Photo TR: The Newseum

[printersdevil78]

Quick intro and then on to pics: I had a rare free Saturday, so I decided to take a drive up to Washington, D.C. After weighing my options, I figured I'd check out the Newseum, which was offering a discounted admission and appealed to me as a former newspaper reporter of 15 years. It was a lot better than I expected it to be, and now you get to see the highlights. Enjoy!

 

P.S. For those who look forward to the food photos that tend to be sprinkled throughout my TRs, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I had breakfast at an uneventful local charity pancake function, skipped lunch and had dinner at Ben's Chili Bowl, which I already covered in a separate D.C. photo TR earlier this year. So no food pics for you!

And finally, "USA Today" debuts, changing the face of print media as the world knows it and directly or indirectly leading to the demise of newspapers nationwide, placing the industry in the near-death position it's in now. But I may be editorializing a little.

 

Hope you enjoyed your tour!

 

-30-

Elvis (not to be confused with Michael Jackson) dies.

Woodstock (I just liked the headline on this one).

Man lands on the moon.

President Kennedy is assassinated.

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivers his "I Have a Dream" speech.

...you're doing it wrong!

Um, Chicago Tribune...

World War II ends.

First non-stop trans-Atlantic solo flight.

Scopes monkey trial.

Women gain the right to vote.

The "Titanic" sinks (with nude drawing onboard).

1906 San Francisco earthquake (soon to be a major motion picture).

The Wright Brothers' first flight is successful (story is at the bottom).

Hawaii becomes a U.S. territory (statehood would follow a half century later).

Lizzie Borden murder trial.

And we end our Newseum tour with my favorite part: a display of headlines relating to historical events. See if you can guess what they are before reading the caption!

 

Hint: This one is the assassination of Jesse James.

I thought Al Gore invented the Internet. (Side note: Two Al Gore mentions in a single TR? That's got to be some kind of TPR milestone!)

Of course, as "king of all media," Howard Stern was represented, as well. This photo apparently was taken during his "Wierd Al Yankovic" phase.

...and "Saturday Night Live."

The Newseum also paid homage to TV shows featuring news as entertainment, including "The Daily Show," "The Colbert Report"...

The earliest C-SPAN stuido was a rented office in a run-down building. These letters, bought at a local hardware store, were its sole backdrop.

Apparently Mark Twain was a newspaper reporter for about 12 minutes. That's long enough to have his inkwell and pipe enshrined in the Newseum.

These relics were recovered from the "U.S.S. Maine," the sinking of which during the Spanish-American War prompted William Randolph Hearst to coin the battle cry "Remember the Maine!" in hopes of selling more papers.

Getting back to the real historical stuff, this voting booth is from the 2000 Florida election after which George Bush was eventually declared president over Al Gore. The things in that circular container are the infamous "chads," and that white board is the one NBC commentator Tim Russert used on the air to help viewers make sense of it all.

I have a few printing plates of this style in my collection.

H.L. Mencken's editor's spike. Someone once compared me to him. I wasn't sure whether or not it was supposed to be a compliment (he had a reputation for being a great writer and a real SOB).

This trunk belonged to Thomas Paine, author of "Common Sense," which helped rally colonists to secede from England in the 1770s.

After 15 years of newspaper work (and three in radio), I've been issued fewer press passes than the number on display here. I guess when people know who you are, access isn't a problem (also, Dan Rather probably never covered such choice assignments as the annual Miss Crustacean Pageant).

As a trading card collector as well as a journalist, I really got a kick out of these ancient tobacco cards featuring the likenesses of national newspaper editors (collect 'em all!).

I really enjoyed the exhibit on the history of print journalism, starting with a full-sized replica of the Gutenberg press.

I could tell you what this is, but it would be easier for me to just let you read the sign below the item. So do that.

More commemorative posters (for mourners to hold up alongside the tracks during the president's body's 1,700-mile train trip from D.C. to Illinois, where Lincoln is buried) and a flagpole from his casket.

This is one of only 15 known copies of Lincoln's "life mask" (sorry it looks like it's stuck to the back of a random woman--such was the nature of the display case). I've seen four of the 15 in person.

This brick is from the National Hotel, where Booth stayed while plotting the assassination. It was probably the easiest artifact for the Newseum to get--the museum is built on the hotel's former site.

Apparently this was what all the fuss was about. Seems some people weren't thrilled about the outcome of the Civil War. This commemorative poster (yes, apparently they had them back then) was printed just 12 days before Lincoln's death.

This was the playbill for the production Lincoln was at Ford Theatre to see the night he was murdered.

There's the man himself, on a photo valdalized by a law enforcement agent on Booth's case who apparently wasn't real happy with the assassin.

Its centerpiece was an authentic wanted poster for John Wilkes Booth. Most of the materials in the exhibit were loaned by a longtime Lincoln collector.

Now this was an awesome exhibit. This is really the type of thing Disneyland should have at "Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln."

For our neighbors to the north, it also affords a decent view of the Canaidan embassy (fun fact: In the spirit of Epcot, I just had to physically stop myself from typing "pavillion" instead of "embassy").

The Newseum's outdoor balcony offered a grand view of the U.S. Capitol (I swear, someday I'm going to get to D.C. when the sun is shining).

OMG! Construction photo! OMG! OMG!

This bombed-out Bosnian road sign was there, as well.

...and a reinforced, shrapnel-flecked Chevy truck used by "Time" reporters while covering unrest in 1990s Yugoslavia.

...a satellite transmission truck from Minneapolis...

Scattered throughout the Newseum were news-gathering vehicles including a helicopter formerly used by KXAS-TV in Dallas...

...and a section of the plane that passengers forced down in Shanksville, PA, once they learned terrorists had taken it over. Sadly, this wasn't exactly "history" for me. I was working for a newspaper two hours south of D.C. and five hours south of New York that day... and it was a long day.

...a section of the Pentagon wall that collapsed in its attack...

However, one of the most poignant exhibits focused on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, including part of one of the destroyed New York World Trade Center towers...

Some parts of the Newseum were kind of like a 3-D scrapbook of historic moments, like this victory ribbon from the women's suffrage movement.

I found it hillarious that John Cameron Swayze had his own board game. If you don't know who he is, don't worry; OldJJMan and I do.

The Newseum also had one of those cheesy 4-D theaters showcasing "great moments in newsgathering" or some such nonesense, featuring, among others, Edward R. Murrow. This was his World War II military correspondent's uniform.

...and an early digital camera used by a "Time" photographer during the 1993 FBI raid on the Branch Dividian compound of David Koresh in Waco, TX. It wasn't exactly pocket-sized.

...remnants of the Ryder truck used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing...

...the Unibomber's shack...

...a model of a Unibomber bomb used as evidence during his trial...

...the envelopes the Unibomber used to mail his manifestos to the "New York Times" and "Washington Post"...

...Hearst's gun, jacket and necklace...

...a wanted poster for Cocoa Puffs bank robber Patty Hearst...

...the modified trunk of the car from which the D.C. Sniper claimed his victims...

...the electric chair used to kill Bruno Richard Hauptmann, kidnapper and murderer of the Lindbergh baby...

...Klan paraphernalia...

...a smashed 7Up can used by 1960s-'80s Cold War spy John Walker to mark where he hid secret U.S. intelligence information for Soviet operatives to pick up (because why else would there be a random 7Up can on the ground--it's not like anyone actually drinks it)...

Other items on display included Donnie Brasco's American Express card (he never infiltrated a mob without it)...

And these were a couple of his guns, including one he was carrying at the time of his death.

This was the straw hat he was wearing when the FBI gunned him down.

And here's Dillinger's death mask. Ashes to ashes and all that.

The exhibit vaguely tied into the new Johnny Depp movie, "Public Enemies." Speaking of which, here's John Dillinger.

For me, the surprise hit of the Newseum was a traveling exhibit on G-men... or more to the point, the high-profile criminals the FBI has captured since the 1930s. They promoted it out front with a was figure of J. Edgar Hoover, ironically not in a dress.

I go for Pogo.

...to this.

It's funny when you consider how "Peanuts" went from this...

This exhibit was really small and kind of pointless, but as a comics/animation buff, I enjoyed it, nonetheless. I'll bet Jeff Johnson and I are about the only two people on TPR who can correctly identify every character on this sign without reading the captions.

And now, on a lighter note....

This poor fellow lost his head! This statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin was toppled in 1991 after the U.S.S.R. suspended Communist activities.

...but never one of the "death towers," from which guards shot those who attempted to climb over the wall.

I'd seen large sections of the Berlin Wal before...

The gallery of Pulitzer Prize-winning photos was amazing. They had the most famous ones enlarged with stories from the photographers printed next to them.

First stop: the rest room. Even that was newsworthy.

This fellow reminded me a LOT of my former newspaper employer's mascot--right down to the name. I smell a lawsuit!

The Newseum was on the next block.

I had also thought about trying to squeeze in a visit to the National Archives, but the timing wasn't there (and the lines were huge).

...and this Louise Bourgeois spider.

Since it ran parallel to my path, I took a "longcut" through the National Gallery of Art's sculpture garden and came upon this Claes Oldenberg typewriter eraser...

It boggles my mind how D.C. can have such lush, beautifully manicured green spaces literally right next to roads that see some of the nation's heaviest traffic.

Upon debarking the train, I found remnants of last weekend's Smithsonian Folk Festival on the Mall.

After driving to the closest Metro station to my apartment (about two hours away), my journey began aboard the D.C. Metro. Is it just me, or does this station remind you of something out of "Men in Black"?

[Hotlanta]

If i remember correctly the spot from where you got the shot of the capitol is where CNN broad casted from during the Obama inauguration.

 

Excellent pics by the way. Went to DC a couple of time and never had the time for this.

[printersdevil78]

Thanks! It's very possible that CNN broadcasted from there during the Inauguration. The museum includes a full control room and broadcast hookups (which was very wise on their part, I think, considering their location right off the Mall).

 

I was reluctant to pay to tour the Newseum given all the free Smithsonian museums right across the street, and had I not already toured most of them within repeatedly the past two years, I probably wouldn't have even considered the Newseum. In the end, though, I'm glad I did.

[testtrack321]

Jealous. I used to live in RVA and made frequent trips to DC and always wanted to go to the Newseum, but my parents thought otherwise...

[Eric_Smith]

This was amazing! Thank you so mush for posting this! I bet you had a blast.

[Jds03]

That was really cool! It reminded me allot of my visit to the Ford museum where they keep the Kennedy car and other historic items like this museum. It’s really amazing to actually see items like that in front of you. This place is definitely somewhere I wan to visit next time I’m in DC.

 

Oh, and also I can name all those characters in the comics section. I have comic strip collections through the roof, and books on comic’s history. I occasionally turn to them for inspiration. ....I guess this means you lost your bet, haha.

 

 

Also, Pogo is awesome. I go for him too.

[haux]

Awesome. As a journalist, I enjoyed your photo trip report a lot. Thank you. Someday I hope to visit the Newseum.

[VegasCoaster]

Wow, thanks for the extremely informative PTR. I almost feel like I learned some stuff while reading all of that. Looks like a cool museum that I might have to check out if I'm in the DC area sometime.

[cathyJ]

That news chopper from KXAS-TV...even though KXAS is the NBC station serving the Dallas market..the station is really a Fort Worth television station. I know..so what LOL

 

But on some of those media websites...people can be so damn picky about such things. Believe me there is nothing more funnier and more bizarre than looking at messages of people getting into online screaming matches on which is better..Fox News or CNN , or if Atlantic City's WMGM-TV should move to Philadelphia or stay in Atlantic City, or the "debate" that Clear Channel Communications is really the "anti-Christ". Ah ok....LOL

[HCLcoasters]

I've been to the Newseum once and I hope to drive downtown this summer again and revisit it.