SAA 2013, Part 1: World War II Museum

A variety of planes hang overhead in the atrium

I spent this last week in my native city of New Orleans attending the 2013 annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists.  Going a few days early had the advantages of being able to spend some time with friends and family, eat really good food, and revisit a few favorite sites.  I saw the amazing rebuilding efforts in my old neighborhood, hit a few favorite restaurants, and no visit to New Orleans would be complete (for me anyway) without at least one trip to the French Market to search for new earrings.  This time I also returned to the National World War II Museum, which I hadn't been to since it opened as the D-Day Museum in 2000.  The museum has expanded dramatically in the last 13 years and now consists of about six different buildings and designated exhibit spaces where visitors can see a wide range of artifacts from the war.

A Sherman tank

We started our tour in the US Freedom Pavilion, a three story open spaced building with a variety of airplanes and tanks from the war.  Visitors can go up to the top level of the atrium to see the planes from different angles and read information about them.  The highest level is high enough up that the museum has signs warning visitors that those who aren't good with heights should probably not go all the way up.  The part of the Pavilion that impressed me the most was a level containing three large, interactive computer screens- very similar to what we want in our museum.  These screens start with a map of the globe and different important battles, the visitor can then touch on various battles to get specific information, photographs, videos, etc. about the battle, including the types of weapons both sides used. Other interactive screens listed every soldier who earned the Medal of Honor in the war and viewers can touch specific individuals to read their full biographies.  This area was wonderfully effective, and the interactive capabilities were not only cutting edge, but proved themselves very useful at engaging the interest of young visitors.  I watched a father and son looking over the screen, the son enjoyed touching things and bringing up pictures and the father reading about what they were seeing and keeping the boy's interest. He might or might not remember (or have understood) what he was hearing, but he will definitely remember the museum for the planes and "fun computers."

Smart screen, interactive computers impressed visitors of all ages

 The exhibits on the Pacific and European campaigns were well done.  I don't think that the European exhibit has changed much since the last time I was there, but they still stand the test of time.  Well designed displays of uniforms and weapons mix with effectively enlarged posters and newspaper articles to create a flow of information.  Many small side chambers are available with brief oral histories on various topics for true first hand accounts.  My favorite area is, probably not surprisingly, the  section on the D-Day invasion and Andrew Higgins. Anyone who doesn't know the story of the Higgins boats (made in New Orleans, tested in Lake Pontchartrain, landed at Normandy) should definitely spend time here.

A Higgins Boat landing craft, one of the highlights of the museum for every NOLA native

We also saw the 4D movie Beyond All Boundaries, a movie produced and narrated by Tom Hanks, done specifically for the museum.  Going in I had no idea what 4D meant.  What it means is a rather remarkable combination of movie, raised and lowered objects like other tv screens, radios, the nose of a bomber that lines up with a movie image so that it appears to be coming out of the screen, and 'snow' coming down on the audience.  Your chair vibrates when tanks roll by and bombs are dropped.  Bright lights flash rapidly to simulate gunfire during certain battle scenes (this was one problem I had- as someone prone to seizures I could have done without the flashing lights, or at least a warning).  The dropping of the bomb at the end was both dramatic, breathtaking, and eye-searing.  The movie was well done, although condensing the war into less than an hour meant editing out most of what our allies did to focus on America's actions during the war.  The movie was 'sanitized' so as not to shock young viewers- you knew what happened in the concentration camps without it being too graphic.  That said, it probably isn't a movie parents should take young children to. We sat next to a boy who was 10-12 years old who was clearly going to have nightmares for a week by the time it was over.  The museum as a whole is probably one that parents should think about before bringing their children to- obviously it covers serious themes and parents need to be sure their children can handle what they see (especially when the new exhibit on the concentration camps is finished).

As a museum professional I came away very impressed with the museum, and more than a little jealous of some of their technology.  There were a few things I was not completely happy with.  The large number of videos and narrating tapes were extremely effective, captured your attention, and would be very useful for those with visual disabilities.  However, because of the size of the rooms you were constantly bombarded by different narrations at the same time, which proved rather distracting.  The sheer size of the museum and its exhibits meant that by the time we reached the Pacific arena we were tired and overwhelmed.  It would have been better to see the movie, the Pacific and European campaigns over two different days to get everything out of it.  This will only increase with later exhibit openings.  While locals who buy memberships will be able to return frequently to get the most out of this museum, visitors who have only one day will not be able to fully take in the museum.  There were also a number of exhibit panels in a remarkably awful shade of orange that, combined with white lettering, made it difficult for the viewer to read, even if they wanted to.  Overall however, this museum remains one of the best I have ever visited, holding to high standards as a museum and honoring those who served and were effected by the war.  A remarkable place, not to be missed.