Visiting Childhood Haunts
Growing up, I loved the Field Museum. We’d go almost every year I was in elementary and middle school for field trips, and my family went often as well. That was one of the advantages of growing up 40 miles west of Chicago: awesome day trips. I remember being completely in awe when Sue was first unveiled.
My parents decided they wanted to see the Pirates special exhibit before it closed, so off we went. I still think 8 is a bit early to wake up on a Sunday, but for a museum…always! It was a bit strange to go back; I honestly haven’t been in at least 6 years. I’d forgotten just how child friendly the exhibits are. This isn’t to say that is bad, just that the anthropologist in me always craves more information.
The exhibit was great. I was pleased by how few inaccuracies there were, though I was saddened that the women were brushed aside to a footnote. It’s easy to do, but women have always been an important part of the pirate story. On the other end of the spectrum, how much detail there was in the area of specific names and routes was incredible. I haven’t encountered personal details in a pirate exhibit before. It was very refreshing. It was also surprising just how frank they were about the drowning of a 10-year-old boy named John King. While the kids who were in the exhibit around us were grossed out by his bone fragment, it made me smile. I think children should be confronted with human remains far more often than they are.
