Themes in American History

Exploring The Lost Museum was a very intriguing experience. Navigating through this virtual museum helped to understand the events and people that shaped New York City and the U.S. as a whole. One exhibit that was especially interesting was the No. 6 Sumner-Brooks Warworks found on the second floor of the museum, which shows an exact representation of the infamous May 22nd assault on Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner in the Senate chamber by South Carolina representative Preston S. Brooks. Here we see our politics in its infancy, yet very passionately displayed, in its attempt to quell the fight on slavery. Preston Brooks was the cousin of South Carolina Senator Andrew Butler, who Senator Sumner, a staunch abolitionist, blasted for what he called his “crime against Kansas”, an area where slavery was beginning to resurface after a 30-year ban. Brooks took to his cousin’s defense and savagely beat Sumner with his cane, which the picture on the right displays. The museum prevalently showed the horrors of slavery as an institution, and brought the the forefront the essence of freedom for the enslaved that bleeds from the veins of our country’s history. The image on the left represents the rising tension in the country during the mid-1800s over the issue of slavery. The Lost Museum was truly rich in history and definitely a great tool in exploring the events, politics and arts of our country.

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When exploring “The Lost Museum”, I indulged at the museum as if I was someone coming from 19^th century.  Established for the purpose of creating a place that entertained people, this Barnum Museum was a success in the 19^th century in New York City. It attracted a lot of audience at that time because of its various content, mirroring the entertainment people enjoyed at that time. As a museum, it combined a waxworks room where interesting wax figures were shown, a picture gallery including a lot of paintings, a “Lecture Room” which functioned as a theatre, and even a zoo. The founder, Barnum, opened this museum in order to feed people’s eager to see exotic animals from around the world. The living white whales, hippopotamus, and elephants were examples of these exotic animals. This museum, therefore, was not only regarded as entertaining but also educational. However, in the 19^th century, fires occurred frequently in such a crowded city. This museum was also burned down by a fire, including all of these animals. Thus, a web version of museum was established. The advantage of this online museum is that people from different time and every part of the world can understand the entertainment in New York City in the 19^th century. With a clear navigation and a comprehensive archive, this website is a great source to study 19^th century themes in New York history. However, making it as popular as it was in the 19^th century seems to be less likely.

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I think in theory the idea of a virtual museum is a great tool in navigating through history. Having that type of access to the past is not only culturally enriching but its definitely shows us how far we’ve come in technological advancements. However, the “Lost Museum” is a poor representation of what a virtual museum should be. The navigation part is the worst part about the museum. The museum has great potential but learning how to use the zoom in/out, pan left/right tool is disconcerting. I grew impatient and nearly gave up.

I did however find it quite clever that they included the rodent on the 2nd floor that happens to run pass your feet when you open the drawer. When opening the drawer I seen the image below that was pretty interesting to me. This slave was exhibited to be 161 yrs old when the autopsy proved her to be only 80 when she died. Barnum still went on telling people that it was a hoax and she was still alive somewhere. haha!

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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.

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The Lost Museum ,based of my first glance on the website, seemed like chaotic yet fun way to spend a day back in the 19th century. By going on this website you can tell what kind of spectacles people back in the 19th century did that was considered as their entertainment. Somethings ranging from having wax figurines of caged women all the way to hosting BABY SHOWS! These are some things that if were done today would probably be considered illegal and/or taboos! Some other things they showcased in the museum was the worlds tallest person at 8 feet tall.  And also showcased Joice Heth as an African American slave who was 161 years old as she claimed she was a nursemaid to George Washington. But when she died it was made clear she was no older than 80 years old. Regardless, The Lost Museum can be considered as a mix of today’s Ripley’s Believe it or Not and even The Guinness Book of World Records based of the items they showcased for entertainment.

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Ad for whales and hippopotamus

The Lost Museum shows many exotic and bizarre things that entertains people in 19th century in New York city. It also reminds me of Ripley’s Believe IT or Not. For Barnum, who is an American entertainer and business man, his museum is one of remarkable achievement of entertainment culture of the  United States. One of objects in the Lost Museum that grabs my attention is the advertisement flier of wales and hippopotamus. In 19th century, there were no zoos or other place that people could go and see gigantic or nonnative animals. At this point, in 1861, Barnum shows two live white whales to the public in his American museum. It was a great sensational event that was the beginning of not only a common zoo but also circus.

This 3D museum is a great tool that makes a motivation to learn each object of the history. Even though I had so much fun with touring the Lost Museum, I felt little uncomfortable with the screen size that is a tiny small window view. Other than this, I think it is good experience to know more American entertainment system.

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Well as I entered the Lost Museum I 1st thought this couldn’t be that difficult to find everything. Well was I wrong because navigating threw the website was work on its own.  One of the major strengths about having this website as a historical tool is it makes it much easier for people to find certain historical information as in having to go to an actual museum. Another pro is that not all the interactive things are exactly the same some are writings or little clips. What did get me a little confused was who was the lady talking once you enter the museum? The weakness as some other people stated was some of the floors were slightly dull. What they should do is make more floors so people can be available to more history. I was really intrigued by the slide show on the huge fires in NYC during those times.

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The lost museum is the secret of today’s New York City , and broadly, the secret the U.S., that is how the societies and it’s culture had been.I was amazed by walking into the museum,  where I  revealed a gorgeous  past. In the first floor i found “Iranistan”, where P.T. Barnum  got the idea of establishing  an “unique” building by visiting Europe; he was influenced  in “Portraits of P.T. Barnum”, there were several picture; one picture shows Barnum was leering at a dancer: these proves his interest on arts and entertainment. Barnum was an rich business man and he took full advantage of it. His interest transformed a four ears old into a celebrity.

“Scipio Hunted,” Uncle tom’s cabin, 1853, gives the insight of fight between slavery and atni-slavery. Slaves  were treated badly.On that time, white people owned slaves and they had all rights of their slaves, means they could do anything they want, which was against the human rights.  Few states were ant-slavery, but most of southern-states supported slavery. Even the Constitution had been changed by several amendment. In the 14 th amendment slavery was abolished.

In second floor  found the study of Dr. Dutchmen’s on human’s facial expressions. It was immersed that even in that time , people acknowledged  the psychology of human; there were several facial expressions and I think it was the starting of  the today’s psychology.

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The lost museum  is the important place that documented most of the past histories about New York City and  about The United States.In my opinion, the strongest part is that it has maintained a serial sequence of past events and years, and a little details about those event. The weakest part is, it  was not well organized, at least to me. Some pictures needed more details.

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The Barnum museum shows that the entertainment in 19^th century NYC is pretty rich. When I visited the museum, I was impressed by different performers, lecturers, and curiosities. One surprised thing I found is that these performers, lecturers, and curiosities demonstrated various skills and crafts, as well as new technological devices. A continual stream of changing exhibitions ranging from talking machines, panoramas of Niagara Falls, Paris and Peru, ivory carvers, glassblowers, sewing machine operators, and musicians. So I think the entertainment in 19^th century NYC is combined with new technology and new studies. It is not only just entertainment for enjoy people, but also gave new knowledge to people. And this knowledge still affect people live today. In the second floor, I saw an exhibition called The mechanism of human facial expressions which was contributed by French neurologist Duchenne de Boulogne. He combined his intimate knowledge of facial anatomy with his skill in photography and expertise in using electricity to stimulate individual facial muscles to produce a fascinating interpretation of the ways in which the human face portrays emotions. Until today the plates from Mechanism are highly valued as landmarks of photographic history and art.

America was a new and culturally emerging nation. Some amusements as we know them today did not exist at 19^th century. The concept of public entertainment was perceived as questionable and even considered inappropriate as Americans aspired to the highest standards of moral and civil behavior. The opening of the Barnum Museum challenged this popular social ideology. The Museum became a place for family entertainment, enlightenment and instructive amusement. It became a shrine for advancing public knowledge of fine arts, music, literature and the marvels of nature, showcasing natural curiosities alongside artistic and historic exhibitions. It played an important role in cultural history of NYC and even the U.S.

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This museum website is pretty interesting. I say that one would just have to take their time exploring this site, I didn’t find it hard to navigate and I would definitely tell my friends to check it out for themselves when they have a chance.

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Today I took my first trip to a virtual museum, “The Lost Museum.” I entered not knowing what to expect. For the most part I found that the website was able to make me feel like I was actually in the original Barnum Museum.

From the museum I was able to learn that people of the 19th century NYC had a taste in entertainment that was much different from ours. Most people today would tell you that they are interested in technology and the latest innovations. While in the 19th century people were more interested in the unexplained and peculiar. People flocked to see anomalies like a glass steam engine or Siamese twins.

I personally found the glass steam engine to be interesting because of the level of detail it had and the effort and work that went into making it. Since it was class it allowed spectators to see all of the intricate parts and engineering it was made of.

Like many of the other visitors I was disappointed to find that most of the entertainment was on the 2nd floor.  At first it was a little bit challenging to figure out what was a a clickable exhibit and what wasn’t, but after a while it began to feel like a scavenger hunt. The museum taught me a lot about life in the 19th century. However I felt that there could have been more organization of the exhibits and easier interaction. That said it was a pretty interesting historical tool that I feel should be used more often.

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Fire lecture film ironic since museum was burnt down

When I first visited “The Lost Museum” I got bored and I was not interested. Truthfully, the ground floor did not really capture my attention. So, I decided to move up to the second floor and check out if there was something more entertaining. I was impressed based on what I saw on the second and third floor. I was also surprised to see that this museum was different. It actually had a wide variety of exhibits ranging from those that dealt with history, science, and entertainment. The lecture film about fire caught my attention. I thought it was a little funny and ironic that this museum included a lecture film about fire as both Iranistan (Barnum’s mansion) and Barnum’s American Museum burned down. It was also interesting to see the amounts of fires that destroyed New York City and how fires were such a big problem for the city of New York.

“The Lost Museum” showed me something very important about entertainment in 19th century NYC; that it is not much different than entertainment today. The “freak show” aspect of the museum reminded me of the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! museum in Manhattan. The wax figures in the waxworks room on the second floor were similar to Madame Tussauds wax museum also in Manhattan. Many people in New York City visit both of these museums for entertainment purposes probably the same way others visited The Barnum Museum in New York City in the 19th century.

I thought the interactive aspect of this website was a very effective tool to choose to include. It makes the visitors feel like they are in a actual museum. It is as if they are able to walk through it, move up levels and it keeps your attention and interest. The strength of this website is its ability to depict a form of entertainment in the 19th century and show how similar it is to forms of entertainment today. It also informs the visitors of the website about several different historical facts such as the assault on Charles Sumner by Preston S. Brooks (which actually happened). In my opinion, I feel they should have attempted to make the ground floor more interesting or for it to contain more interesting facts as it would impress the viewers and keep  them in the website to continue o to the other floors so they could learn more.

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While I was exploring “The Lost Museum” I developed my knowledge of the US and the NYC history from the virtual exhibits. P.T. Barnum has created the space where people could see lots of exhibits that inform us what was going on during the era of 1800s throughout the museum. This website gave us the chance to visit the Barnum museum once again and I believe this webpage is great in the way to navigate us the whole museum virtually.

There are three floors in the museum and I enjoyed exploring the whole sections, and the one place that caught my attention the most was the lecture room on the third floor. In the room, there is a monitor and you can view the lecture films “fire” and “etiquette” on the screen. I viewed the film on the etiquette, and I learned that the early nineteenth century was the time when the etiquette became important in the society. People with better manner was thought as people from better class, and it played a huge role in the republican society during the era. It was unavailable to pick the pictures from the film slide and the only picture I could get from the archive was the displaying picture, however from the film and the articles from the archive, you can get a lot of information about the role of etiquette in 1800s.

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My whole experience during my visit to the “Lost Museum” was interesting, but pretty confusing in the process because of the virtual tour. The amount of content available is substantial, but I assume it is fitting considering it replaces the actual museum that burned down. The archive section proved to help guide me through each exhibit better than the virtual tour. Overall as a historical tool I believe that it serves its purpose of sharing a piece of history from New York for free and easily accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Something I found interesting was the Chang and Eng exhibit. They were not the earliest recorded conjoined twins but I learned that the term “Siamese Twins” was coined by them. Back in the 19th century, a sight such as two men attached to one another was something that have been a strange to many people. Because of the high cost of caring for 22 children, 33 slaves and their wives, Chang and Eng Bunker returned to P.T. Barnum’s museum for a limited engagement.

The museum highlighted a wide array of exhibits which displayed topics such as proper etiquette, the importance of firefighters, different types of amusement devices, as well as abnormalities of humans. While browsing through everything it seemed that entertainment from the 19th century was not solely based on imaginative aspects. Some of the exhibits had an overall goal to push change in society, while others were for pure curiosity of the unknown. Technology was basically nonexistent in this era so entertainment needed to be seen in person. P.T. Barnum enabled this in such a way where he could capture many forms of entertainment in one location.

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While exploring the Lost Museum, the first thing we visited is the office of PT Barnum, who’s entitled the Proprietor and General Manager of the Lost Museum. Then, we moved on to the second floor, where we would see so many pictures regarded to the slavery history of US, Mexican-American War and the Civil War. One of the images that caught my attention is “John Brown on His Way to the Execution”.  John Brown played a major role in the start of Civil War, who was a revolutionary abolitionist. The picture showed that John Brown was surrounded by a number of soldiers, a baby held by an African-American woman stand in front of him. The archive states that John Brown pausing on the steps of the jail, and leaning down to kiss the baby holds by the African-American woman. The image fully represents John Brown’s faith of abolishing slavery in the US.

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The “Lost Museum” website really surprises me a lot as I explore it. I have never seen a museum website like this that gives virtual experiences to its views. In real life, the actual P. T. Barnum’s American Museum does not exist anymore, but the website is a continuation of its missions and spirits. Barnum’s American Museum was considered as a key institution that led to the development of nineteenth-century urban culture. But it was mysteriously burn down in 1865. The website is not complicated, and the instructions are very clear. On the right side, there are floor maps of the actual museum. The screen is right in the middle, and you just have to move your mouse around and click. It is very simple and self-explanatory.

I think one of the strengths of using this website as a historical tool is providing people with different forms of historical evidences. Unlike actual physical evidences, the website gives virtual evidences, which is more accessible and convenience. And the weakness is that the screen is not big enough and lack of captions for many items.

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While exploring the museum, I learned that this was a big place for entertainment in New York during the 19th century. It quickly became one of the most visited places before it was burned down in 1865. This virtual museum allowed us to see what was going on in the 1800s such as the invention of the glass steam engine which was a step towards industrialization.

On the second floor, there was a slideshow showing the events leading up to the American Civil War. One of the slides that caught my eye was this poster:

This poster appeared after the passing of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 that said that runaway slaves must be brought back to their masters. I think that this poster is pretty interesting because while the slave owners are trying to catch the slaves that ran up north, the North is trying to help the runaway slaves remain free. This conflict between the north and the south as well as others such as Bloody Kansas, eventually led to the Civil War.

I think that this site is very informative and tells you clearly how life was like in the 19th century.  However, I did not like it at all. I felt like everything was not that organized. Navigating through everything was pretty anoynig. It was a small window on the screen and you would move left and right. There were these sounds on the second floor that I did not like either.

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Barnum was an American showman, businessman and entertainer during the nineteenth century. The lost museum website has been developed; since the museum burned to the ground. The museum was affordable and family oriented; its attractions made it a combination  zoo, museum, lecture hall, wax museum and theater, that was, at the same time a central site in the development of the American popular culture. My tour into the museum has been a thrilling one; one of the most famous was General Tom Thumb a 25- inch tall dwarf. Stratton is the real name of General Tom Thumb, Barnum made him nationally and internationally famous. From a very early age he taught him to sing and dance so that he shines in the show business. Barnum also accompanied him to Europe to perform in the audience, and General Tom Thumb also gained popularity as an international star after the tour.

            New York nineteenth century society unites historians, scholars, artists, philosophers and dreamers. Members volunteer their time and talents to help one another create public events, workshops, lectures, exhibitions etc.

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Barnum provides viewers how entertainment was in the 19^th century. In the 21^st Century, entertainments consist of  TVs and movies, an entertainment realm where our mind can create endless ideas giving birth to stories like Harry Potter and Twilight.  But in  the 19^th Century people were not interested in endless ideas [that style of thinking gains traction during the Victorian era] but interested in the unexplained. The 19^th Century was all about observing people that were different and considered defects. Barnum was able to exploit that interest and provide showmanship for the people of New York. For example Miss Anna Swam was considered different because she was taller than an average male. In the realm of the 19^th Century this will be considered inhuman due to the majority of the population did not experienced

Eight Feet Tall

Anna Swam growth. The citizens of 19^th Century America liked that God world was being challenged. That a human can physically go beyond their limits that seemed only possible if you were Jesus himself, whom turned water into wine. So when Barnum cons the public that Joice Heth was over a hundred years old. That captured public interest that humans can live long or something abnormal is at play. Even to add on to that was her relation to George Washington. Now more people can learn about their first president from someone who lived during his time and had a connection toward him.

The Museum tells me about the Cultural history of New York City was that public was into the theatrics that allowed society to think about themselves and life. And being abnormal or defect was something not to be ashamed of but spirited due to the wide interest.

The museum was good. My opinion is the museum greatest strength if you love history is it gives you a world of our past that is so much different than today. The weakness is that the second floor was where most of entertainment was. The other floor did not have much.

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After taking a short virtual visit to the P.T.Barnum Museum, I understood why it used to be the most visited place of entertainment in New York. I imagined myself walking down the hall of a lost museum, learning more about the history of the US. Such an amazing cultural experience took me back to New York in 19th century.

The museum’s mysterious spirit is attributed to the cultural development of New York. As the population of the city grew, there were more distinct differences between social classes – upper class, working class, and poor. Merchants and artisans, doctors and lawyers represented a fundamental surface of a common society. These people were interested not only in how to make money, but also how to spend them right. That is why museums and theaters were the most popular places of entertainment and amusement. I believe that Barnum museum is a great example of a cultural progression in urban society.It has its own mysterious style that cannot leave a visitor unsatisfied.

The museum itself is represented as a key to scientific knowledge and social amusement with its own mysterious signature. Among the exhibits we can find the waxworks of legendary people, such as Chang and Eng Bunker, conjoined twins; Miss Annie Swan, the tallest lady living in the 19th century; the finest picture gallery; the skeletons of unusual creatures, amusement devises, valuable documents on slavery, civil war, immigration, politics, and so many other interesting aspects of history.

There were a few posters on the wall of the Waxworks room, which is located on the second floor of our museum, that grabbed my attention. The first one, was the message with information about the play, “Our American Cousin”, which had been presented to the audience at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C on April 14 1865. This play had soon become known for the assassination of the president Abraham Lincoln. This historical note in memory of the president Abraham Lincoln demonstrated devotion to his political achievements.

The other poster was issued by the War Department, promising a large monetary reward for a person who could find the president’s assassin. John Wilkes Booth was the name of the killer, who stepped into the President’s box at Ford’s Theater and fired a deadly shot. He became the most wanted criminal of the North in 19th century. It looks to me that P.T. Barnum was a supporter and admirer of president Lincoln, and wanted to capture such historical momentum in his museum, so one day each of us would be able to experience all of it.

Image: www. Lost Museum.cuny.edu / Second Floor / the Waxworks room

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