Finally, it seems that they also did a good job in portraying the message
that all different kinds of subjects and aspects of history are
important. They talked about so many different aspects of Afro-American
life I really can't think of what they could have possible left out.
Edie Phillips