June 29: Museum of London

In the afternoon, my group visited the Museum of London. The exhibits are organized along two floors, so that you enter from the entrance into 45,000 BC and gradually move through each time period into the present day.

I liked the way some exhibits were presented. For example, the collection from the Victorian period was presented as wares in shop windows.

They had a few Victorian sewing machines, so of course I took pictures of those.

I've been watching a lot of programs that take place during or after World War II (e.g., Bletchley Circle, Murder on the Home Front), so I was interested in the exhibit on that period. In addition to artifacts like ration booklets, photos of people sleeping in the Underground, air masks, and incendiary bombs (below), the room played audio and video accounts of people recounting their experiences as children. One man described what it was like sleeping in the Underground and then going up above in the morning to take in the damage. As a boy, he helped pull bodies out of the rubble. I can't imagine that. The photos and audio accounts made the experience more real for me than, I think, the artifacts alone would.

Now that I think about it, the museum incorporates a lot of different media into its exhibits. Interactive features are built into the displays themselves, or nearby, that allow visitors to click and learn more information through additional text, images, or activities. Some rooms, like those covering the Great Fire of London, the Plague, and World War II (the cheerful rooms) surround the visitor with video to convey the magnitude of the events they depict. There was even a tiny movie theater on the lower level with velvet seats and fabric covered walls that showed early films.  I took a picture, but, sadly, it didn't come out very well.

I saw on the museum's website that they also have a digital storybook that children aged 10 and older can use to explore the museum, called The Four Givens. Parents can download the storybook from the website or borrow an iPad at the museum.

What struck me most about this museum was its ability to present the breadth of London history so simply. I got a sense that items were carefully chosen and arranged in a way that didn't feel crowded or overwhelming. And the interactive features made each period of London's history come alive.