A visit to the Smithsonian Museum of American History after the Women's March Rally

I attended the Women's March Rally at the Lincoln Memorial this afternoon.  The weather in DC was beautiful. So rather than go straight to the Metro, I decided to take a stroll down the Mall. 

Much to my pleasure, I discovered that the Smithsonian museums will not be shut down until Monday, given their particular budget stream. I spent a few hours in the Museum of American History, enjoying some really good exhibits.  The Smithsonian is still true to its mission.  Here are a few pictures, that give a flavor of the exhibits: 

1.  "American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith."

2.  "Many Voices, One Nation," the development of multi-cultural America (an honest discussion, going all the way back to our beginnings).

3.  The Greensboro Lunch Counter 

4.  The 1968 Poor People's Campaign.  I was there as a 20 year old college student.  I've added a few first-hand memories, which may help some people get a little better sense of the time.

At nearby George Washington University, the United Campus Christian Ministries (UCCM), which was the center of social justice activities on campus, had a storefront office on G Street.  As president of the campus social service organization sponsored by the UCCM, I was on the UCCM Board (it was VERY ecumenical).  We had a copy of this poster in our storefront window.  I still have that copy. 

This is the architect's rendering of Resurrection City.   My most vivid memory,
aside from the nearly constant rain, was a session with an African American
Coast Guard veteran talking with a group of young people and some
nuns and college students about his research in finding his ancestry.  It was mesmerizing.
A few years later, the speaker, Alex Haley, published Roots. 

On June 19, the PPC held a big rally at the Lincoln Memorial,
which was planned as a continuation of the August 28, 1963
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom success.  Sadly,
it did not have the same impact.

I helped put together this "Poor People's University," an
effort to organize college student allies.

Nine years later, Bobbi and I were married on that date, and
I pinned my Solidarity Day button to the inside of my tux.
I guess it worked.  We celebrated our 40th Anniversary last June.

Before I entered this last room of the exhibit, I felt something was missing -- the feel of the nearly constant rain.  When I went into the room, I could hear the rain piped in with a sound system.  And there were  pictures of the mud and swamp-like conditions.  I remember engaging in some gallows humor, commenting that white racists were saying the rain was God's will, and we were saying that the white people were seeding the clouds. 

5.  Picture, taken from the Cafeteria, of the Washington Monument and the new African American Museum.