“Every wave starts with a ripple.”
The Indianapolis Children’s Museum has garnered a wealth of accolades and awards including being designated one of the ten best children’s museums worldwide. The museum complex is the world's largest children's museum and is dedicated to the charge of presenting creative learning experiences in the arts, humanities, sciences and sports. The museum was founded in 1925 by Mary Stewart Carey and relocated and expanded in 1973. @childrensmuseum
The Sports Legends Experience, 7.5-acres of health and fitness activities designed to engage families at all levels, is adjacent to the main museum building. One of the highlights of this section is the Pete and Alice Dye Golf Experience consisting of two 9-hole putting courses, a 9-hole introductory course and a 9-hole toddler course.
Twelve outdoor experiences are available until the end of October with the Efroymson Family Entrance Pavilion offering indoor family engagements year-round. The pavilion houses both The World of Sport and the National Art Museum of Sport that enable children to immerse themselves in the art, science, principles and values strengthened by participation in athletics. All equipment meets the accessibility standards ensuring inclusivity for all levels of ability.
The Children’s Museum Guild’s Fantasy Tree House of Sports is modeled after Disney’s Tree of Life. The tree is 60-foot tall on the exterior with a 25-foot interior for children to climb. There are platforms, windows and three slides, each for a different age level, culminating with a 9-foot Thrill Ride Slide.
The museum is justifiably renowned for its Dinosphere Exhibit. The 2-level gallery features Giants of the Jurassic, Creatures of the Cretaceous and Monsters of the Mesozoic.
Dracorex Hogwartsia, resembling a dragon, is a newly discovered type of dinosaur on display here and a Paleo Lab on the premises allows visitors to ask questions and watch paleontologists as they work.
The Power of Children is an outstanding chronological exhibit focusing on children as activists and agents of change. Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges, Ryan White and Malala Yousafzai are featured in four galleries within the larger exhibit. Displays are interactive and include introductory videos, replicated living spaces, artifacts and memorabilia.
Visitors are introduced to Anne Frank’s story with a video that is shown in a reconstruction of her kitchen. Also on view is a replica of the entrance to the secret annex where the family hid from the Nazis and a copy of her diary is prominently displayed.
Ruby Bridges joined the civil rights movement at the age of 6 when she integrated a school in 1960 Louisiana. She was the youngest child to participate in Louisiana’s desegregation efforts and the first African American to integrate a southern elementary school.
The Ryan White Gallery showcases his actual room. The contents were donated by his mother and contain 500 artifacts. Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984 obtained through a tainted blood transfusion. He found himself the subject of discrimination and was not allowed to attend school. Even though given only a few months to live he began actively working to educate the public on the disease and fight discrimination. He died in 1990 at the age of 18. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program continues to assist people who have been diagnosed.
Malala Yousafzai was 10 years old when the Taliban arrived in Pakistan in 2009 and immediately mandated that no girl could attend school. At the age of 11 she began a blog about life under Taliban rule and became vocal regarding education for girls. On October 9, 2012, while aboard a bus, the Taliban attacked her. Her wounds were considered mortal and she was taken to England for medical care. In 2014 she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, at the age of 17, the youngest awardee. An introductory film is shown in a replica of Malala’s living room. Artifacts include personal items.
The outstanding exhibit, “Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let The World See”, will be on view at The Children’s Museum until October 30, 2022 prior to traveling to additional cities. The exhibition walks visitors through Emmett Till’s life leading up to and including events that took place on August 28, 1955 and altered the world’s view of American racism and justice.
Emmett Till was 14 when he was allowed to visit his extended family in Money, Mississippi in the summer of 1955. As an African American boy from Chicago his mother warned him about the “rules” of behavior for blacks in the South. On August 28, 1955 he was forcibly removed from his great-uncle’s home based on the stated belief of that he had whistled at a white female in a grocery store. He was brutally beaten, killed and bound to a cotton gin and tossed in the Tallahatchie River. His body was found three days later and two white men were tried by a white jury and adjudged not guilty in 67-minutes, with a break for in between. Subsequently the two men gave a $4,000 interview to Look Magazine in which they confessed. They could not be retried because of double jeopardy.
Emmett’s mother exerted great effort to have his mutilated body returned to Chicago. She demanded an open casket viewing, so that the world could see what was done to her son. The 3-day viewing was held at Roberts Temple Church of God with more than 100,000 people attending.
Visitors should begin touring the exhibit with the introductory film and then continue clockwise. Be mindful that there are warnings throughout the exhibit regarding explicit content.
As a result of this horrendous crime, miscarriage of justice and the tenacious work of John Lewis The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act was passed in 2016. It authorizes the reopening of cases of suspected violent crimes committed against African Americans prior to 1970.
Read the Road:
Till-Mobley, Mamie, Death of Innocence.
Emmett Till Memory Project – website and free mobile application. Tillapp.emmett-till.org
