Our neighbours to the south
By: Kate Jackman-Atkinson

A voyage to Capital Hill

    Everything in life is evolving, and my family’s get togethers seem to be no different.  It began, about five years ago as a family ski weekend with eight family members gamely setting off down the slopes. However, over the following two years,  participation seemed to wane.  It dwindled from five in the next year, to just two of us the year after that. 
    Clearly, it was time to re-evaluate the family get together “product”.  Since I moved to Manitoba, my interest in ski weekends is not what it once was.  Last year, the new tradition was born, the girls long weekend in the U.S.
Last year, we went to Florida... in March. A welcome change.  This year saw us travel only halfway down the east coast.  We went to North America’s power centre, Washington D.C.
    With only two full days, there wasn’t nearly enough time to see it all, but what we saw was memorable. 
My number one museum pick was the Newseum, which opened on April 11 of this year.  The Newseum,  its name would suggest is dedicated to the history of the news. The Newseum isn’t completely new, it operated for close to five years in Arlington, Va.  However, in July of 2000, The Freedom Forum, which operates the museum, made an offer to purchase a piece of land at Pennsylvania Avenue and Sixth Street, NW, right in the heart of Washington.
    As you climb the floors in the big glass building, Capitol Hill (where the US Congress sits) at the end of Pennsylvania Ave grows more and more visible.
    Prominently on display at the front of the building is the First Amendment, which prohibits laws that infringe the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, or limit the right to peaceably assemble. Protection of these rights is a common theme throughout the museum.  Cases of the media prevailing over corrupt or repressive governments, regimes and politicians are prominently featured.
    On the lowest level is the Berlin Wall exhibit.  Eight sections of the wall are on display, along with a guard tower that stood by Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin’s best known east-west crossing.  The stories in the exhibit chronicle the wall’s sudden rise, and fall.  It also tells of the role the free media in West Berlin played in keeping those in East Berlin informed about world events outside the Iron Curtain.
    One of the highlights for me was the Pulitzer Prize Photographs Gallery.  It showed every winning photograph since the prize was first awarded in 1942.  There were also stories, including comments by the photographers, that put the images into a greater context.
    The History of News exhibit chronicles the development of the news media and role that it has played in world events.  There is an extensive collection of historical newspapers and magazines, with some going back as far as 1545.  Also on display are artifacts from important media events. 
    For example, the media’s coverage of the Watergate Scandal of the early 1970s is a local (to Washington) story about the power of the media.  In the History of the News exhibit is one of the doors from the Watergate Complex which had its lock taped over during the 1972 burglary that kicked off the events leading to Nixon’s resignation in 1974.
    Overall, I really liked the city.  Washington was much nicer than I expected and much cleaner than other big cities.
Along with the buildings and monuments, the police presence was an undeniable part of the cityscape.  Wherever you go, the police cars are always there.  The concrete barricades preventing people from driving in front of major attraction, such as the White House,  and monuments, such as the Lincoln Memorial, are both an eye sore and a reminder.