Educational Travel Blog | From Sea to Shining Sea

The Newseum in Washington, D.C.

Tour Consultant Katy Peters was on the road last year in Washington, D.C. She shares with us about one of her must-see Washington, D.C., sites—the Newseum.

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images 

I had the opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C. this past December with colleagues, and while many sights stick out in my mind, none were as enjoyable as the Newseum. When I speak to teachers who have gone on the tour with Smithsonian Student Travel the majority agree that the Newseum is an awesome experience for students, and truly one of the most interactive museum options in the city!

This interactive museum of news and journalism is dedicated “to helping the public and the news media understand one another better” and to “raising public awareness of the important role of a free press in a democratic society.” Since its reopening in 2008, the Newseum has welcomed more than 2 million visitors.

View photos of the Newseum's opening day on April 11, 2008.

When I was lucky enough to visit the Newseum, I was amazed by how large it was. It has seven levels of displays, 15 theaters, a dozen major galleries, two broadcast studios, and an interactive newsroom that lets visitors play the part of a photojournalist, editor, reporter or anchor. Find out more about Newseum “by the numbers” or take a virtual tour. There are permanent exhibits that chronicle the history of the news and journalism through a collection of newspapers and magazines as well as highlight major events in the history of our country’s press. There is a memorial dedicated to journalists who have died in the pursuit of the news, along with a gallery full of front-page headlines from around the world.

There are two exhibits that cannot be missed in the Newseum—the first is the 9/11 exhibit. Complete with a video of journalists recalling that day at Ground Zero, the exhibit is moving, emotional and one of the best tributes to 9/11 that I have ever seen. There are front pages from every state in the U.S. on the day after the attacks. For middle or high school students who are probably too young to remember the attacks, it is a great way to communicate what a life-changing event in modern American history 9/11 was. For adults who do remember the attack, it is a great time to take a reflective moment and pay tribute to those who lost their lives. 

The second must-see exhibit is the Pulitzer Prize photography exhibit. Besides the breathtaking images to look at, the museum has put together videos of the photographers providing insight behind the pictures and what inspired them. Located on the lower level of the Newseum, one could easily spend an hour or two in this exhibit. 

Visitors should also check out the Hank Greenspun Terrace on Pennsylvania Avenue that offers a panoramic view of Pennsylvania Avenue and major Washington, D.C., landmarks. Here’s a picture I took of the Capitol Building from the terrace on my visit in December! 

I hope that every teacher who travels to Washington, D.C., gets a chance to take his or her students to the Newseum. For me, it was entertaining, interactive and informative. Most importantly, it inspired me to learn about our nation’s long history with the news and journalism, and how these professions have helped turned freedom of speech and press into a staple of American culture. 

And for teachers, be sure to look at the Newseum lesson plans (useful if you are visiting or just want to incorporate a journalism-themed lesson into your classroom!).

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Dedication Postponed, but Celebrations Continue

Though Hurricane Irene may have postponed the official Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial dedication, hundreds still paid homage to Dr. King on Sunday and throughout the past week.

Even though the threat of Hurrican Irene caused Sunday's dedication to be delayed, many celebrations still went on as planned including Alpha Phi Alpha's ceremony honoring fraternity, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Photo credit: Bill O'Leary / WASHINGTON POST

 

Once the rain had stopped and the winds had died down, visitors gathered at the new Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall to honor the civil rights leader and the 48^th anniversary of his famed “I Have a Dream” speech.

While the official dedication has been postponed (and a new date not yet set), many of the week’s festivities still went on as planned. Throughout the week events included a gala honoring global leaders for peace and a public expo to educate visitors about Dr. King and his legacy. Members of Dr. King’s fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, who have been instrumental in raising funds for the memorial, also held a private dedication ceremony on Friday.

The memorials and monuments of the National Mall are always moving, long-remembered part of visits to Washington, D.C. The King Memorial is a special addition, being the first memorial not dedicated to a president or white man. Smithsonian Student Travel is excited to add a visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial to our tours. Find out more about class trips to Washington, D.C. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

  AP Photo/Charles Dharapak

updated August 26, 2011 10:27 EST

Just about half a mile away from where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his indelible “I Have a Dream” speech, a 30-foot sculpture of the civil rights leader looks over the National Mall’s Tidal Basin.

The newly unveiled Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial opened to the public Monday, August 22, and was scheduled to be officially dedicated on August 28, the 48^th anniversary of Dr. King’s delivery of “I Have a Dream.” Because of the threat of Hurricane Irene, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial dedication has been postponed.

Around the memorial sculpture are the iconic Tidal Basic cherry trees, American elms and a 450-foot crescent carved with King quotations.

See a map of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial By the Numbers

4 number of acres dedicated to the memorial (this includes the King sculpture, quotation wall and green space)

30 feet high the likeness of Dr. King stands

48 years between Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial and this dedication of a memorial in King’s honor

52 number of countries represented by the more than 900 entries for the memorial’s design competition

120 millions of dollars needed to take this monument from idea to reality

450 feet long of the crescent quotation wall surrounding the memorial

1,700 tons of granite imported to make the 3 main sculptures of the memorial

1996 year President Clinton signed legislation proposing the memorial to honor Dr. King in Washington, D.C.

 

Design Inspiration

The ROMA Design Group won the design competition with a design inspired by the phrase: “With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope,” from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

Visitors will enter through a narrowed passage, a “Mountain of Despair.”

“The symbolic meaning behind that is to give the visitor the experience of feeling like going through a struggle,” says senior project manager Lisa Anders in an interview with Smithsonian.com. “If you can imagine a large crowd here, everyone is trying to get through to see the memorial.”

Chinese sculptor Lei Yixin’s “Stone of Hope” depicts King emerging from a rocky mountainside and facing over the Tidal Basin.

Some had voiced disappointment about a non-American sculptor taking on the depiction of an American.

"I knew of Dr. King since I was a teenager," Yixin says, "He's not only a hero of Americans, he's a hero of the world. His vision of equality for the world is universal and everyone should pursue the dream."

 

Learn more about Martin Luther King Jr.

Smithsonian Magazine explores Dr. King's legacy through artistic depictions of him.

Test your knowledge with this Martin Luther King Jr. quiz. 

Discover how Dr. King's message of non-violence lives on through The King Center in Atlanta.

 

Martin Luther King Jr. Lesson plans

• From the National Museum of American History:
  • Our story - Martin Luther King Jr.
  • MLK Word Art
  • Symbols of Peace
• "I Have a Dream" as a work of literature from PBS
• Martin Luther King Jr. and the Power of Nonviolence from the National Endowment for the Humanities
• Lesson plans from Stanford University's Martin Luther King Jr. Institute
• Teaching With Documents: Court Documents Related to Martin Luther King, Jr. and Memphis Sanitation Workers from the National Archives

Arlington National Cemetery

Our tour consultants talk to a lot of teachers and student travelers about their favorite tour destinations. Tour consultant Luke Chow shared with us about Arlington National Cemetery:

While each group is unique when it comes to favorite tour sites or activities, time and again I hear how student travelers were inspired and touched by their visit to Arlington National Cemetery.

The history and meaning of this national landmark can be very moving for students and teachers, especially during their first visit.

The grounds actually once belonged to General Lee of the Confederate Army and his family. After Union troops seized the large estate, it was decided a portion of the acreage would be used for a cemetery.

Arlington, so-named for the Arlington house on the property, became a national cemetery in 1864 shortly after the first person ( PVT. William Christman) was buried there. Many other soldiers that were too poor to be sent back to their homes were also buried there. Montgomery Meigs moved to make the grounds an official national cemetery. Read more about how Arlington National Cemetery came to be.

Highlights of a visit to Arlington include:

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier    

• Also called as the Tomb of the Unknowns

• Changing of the Guard
  • Guarded 365 days a year and 24 hours a day
  • Changed on the hour every hour October 1 to March 31
  • From April 1 through September 30 it is easier to view the changing of the guard because they change on the hour and the half hour

The John F. Kennedy Eternal Flame

• One of two Presidents buried at Arlington (The other is William Howard Taft)
• Brothers Robert F Kennedy and Edward M Kennedy are also buried there

Arlington House

• Home to Robert E. Lee before the Civil War
• The builder intended the house to be a living memorial to George Washington

Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial

• A memorial for those who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger tragedy

More Arlington information

Arlington National Cemetery has many other important and interesting things to see. If you are curious about what else there is to see at Arlington, here are a few links:

            Cemetery Facts
            Monuments and Memorials
            School Wreath Laying
                (Our tour consultants are always happy to make arrangements so that this special ceremony can be part of a trip to Arlington.)

Arlington is just one of the great destinations to see when visiting our nation's capital. Learn more about class trips to Washington, D.C.

165 Years of the Smithsonian Institution!

Smithsonian Institution Building, “The Castle,” c. 1867.Smithsonian Institution Archives

Happy Birthday to the Smithsonian Institution. It was on August 10, 1846 that James Polk signed the Smithsonian Institution Act into law. But the story of the historic institution was decades in the making.

The impetus and money to establish an institution dedicated to “the increase and diffusion of knowledge” came from British scientist James Smithson. Though he had never set foot in the United States, Smithson drafted in his will that his entire estate should go to his nephew, but if his nephew died without heirs, the entire estate should then transfer to the United States to found an institution in Washington, D.C.

When Smithson died in 1829 his will was printed in a British newspaper and then again in the United States. It did seem doubtful though that the Smithson estate would come to the U.S., as Smithson’s nephew was a young man in his 20s at the time.

However, within six years, Smithson’s nephew and heir had died of a sudden illness and the Smithson estate was officially awarded to the United States in 1838—a gift of more than $500,000. (That would be more than $10 million today!)

It took Congress eight years of debate to create a plan for the estate and the Smithsonian Institution. (Smithson had set out in his will that the institution should be named Smithsonian.) On August 10, 1846, the Smithsonian Institution Act was signed into law.

So why did Smithson create this generous bequest? No one really knows. Smithson never visited the U.S. and there is no evidence to suggest he had friends or colleagues here. Some speculate it was because of his interest in the Enlightenment, democracy and universal education that he chose the pass his estate along to the still new United States.

Check out how the Smithsonian is celebrating its 165 years!

Museum of Mathematics to open in 2012

Rob Bennett for The Wall Street Journal
Glen Whitney and Cindy Lawrence of the Museum of Mathematics, and some of their exhibits.

Math is everywhere; but some of us wish we could get away from it.

Those two attitudes—the ubiquity of math in our lives and people’s aversion to it—were the reason for the new Museum of Mathematics, scheduled to open next year in New York City.

“I started thinking, maybe there's an opportunity. We have a cultural problem around math," said founder Glen Whitney. "You can go to a cocktail party and it's perfectly acceptable to say 'I was lousy at math.' It's not perfectly acceptable to say 'Oh, I was terrible at history.' To combat a cultural problem, we need a cultural institution."

Whitney himself always loved math. This led him to a career as a hedge fund analyst, a position he left to work full-time on starting up the math museum.

Though the Chelsea space isn’t set to open until 2012, Whitney and his colleagues have already produced a traveling math exhibit, The Math Midway, which has traversed coast to coast.

A favorite part of the traveling exhibit is the square-wheeled tricycle. Employing principles of calculus, the square wheels move smoothly along a bumpy path.

In addition to the traveling Math Midway, Whitney and his MoMath crew have been producing Math Encounters, which the museum describes as “public presentation series celebrating the spectacular world of mathematics.” Past presentations include, The Geometry of Origami, from Science to Sculpture and Soap Bubbles and Mathematics: The Amazing Shapes of Minimal Surfaces.

Among Whitney’s MoMath crew are Chief of Content George Hart and Cindy Lawrence, Chief of Operations. Hart is a geometer, former computer science professor and well known for his math-inspired sculptures that many times involve the public in their final assembly. Lawrence also directs an extracurricular mathematics program for gifted students.

When the museum opens it will be the only, but not the first math museum, in the United States. For many years a small, private, by-appointment-only math museum ran on Long Island; a museum Whitney remembers visiting. And other countries like Italy, Germany, Korea and France all have museums dedicated to mathematics.

And with U.S. students under-performing when it comes to math, a museum to help ignite kids’ excitement and enjoyment for math is sure to be a welcomed addition to the American museum scene. They may come away seeing math how Whitney sees it:

"It's creative. It's innovative. It's just fun and amazing and a wonderful part of the human experience."