Jun 12 2011 11:51 am
Posted by rb115770 under June 13 Assignment
Nineteenth Century Mayhem
Today I visited “The Lost Museum.” This virtual museum looked very realistic; I felt like I was actually visiting the museum. I can see how historical and artisitc the museum. Unfortunately, this museum burned down, which I found ironic because in the Picture Gallery, there was an article written by P.T. Barnum that spoke about mysterious fires in New York City and he was trying to identify the criminal behind these fires. “The Lost Museum” portrayed how it was one of the most entertaining landmarks in New York City during its time. If it were still standing, it would defnitely continue to be an attraction in the Big Apple. This museum doesn’t only act as an art gallery but it contains documents that explain some very shocking events in American History including the fires that raged throughout the city and the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. New York City is currently known for its various museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art and Museum of Natural History; therefore, P.T. Barnum’s “The Lost Museum” would flourish in nowadays. It possesses many valuable artifacts from America’s nineteenth century entertainment and history. There were images and even figures of animals, tall people, presidents, anything; you name it! These aspects of the museum would make it a very useful historical tool of the nineteenth century.
The exhibit that intrigued me most was the one that had images of Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, located on the second floor in the WaxWorks Room. I never knew that John Wilkes Booth was accompanied by two other men, David C. Harold and John H. Surrat. The image below shows the rewards that were issued on April 20th, 1865 by the War Department in Washington D.C. for the three men responsible for the murder of America’s beloved sixteenth president. There was another poster a few posts below talking about the image which is dedicated in memory of Lincoln. It’s the flyer for the play at Ford Theater, during which he was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth. I think that the addition of these historical artifacts adds meaning and value to the museum and definitely shows that this museum was a landmark.
Rewards for Abraham Lincoln's assassination.
3 Responses to “Nineteenth Century Mayhem”
Svetlana Kandkhorova on 12 Jun 2011 at 1:53 pm #
*I’m posting as a comment because i forgot my login info and my email is acting weird.*
Anyway, when i “visited” The Lost museum, it was an interesting experience. I liked the fact that it was interactive, this added to my experience rather being boring but actually amusing. I felt like i was in the Ripleys museum, which i think The Lost museum is very similar to. The museum was popular because it exhibited many different curiosities and inventions to keep the audience entertained. One of the pieces that caught my eye was The Chang and Eng Twins. This amazed me how Barnum made wax figures of the twins to exhibit in the museum. Not only was this museum but also a library of that time period. There is a lot of history in this museum, i wish there were more external links though. The website is helpful to convey the history behind the artifacts, especially that its more interactive rather than just clicking away. This museum gave me a sense of what NYC was like in the mid to late nineteenth century. NYC and the US was a place of exploration and discovery. NYC played a role as a place for everybody even the strange.
*i also had trouble posting an image, i guess i cant in a comment?*