Sunday in Washington DC

Photos: 1) the entrance to the research area of the Nations Archives (wishing I could go in); 2) a statue in the garden of the National Gallery of Art (some of you might be too young to know what it is); 3) a car from the Dumbo ride at Disneyland many years ago; 4) the facade of the National Archives.

This morning we attended Sacrament Meeting in the Capitol Hill Ward here in Washington DC--truly and international, eclectic and ethnic mix of people who are very much a ward family and are also very friendly with visitors.

After a lunch of peanut butter and jam sandwiches in our hotel room, we set out on foot for an afternoon of exploring museums. This is a city of museums. In fact, it could rightfully be said that the city of Washington DC is, in itself, a museum of sorts. For today we chose three individual museums for our explorations, or at least parts of three.

The National Museum of American History is made up of two wings of three floors each and is chock full of items that visually portray the people, places and events (from the mundane to the magnificent) which are or have been part of life in the United States. The first exhibit we saw there included many formal and inaugural gowns worn by First Ladies. It was interesting to see their individual styles, as well as their varying sizes. [It seemed unfortunate that the gowns of Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush were in the same display case, probably the smallest and the largest of all the gowns.] some of the other interesting things we saw in this museum included: a formal announcement of the Kennedys' change of address (to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue), a file cabinet that Nixon aides broke into, the real ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, a complete string quartet of instruments made my Stradivari and an original car from the Dumbo ride at Disneyland in the 1950s (I remember riding in one of these all those many years ago).

It's hard to know how to describe the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It's arranged in three sections, through which you walk--Nazi Assault-1933-1939, The "Final Solution"-1940-1945 and Last Chapter. These sections (each on a different floor) contain multi-media presentations chronicling the events of these years and physical artifacts from many different places. One of the most striking rooms contains many shoes that were left in one of the camps. The entire exhibit ends in the Hall of Remembrance, which is like a chapel with candles lit in remembrance of all the victims. All in all, it's a sobering and thought-provoking experience, only accentuating the same feelings we had when we toured the camp at Dachau, Germany several years ago.

Most of the museums here close by 5:30 or 6:00, but we were pleasantly surprised to find the National Archives building open as we were walking back to our hotel. There are several exhibits in this building, but the one we were excited to see was that of the original documents which are so important to us as a nation, especially the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. It was quite thrilling to see the original signatures of men like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. I was also interested to see the name of Jared Ingersoll, who signed the Constitution as a delegate from Pennsylvania. Here is yet another name for me to research and see if it ties in to our family tree with any connection to Hannah Ingersoll Patten.

Of course, the National Archives also contain many, many national records, many of which or available online. I have used them myself in my research and expect to use them again. It would be so great to come here and do research in person, but even from a distance, I am very grateful for the preservation of such valuable records.

We are exhausted, and our feet are rebelling tonight, but it has been a most interesting day in our national capital.