4/5 A.J. W. 7 months ago on Google • 69 reviews
Fascinating
museum
-
the
collection
of
artifacts
found
in
the
wreck
of
the
Steamboat
Arabia,
including
the
personal
story
of
the
team
that
discovered
the
wreck.
The
sheer
volume
of
artifacts
is
amazing
and
continues
to
expand
as
they
restore
and
preserve
items
(intact
jars
of
pickles,
dishware
collections,
rubber
boots,
clothing,...).
The
layout
is
nice
as
it
walks
visitors
though
the
modern
discovery
of
the
boat
and
object
recovery
before
displaying
and
interpreting
the
artifacts
from
the
boat
and
its
cargo.
My
only
reason
for
the
4
stars
is
the
interpretation.
Mention
was
made
of
Bloody
Kansas
and
one
display
of
guns
specifically
addressed
the
violence
surrounding
the
question
of
if
Kansas
would
be
a
slave
or
free
state.
A
portion
of
a
display
addressed
slaves
working
on
the
riverboats.
While
the
men's
entertainments
aboard
were
addressed,
little
time
was
spent
discussing
the
women
aboard,
seemingly
assuming
that
they
all
were
women
going
west
to
join
their
husbands?
Admittedly,
this
museum
is
over
20
years
old
and
our
standards
of
presenting
balanced
interpretation
of
thorny
historical
topics
while
attempting
to
represent
diverse
voices
have
changed,
but
I
would
have
liked
to
see
a
more
nuanced
discussion.
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