After reading and thinking about the Wednesday Journal article “D97 investigates lesson about cotton gins that sparked threats against the district,” and its editorial on “Let District 97 investigate” (April 10), I had an additional thought. Why not consult the experts?
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC), colloquially known as “the Blacksonian,” is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington D.C. It was established in 2003 and opened its permanent home in 2016 with a ceremony led by President Barack Obama. (Source: Wikipedia)
The NMAAHC is the world’s largest museum dedicated to African-American history and culture. In 2022 it welcomed 1,092,552 visitors, was second-most visited Smithsonian Museum, and eighth in the list of most-visited museums in the United States. The museum has more than 40,000 objects in its collection, although only about 3,500 items are on display. (Source: Wikipedia)
In order to share some of the more than 36,000 objects not on display, the Blacksonian has an online “Searchable Museum,” which is “transforming the museum experience, reaching beyond our walls to provide a rich digital experience and bringing the museum’s evocative content and immersive in-person visitor experience into homes around the world” (Kevin Young, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture).
So I went on the “Searchable Museum,” looked for “Cotton Gin” and found the following:
“The iconic Tower of Cotton featured in the Slavery and Freedom exhibition provides a visual storytelling of the significance of cotton and slavery in the development of the nation.”
So my first thought was: If the discussion of the cotton gin and a display of a “Tower of Cotton” is good enough for the NMAAHC, it should be good enough for Julian Middle School. (Children are allowed in the Blacksonian). Furthermore, my own personal opinion is that showing students actual pieces of natural cotton, which urban Oak Parkers may never encounter again in their lives, is a stroke of genius by the teacher involved.
I am willing to wait for D97 to investigate. But right now I am siding with the greatest scholars of African-American history in the United States and their display at the Blacksonian’s Searchable Museum.
Alan E. Krause
Oak Park
