posted by Anne Garcia

on February 6, 2007

This week I visited the Mutter Museum and I enjoyed seeing the different displays. The display I liked most was the section that featured foreign objects that were swallowed by people. Some of the common objects were pins and pebbles. I wondered if any of the seventh ward residents had gone to the hospital because they swallowed a pin or pebble.

A few weeks ago, I saw the film documentary Strange Fruit, which was about Billy Holiday’s life and the history behind the song Strange Fruit. The song was about lynching and how the dead bodies swaying from the tree branch were like strange fruit. The images shown in the film were disturbing with vivid images of lynching.

On a lighter note, my current activities as the Public Outreach Coordinator have been planning the Du Bois Birthday Party on February 23, 2007. One of the ideas is to have a Du Bois cutout for our guests to take pictures next to him. The place of the party is yet to be determined but there will be a photo cake of Du Bois.

Another upcoming activity is that I will visit the two partner high schools in mid-February. I am currently trying to find old photographs from the early 1900s of Philadelphia and Philadelphians. In addition, I thought of some ideas to get students interested in learning about the seventh ward. One activity titled “The day of the life of” will involve students by having them pick a person from the census and describe what that individual likes and does for fun.

Lastly, I went to the Van Pelt library and checked out the Anthology of Black Music. The music had different themes such as faith, blues and some children songs. I was familiar with one song, which was Pick a Bale of Cotton.