Though perhaps not as well known as
the National Civil Rights Museum, The Pink Palace Museum is a large tourist
attraction in Memphis. Rhodes students complete internships there, and the
museum engages with the greater community with the help of a theatre and
planetarium. I went for the first time yesterday, and was appalled at how
whitewashed the ‘Cultural History of the Mid-South’ exhibit was. It was as
though the exhibit had not been changed since the opening in the 1970’s. It
detailed many aspects of pioneer life in Memphis, including everything from
medical practices to textile work; however, the exhibit appeared to be void of
the impacts slavery had on the nation.
Tucked behind a column of plaques
discussing horse drawn carriages and log cabins, there was a relatively small
display entitled ‘Slavery’. The six-sentence section label began with, “Public
sentiment in the 1820’s and 30’s was in favor of emancipation but not for
racial equality.” The blurb mentioned the pick up in slave trade during the
1850’s in Memphis, though little else. Though it was one of the most monumental
pieces of legislation in the history of the United States, the only mentions of
the effects from the Emancipation Proclamation were tucked in small text in one
or two of the displays. There was a sentence about black units serving during
the Civil War. However, it seemed to have been an afterthought, and appeared to
be out of place; the section was about medicine used during the Civil War.
Where is Ida B. Wells? Racial distribution
during the Yellow Fever epidemics? Disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws? While
most of this happened in the second half of the 1800’s, the exhibit claimed to
be the history from 1800-1900. As proof, the medical innovations were detailed
up to the turn of the century. The museum was clearly more interested in
displaying the Calvary units from the Civil War (in all of which the models
were white) and details of the replica of the Victorian Music Room than the
social and economic positions of African Americans. The majority of the
displays were about the white, upper-class culture. The ‘Slavery’ section
mentioned that many slaves in the city were used for household services. However,
there were no depictions of slaves in the recreations. In the recreation of a
music room and parlor, there was a glaring lack of said population in the
models.
Interestingly enough, a peek at the
Pink Palace website gives more information about slavery and racial
inequality than the entire museum. It is comforting to know that anyone willing
to do the research can easily find more information on such topics. But this
completely defeats the museum’s purpose. A museum is a resource for the general
public, and those not intrinsically interested in history will only be exposed
to a one sided story. Furthermore, this is a permanent
exhibit. Everyone who has come to the Pink Palace has seen this, and were given a story with gaping holes. Though the mansion is being renovated, the changes that
need to happen within are being ignored.
I agree that the historical knowledge of the museum does have rather large holes in it. It seems clear that the inclusion of the planetarium, as well as other attractions clouds people from the actual museum itself.
ReplyDeleteThe attractions that the museum offer are, unfortunately, a way that the museum can stay funded and it seems that the true, real life information and history are suffering as a result. It seemed to me that the information that museum should have been displaying was suffering as a result of this.
I agree that the museum seems to gloss over the African American history of Memphis, and instead, prefers to focus on the white history of Memphis which is truly only half the story of this State.
Nevertheless, while the section was small and easily missed, the museum did well to document the effect the students had on the movement, albeit only from 1940 to 1970. The inclusion of this section is promising, however as the author points out, without prior knowledge that the museum does not provide, it could be understand the true effect that students, among others had.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting issue you've raised, Grace. I am glad you included some of the details that the Pink Palace in terms of the growth of Memphis. In reality, the city of Memphis has largely grown on the backs of black folks, who range from slaves to low-wage workers. And yet, this narrative is continuously being overlooked or omitted.
ReplyDeleteAnother really interesting point you mentioned was the Pink Palace's exclusion of black music in its exhibit. This is fascinating to me, considering that Memphis is an epicenter of black culture, specifically black music.
Only somewhat of a reasoning behind the Pink Palace's decisions regarding the black narrative makes me think that they reserved black history and the depiction of black culture to museums, such as the National Civil Rights Museum and Stax Museum. However, this creates a whole new problematic notion that museums have the need to segregate history to a certain extent? Nonetheless, this in no way excuses the erasure of black history from museums, such as the Pink Palace, especially when cities like Memphis revere them on an inner-city personal level.