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This March 7, 1965, photo shows civil rights activists
George Washington, painted by Charles Willson Peale, feared bioterrorism by the British during |
THERE HAS BEEN so much ink devoted to explorers Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery the past few years that I had begun to tire of the topic just a bit. For anyone who, like me, has OD'd on those intrepid early explorers, there is a cure, which I came across last Saturday in a bit of discovery of my own.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History in Washington has the largest and most exciting Lewis and Clark exhibition I have ever seen. It goes far beyond the customary outline of their travels.
With some 450 items displayed, many of them actual equipment, artifacts, maps and documents from their intrepid journey, this really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Unfortunately, I had not gotten word of this exhibit when it opened in May, and found out about it only last week when a friend mentioned it. If this is your kind of thing, hustle, for it closes Sept. 11.
We set out from Alexandria with longtime friends Saturday for a day of museuming (my term) in the nation's capital. The idea was to take in an exhibit at the National Archives, then see if there was anything new to learn about Lewis and Clark and wind up the afternoon at the newly renovated Museum of American Art and National Portrait Gallery.
There was so much to discover about the discoverers that we had to forgo the new galleries until another time.
After taking Metro into town and grabbing lunch near the Navy Memorial, we began our foray on Constitution Avenue at the National Archives. Our object there was a multimedia exhibit of original materials from participants in key events in American history. It is called "Eyewitness--American Originals from the National Archives" and offers a rare chance for most Americans to read-see-hear in their own words the views of those who had the front-row seats to history.
For the most part they are the personal accounts of major figures--presidents, generals and so forth. But it was the small victories of ordinary people that most impressed me. People like Jeremiah Denton, a Navy pilot imprisoned by North Vietnam after his plane was downed in combat.
In film footage of an interview of the prisoner by his captors, he calmly replies to questions while using his eyelids to tap out in Morse code the word t-o-r-t-u-r-e. It is a painstaking, slow revelation of his plight to the world.
Denton's is but one of dozens of accounts in "Eyewitness" that truly breathe life into historical events.
Another story that appealed to me was an account by Alonzo Fields, head butler at the White House during the Truman presidency. One fine weekend in June of 1950, when almost the entire staff had been given the day off, the president informed Fields that he was having a crucial dinner session with his top military and civilian leaders.
Unruffled, the butler put together, with little assistance, a top-notch dinner for some 20 leaders in a session that lead to the United States' involvement in the Korean War. "Eyewitness" gives us Fields' own account of how he dealt with that situation. An intriguing insight into how an ordinary American (albeit one in a key job) rose to a historic occasion. Oh, and what did he serve? Fried chicken.
By the time we walked to the Natural History Museum, the afternoon was wearing on. What we had not realized was just how extensive was the Lewis and Clark exhibit, and had we known, we would have allowed it half a day.
All agreed that, while we were already fairly familiar with the outline of the adventures of the Corps of Discovery, we came away with a renewed appreciation for its accomplishments. This held true for small details as well as for broad concepts.
I have seen and held an original Sioux peace pipe, for example, yet was unaware of an Indian pipe combined with a tomahawk. I guess that gives new meaning to the idea of taking the carrot-and-stick approach to talks with your adversaries!
We came away, too, with a renewed appreciation for the negotiations held by the two emissaries of President Jefferson with a number of tribal chieftains. What we learned of Capts. Lewis and Clark in school and of their talks with tribal leaders had left us with the impression that these were simplistic talks in which somewhat condescending white guys offered beads to Indians in return for food or safe passage.
That impression is far removed from the facts. Lewis and Clark dealt with far shrewder--and better-informed--Indian leaders than any of us had previously understood.
When the two captains departed St. Louis in 1804 and began their journey up the Missouri River, they carried with them Jefferson's quite specific letter of instructions on how they were to proceed and the goals of their mission. They also took with them the best maps available at that time.
It was startling to learn, via these exhibits, just how poorly informed our leaders were at the time of Lewis and Clark's undertaking. The maps they took with them, in particular, were so inaccurate as to be almost laughable. We see this from the maps, many of them originals or copies of originals, that they took with them. Likewise, we were able to see--and to gauge for ourselves--just how much our understanding of the newly acquired territories changed with the new maps drawn by the explorers. Jefferson, remember, had completed the Louisiana Purchase shortly before the expedition got under way.
PAUL SULLIVAN, a former reporter with The Free Lance-Star, is a freelance writer living in Spotsylvania County. Contact him by mail at The Free Lance-Star, 616 Amelia St., Fredericksburg, Va. 22401; or by
Email: PBSullivan2@cs.com.
Lewis and Clark: The National Bicentennial Exhibition runs through Sept. 11 at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Eyewitness--American Originals From the National Archives runs through Jan. 1, 2007, at the National Archives in Washington. |
