Author Archives: efolsom

World’s Aflame: Not my favorite

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So this was the second museum that I got to go to for this class, and unfortunately I have to agree with what Alex said in his post. I just found the Museum of Valor to be a more holistic approach to displaying information about the Great War from all angles (and not in a way that made it seem like what happened was cool or that it was the way things were done.) I found that while World’s Aflame was somewhat informative and tried to give a unique perspective on Fredericksburg’s experience in the war, I couldn’t help but get the feeling that there was something amiss with the exhibit. It just didn’t well with me when I left to go home.

There just seemed to be a lot generalized representation of soldiers and the effort from Fredericksburg. Like I felt like I only got to see a few personal stories if any, especially since this area sent soldiers. Also, Fredericksburg has SO MUCH war history. I expected more, I thought it would be a little more personal and thought provoking than it was. I just found it un-engaging.

Like with the propaganda from the War, it was extremely white washed (not much of a shocker.) I felt like when I was at the Museum of Valor there were valid explanations and really  frank statements about those issues. For example, there was a clear “this was bad, we treated minorities really terribly during this war” message there, but at this exhibit there was really no opportunity given to think on those tensions and how they affected things at large. I just didn’t like it, the lady working there gave me a dirty look when I tried to take a picture of one of the posters and I was just over it in general.

In conclusion, I’m glad I went since it allowed me to drawn comparisons between the two exhibits. But honestly, I wasn’t a fan of this one – sorry Professor Scanlon 🙁

Museum of Valor Experience

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Going to this particular museum, I was expecting something similar to some war museums I had seen in the past, such as the Marine Corps museum in Quantico. However, there was something more intimate about this experience that gave me a different perspective on the information that was being presented at the museum. For instance, I found the uniforms and equipment that it displayed to be extremely intriguing, Sometimes at large museums, you can’t really get a good look at the displays or look up close at the stuff behind the class, but I felt like I had the opportunity to get closer (both physically and emotionally) to the clothing and equipment this time around. With both the soldiers’ uniforms and working attire like the nurses’ uniforms, you could actually see small signs of wear here and there (obviously not a ton, since they were well preserved and taken care of), and you can tell that someone wore it once upon a time. It made me stop and think on the pieces a little bit longer than I usually would. I found myself at one point focusing in on what appeared to be the faintest stain on a nurses uniform. I stood there and wondered “could that have been someone’s blood?” There was just something more real to it than seeing something behind a crowd of people. I felt like it was if they weren’t old, as if I could imagine someone wearing or using the artifacts today.

It made it feel much more real and “human” to me, which I really enjoyed.

I also found the display on African Americans in the war to be really thought provoking. Although the exhibition stated that service from African Americans was very high, they were still treated like second-class citizens during the war and were not given the same amount of care as the other soldiers. I think that due to current racial climates, it’s easy to be desensitized to racial issues in places like our military or in general society. But to see reports and displays on how terrible the conditions were for American soldiers (who happened to be black) and that they served in one of the most horrific wars that our country has ever seen was very jarring to me. And that even after that, it took our country 40+ years and another 50 after that to even talk about the deep injustice that those soldiers faced – while fighting to project the liberty of those who continually oppressed them.

I think overall I enjoyed the fact that the museum included both information and displays about conditions and life during the Great War, but also how society changed afterwards. After seeing the exhibits on the working women and the African Americans serving, I found it really interesting how much of an impact the Great War would have on how women and African Americans would develop in society, but also how long things took to change and improve for those groups. After all, it took until the 60s for women and minorities to be have constitutional protection from discrimination.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed the experience, and it definitely got me thinking afterwards, which I think is the whole point to these exhibits. The staff was also really helpful and inviting, which I think added to the experience. Overall, a great visit!

Macron: Old Demons Coming Back to the Surface

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https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/11/politics/donald-trump-armistice-day-paris/index.html

An article similar to the one Prof. Scanlon talked about in regards to Macron’s statement about nationalism in the wake of Armistice Day. I found it interesting that he chose that theme for his speech, since the aftermath of the Great War lead to a rise in nationalism across the globe, a political movement that is beginning to rise again in places like the U.S and Europe. I felt this quote summed it up pretty well:

“I know there are old demons which are coming back to the surface. They are ready to wreak chaos and death. History sometimes threatens to take its sinister course once again.” 

Any thoughts?

Wedding Day – Parallels between then and now

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This is a piece that really caught my attention, and while we talked about it in class, I wanted to continue the discussion about on particular topic: Paul and Mary, and the system of unseen “social castes” that were present at the time of the story as well as today. The way in which Mary casts Paul aside due to the fact that she feels that she is somehow a higher social rank than Paul due to her race (even though she is a former prostitute, the lowest of the low so to speak) made me stop and think for a moment. I came to the realization that I found it so shocking because A. it didn’t happen in the American South (a place where I’ve grown up around racism, and feel almost desensitized to stories of race tensions) and B. it didn’t happen somewhere where it was illegal to be in an interracial marriage. So even though Paul had moved to what he thought was a more socially liberated society, he still faced the same discrimination he found in the American South. It was just better hidden in France.

My question is whether or not anyone else thinks that this ‘illusion” of social liberation is something that we still struggle with in modern day society, since (at least in the past year or so) many stories have come out about the marginalization of African Americans in the U.S.