Eighth Grade English Class Visits the Morgan Library & Museum
by Hilary Hersh
On May 12th, English 8H went to the Morgan Library & Museum to see two exhibits related to the class's study of the play "A Raisin in the Sun" by Lorraine Hansberry.
One of those exhibits featured the life and work of the American poet Gwendolyn Brooks, a contemporary of Hansberry who, like her, was raised in the Black community on the southside of Chicago. The students learned about Brooks's style of presenting the lives of her community's residents in a true-to-life, nonjudgmental way in her poems, and her participation in the struggles for racial justice.
Also featured at the museum was the American troubadour and activist Woody Guthrie, another contemporary of Hansberry. Guthrie, like Brooks and Hansberry, honored the lives of those who are often overlooked or discriminated against in society, among them, Native Americans, African Americans, and immigrants. Many of his songs protested racial, labor, and class injustices. The students were surprised to learn about the ironic lyrics of "This Land is Your Land" that we don't usually hear.
As an added bonus, the tour guide took the group into the museum's exquisite library, which had been the private library of J.P. Morgan, the American financier, some120 years ago. Here, depicted in mosaics and murals, the students viewed mythological scenes as well as prominent figures in the arts and sciences. They were fascinated to learn about J.P. Morgan's African American librarian and the elevator he had built just for her, and a secret passageway built into the library's walls. All in all, the trip was a mind-opening journey back in time.
