The prison museum, though very emotional, was probably my favorite
museum so far. I appreciated that it was mostly in its original condition. What
you imagine when you think of a regular museum would not have had the same
impact on the people visiting, and I think the tour guide did a very good job
of telling the stories of the prisoners. I believe to get a true idea of the
stories the prison has to tell, it should be kept as close to the original as
possible. The shock of seeing how small the rooms were, the coldness in the air,
and hearing the stories of the individuals imprisoned there helps us fully
understand what the prisoners went through. My favorite part was the basement
with the letters each one had written in their cells. Commemorating the people
that had been there and respecting each individual’s story instead of talking
about the prison as a whole was a very unique and effective way to set up the
museum. It was not at all what I expected, it was much more than that. I also
liked the idea that the original prison had of not strictly punishing
criminals, but reforming them. I was impressed at how early on they had thought
of doing so.
-Makenna
I definitely appreciated how they hadn't turned the museum into something else that would lessen the blow, but instead kept it as original as possible. Keeping everything original and not adding things really shows just how horrible the living conditions they were forced to ensure. Keeping everything the same and telling the individual stories on top of general history really pulls at your emotions and makes you start to understand what they had to endure.
ReplyDeleteIt was definitely cool that we were able to see some of the formats of the prison as it changed over time. I expected similar areas would have all been uniform in appearance but it appeared some sections were untouched by the numerous renovations. After seeing the Lombroso museum, it was nice to see the shift away from the early idea that criminality was a fixed trait to the concept of reformation - that change may be difficult but is possible.
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