The African American Museum

Title:  Rev. Richard Allen and Absalom Jones

Year:  2011
Material: A/V equipment, wood, paint
Creator:  Unknown
Collection: Audacious Freedom


Much like the moving portrait at Eastern State Penitentiary, the African American Museum features  'talking pictures' in one of their current exhibitions, Audacious Freedom. Rather than there being just one of these portraits, however, the museum has taken this a step further and hosts a number of these portraits on the second floor. Each is of an individual important to the African American community in Philadelphia from as far back as the initial colonization of America by Europeans. The actors have been filmed with vivid colors and bright lighting to look as if they were painted. Buttons are found to the right of each portrait where questions may be asked of the characters.


Only one of these portraits featured a pair of people, and that is the portrait of Reverends Richard Allen and Absalom Jones. Both of these men were ministers who founded their own churches in Philadelphia because the African American people were not welcome as equals in the white churches. These two worked together not only to preach their beliefs, but dedicated their time during the Yellow Fever scare to helping those who were too poor to flee the city and protecting the property of those who left. It was noted, however, that when the rich white families returned after the epidemic, the ministers and their congregations were accused of looting even though the looting was actually performed by the 'white thugs' that remained in the city. 


I found this interesting because unlike the other portraits, these men talked about issues that are still extremely prevalent today. For example, during Katrina the poorest members of society were accused of looting, even though videos show the common culprits were thugs and punks that appeared as if they could have afforded those items they looted anyway. Knowing that early African American churches utilized energetic songs and moving speeches like are well-known today also made me realize that these churches are like this because of their heritage of being freedom centers.


I feel like most people who go into this exhibition are likely to be interested in the portraits. Even small children were held captive by these character. Someone who is not religious, however, may not be drawn to this specific portrait. They may even be put off initially by the smirking faces of the characters.

The Wagner Free Institute of Science

Title: California Grey Squirrel, Sciurus griseus griseus

Year: Unknown
Material: Animal product (skin, fur), cotton, wood, plaster, glass
Creator:  Unknown
Collection: Upstairs, Taxidermy (Case 24)

Within the upstairs portion of the Wagner Free Institute of Science resides an age-old collection of natural history objects. Many of these are over 200 years old and collected by William Wagner or Joseph Leidy himself. The museum has not changed much since its conception, and for the most part the labels have remained the same, even when they are not entirely accurate. The cases are numbered, and the museum itself resembles a scientific collection rather than museum education. 

One case that stood out as being more outright educational (in the general sense versus research-type education) is the taxidermy case. This case featured a montage of animals (California Grey Squirrels to be specific) at various stages of the taxidermy process. The centerpiece to the case was a completed taxidermy of a California Grey Squirrel.  

Together the objects instruct the reader on how to perform a taxidermy on an animal. Being as a large percentage of the natural history objects in the room were taxidermy, this was an extremely informative case to explain the amount of work that goes into each sculpture. One would venture to guess that the presence of such a display is to encourage a greater appreciation for the other objects within the museum, as the voice of the text implied that the information at hand was important and to be taken seriously as an art form.

Visitors who are interested in the process of the creation of such objects, be it through respect for others' work or a personal interest in the subject would find this display interesting. Those who do not agree with the killing of an animal for any reason, or simply disagree with the display of what is essentially a carcass would not appreciate this object, however, much less the other objects in the case (or the museum's collection as a whole). 

I for one found this display quite interesting because I have some minor experience with the taxidermy process myself. I have watched part of it be done, and have create a study skin before. A study skin is a stuffed skin, like a taxidermy, but it is stuffed for research and so the anatomy has been taken into account when stuffing, but the animal is in no active pose (instead it is stretched out so that it can be measured easily), has no glass eyes, and is not treated (so that the skin and hair may be used for DNA testing).  

The above image is an example of such a study skin utilizing the same species as in the taxidermies.   Stuffing the rat I made a skin of was hard enough without using a framework. I can only imagine how hard it must be to create an accurate, well-sculpted taxidermy. For older students or for adults, it may be interesting to have an all-day (or multiple day) program on the process of taxidermy where participants are able to create their own study skin. This would instill a greater understanding of not only the taxidermy and research process, but of the animal being studied for the activity. Some participants may even find they have a stronger interest in learning how to taxidermy.