the Academy of Natural Sciences: It is not real, but it is for real.

Most fascinating thing at the Academy of Natural Sciences was that they show basically what kind of job is done behind the exhibition and what people do for sample layouts. Not just through the explanation of curators or other staff, visitors just look around and they could know that Graphic designers and exhibit directors are put in a great deal of effort to make specimens look like alive. When we walked down to the office of the museum and were listening to the explanations, I actually touched some of on-going samples. And they were so realistic and lifelike. I could know that this is how museum is doing for obtaining its trust from audiences.

 So, these are kind of works of art and artifacts based on the scientific facts from the evidence in the monochrome or colored films, photos, and some parts of sketches back in the day. However, personally, several questions came to my mind as I listened to the staff’s saying that people who collect the materials by killing living animals. She did even say ‘it is interesting’ while telling about how the taxidermied gorillas were made. But, is it really intriguing to shoot the living animals in order to preserve their figures for permanent period? 

Preserve, Protect, and Defend the Constitution of the United States in Philly

 Located in close proximity to the Liberty Bell Center and the Independence Hall which is listed as a World Heritage Site, the National Constitution Center(NCC) is a place full of sense of nationhood. Along with these historical sites where the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution were debated and adopted, the building is really near the center city in Philadelphia, crowded with people coming and going. I think it has an excellent heritage tourism location so that American citizens can easily approach the place and remind themselves of how this country’s settled and what kind of thought was based on it. The NCC just shows that this center assists in the formation of providing special stories about the Constitution and the history of freedom, which is historically America’s the most important heritage. Especially, visual effect, titled ‘Freedom Rising,’ in the Kimmel Theater was enough to give that kind of impression, although I don’t understand why the narration makes wrong assumption that all the people in the theater would be citizens of the United States. I guess it might be just a part of play. However, president’s House seems to tell another stories with the same topic; slavery. I think it is very interesting that very iconic symbol of American Independence happened at the same time of emersion of kind of opposite conception. And yet, all these sites are raising the spirit of patriotism in many ways, preserving 

What happened behind the walls?

On my first visit to the Eastern State Penitentiary for the Terror Behind the Walls event, which was 2 days ago, I was too busy to scream out and run away from scary people. However, that is not all; including my friends, we became more curious about this place. Maybe this is the beauty of this historical attraction event, which makes visitors come again to explore the museum. So, this museum tour was my second visit to the Eastern State Penitentiary. There were still dark atmospheres inside the building, but it was different. During the daytime tour, I became a little bit more aware of why the Penitentiary still exists until now as well as how important it is. As a result, it changed what I have in mind about the Haunted House Halloween event.

Based on the Quakers’ ideas, Eastern State Penitentiary was and is famous for the first penitentiary that took the original system of separate confinement, individualized trainings, and rehabilitation programs in a small cell room instead of harsh punishments. But, the most interesting thing was that since 1930s prisoners could organize groups for baseball leagues, musical activities, and they were even appeared in the local news paper with other reasons than wanted lists. It seems that another kind of community was formed behind the prison walls, and even partly connected to the neighboring community.

To tell the truth, the stories about this penitentiary and the Pennhurst State School / Hospital, which were mentioned at the Haunted History discussion, are all mixed up in my head. However, one thing is for sure that these historical spaces did have a great effect around the nation.