-My historic trip to Baltimore-

Museum: Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum

Date of Visit: January 7, 2004

Intent of Exhibit: To make the visitor aware of not only the awe inspiring achievements of George Herman "Babe" Ruth, but also of the man behind the home runs.

Artifacts and Displays: There were many well laid out displays at the museum. Among them were uniforms from various periods in Ruth's career, items from his childhood, displays describing all parts of his life from his birth to his death, game-used equipment, baseball memorabilia, and much more.

Captions: The captions were very clear and concise, even relatively unimportant artifacts had very lengthy though interesting captions.

Background: The museum dealt with Babe Ruth's whole life, even the time before his fame as a baseball player therefore there was ample background information about him and even his parents.

Intent: The curator was very successful in meeting his intent. The exhibit accurately portrayed the life and career of Babe Ruth.

Reaction: I found the Babe Ruth museum to be extremely interesting and educational. The whole museum was very professionally done and historically accurate. The first part of the museum that is seen when one walks in the door is the bottom floor of the house that Babe Ruth spent his childhood in. The room is set up and furnished in a manner that would be consistent with the time period. There were captions talking about Babe Ruth's birth in this room and they served to provide a good amount of background information for the rest of the museum. Beyond this room is a larger room filled with memorabilia from Babe Ruth's baseball playing years as well as an extensive history of this time in his life. Of particular interest to me in this room was a jersey that Ruth wore in a game and a baseball signed by the entire 1923 New York Yankees team. Beyond this room was another room filled with more Babe Ruth memorabilia, the most interesting thing in this room, and in the whole museum, in my opinion, was a display with two bats that the visitor can actually grip. One of the bats in the display was used by Cal Ripken and the other by Babe Ruth during his years in school. Just touching these bats filled me with a sense of awe and brought the achievements of both of these players home to me. In the upstairs portion of the museum was the second part of the house that Babe Ruth lived in when he was a child. A more detailed history of his childhood was given here and information about his early years in baseball was here as well. Perhaps the most interesting artifact in this room was a Babe Ruth's hymn book from school. Scrawled in pencil on the inside cover of this book are the words, "I am the worse [sic] singer in the world, but the best pitcher". Overall the museum helped to give Babe Ruth, a legend in baseball, a more human side that I could relate to. On top of the humanizing aspect, however, I learned a lot of things about George Herman Ruth that I never knew before. This is one of the most interesting and best put together museums that I have ever been to and I would recommend seeing it to anyone.

Museum: Baltimore Civil War Museum

Date of Visit: January 7, 2004

Intent of Exhibit: To make the visitor aware of the events of the Civil War and especially how it related to the city of Baltimore and the surrounding area.

Artifacts and Displays: There is an abundance of interesting artifacts from the civil war and displays covering everything from Civil War battles in and around Baltimore to how the war affected the lives of individual people.

Captions: Captions were clear and helped in understanding the artifacts on display as well as the Civil War in general

Background: There was a large display that gave very pertinant background information. The information did help in my understanding of the museum.

Reaction: Initially I was not very excited about going to the Baltimore Civil War museum as I have seen so many museums and sites relating to the Civil War already. After looking around the museum, however, I found myself becoming more and more interested. Prior to my visit to this museum I had only really learned about the civil war on a large scale basis and how everything that happened related to the nation and the war as a whole. This museum, however, focused on the more localized effects of the war on the Baltimore area and its people. Information that I gathered from this museum gave me a new outlook on Baltimore and the role it played in the Civil War. Of particular surprise to me was the fact that many of Baltimore's citizens supported the Confederacy and that they held riots and demonstrations against the Union. Prior to visiting the museum I knew that there were Confederate supporters in Baltimore but not nearly to the extent that the museum said. Another part of the museum that I found particularly interesting were the accounts of slaves escaping the south through the Maryland portions of the Underground Railroad. Furthermore I found out that many parts of Baltimore that I never would have guessed about were site of important historical events relating to the civil war. It was particularly striking to realize that Pratt Street, a road we had just been lost on in our trip to the museum, was the site of the first bloodshed of the Civil War. Overall I thought the museum was extremely full of interesting artifacts as well as useful information. I came away from the experience with a greater understanding of the Civil War and a new way of looking at the city of Baltimore.

Historical Site: 203 Amity Street, Baltimore: Edgar Allan Poe's House

Date of Visit: January 7, 2004

Background: A limited amount of background information was given.

Reaction: While we were not able to go into the house because it was closed until the weekend, there was a sign outside of the building explaining its significance. Poe lived in the house from 1832 to 1835 with his aunt, grandmother, and cousin. While living in the house, Poe gained his first recognition as a writer, winning a literary contest by the Baltimore Saturday Visitor. It was interesting to see the house where Edgar Allan Poe lived, though it came as a disappointment that we could not go inside and see the house.

 

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