The ‘Great Blacks in Wax’ Museum Field Trip

contributed by Gabrielle Jones, Language Arts Teacher

After an hour journey to Baltimore to the "Great Blacks in Wax" Museum, Team 6/7/8 went aboard what was an exciting, but also troubling, experience. We entered the slave boat in the museum and saw the horrible conditions and slave abuse. We moved on to see the various revolts that occurred throughout the late 1800s, including the Underground Railroad.

Apart from the troubling lynching scenes, the hope of many human rights activists were depicted throughout the exhibit. The museum displayed the courage, strength, and perseverance of many amazing citizens to prove to the world that they are just as human as anybody else and have the right to freedom and happiness.

Students’ comments:
Breanna thought the museum was interesting and from it, she could understand black history better.

Rebecca said, “I saw black people who were slaves and they were chained around the neck. Children were also slaves. Gabrielle read the texts and explained to us what happened in the wooden slave boat.”

Megan said, “It was a good museum and it had interesting information about the slavery in the past.”

Navarro said, “I don’t know why the lynching happened. Parts of black people’s bodies were cut up and placed in a jar. On the second floor, I saw a hand waving at me; I thought it was a real black person who was hiding in the chest. On the third floor, it wasn’t so bad. There was a store, famous people made out of wax.”