One Nation Under Groove

August 17, 2023

One Nation Under Groove

While I was in the vicinity, on the National Mall, I wanted to pay a visit to the World War II Memorial. One reason is that it is one of the few memorials on the National Mall that I had not previously seen, but the second and more personal reason is that I had heard that there is a “Kilroy Was Here” carving hidden on the memorial and I really wanted to find it and see it.

This summer, when visiting Massachusetts, Kathy and I along with her father Jim, Aunt Kathy and her brother Chris had driven from Marshfield to the recently dedicated Kilroy Square in Quincy. It was here that Kathy’s Grandfather James J. Kilroy began the phenomena that became Kilroy Was Here. He worked at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy during the war checking the work of riveters paid by how many rivets they installed. Usually, inspectors made a small chalk mark which riveters used to erase, so that they would be paid double for their work. To prevent this, Kilroy marked work he had inspected and approved with the phrase "Kilroy was here" in more durable crayon.

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While Kilroy's marks might normally have been painted over, interior painting was a low priority in the rush to launch ships, so Kilroy's marks were seen by thousands of servicemen who sailed aboard troopships built at Quincy. A “New York Times” article noted that he had marked the ships as they were being built as a way to be sure that he had inspected a compartment, and the phrase would be found chalked in places that nobody could have reached for graffiti, such as inside sealed hull spaces.

Anyway Kilroy was Here became famous and now I find myself a member of the Kilroy clan by marriage, so I was curious to see the meme at the memorial. It took some looking but I located the meme behind a fenced section near the Pennsylvania column (There are columns representing each state and territory). It was great to find it and to see Kathy’s family memorialized on such an important monument but it was even better getting to explore the monument in close detail as I looked, it truly is a beautiful and meaningful reminder of the sacrifice made by so many.

So my final evening in DC, I spent going to see an iconic figure in music history, George Clinton and Parliament/ Funkadelic at the historic Lincoln Theatre on U Street. I was really excited to both see George Clinton again, I had seen him three previous times dating back to the early 80s. Clinton is one of the holy trinity of Funk music (along with James Brown and Sly Stone) and his shows are always over the top musical affairs with the P-Funk collective of revolving musicians maintaining the legacy of funk.

The theatre is historic and beautiful, first opened in 1921 and renovated in 1994 after falling into disrepair, the theatre has hosted a whose who of performers including Duke Ellington, Pearl Bailey, Louis Armstrong, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan. It has hosted jazz legends and modern rock bands alike and continues to have a full slate of shows featuring everyone from Chrisse Hynde, Janelle Monae, Billy Idol, Henry Rollins, Brian Wilson and more. 

The opening act was a funk-fusion band from New York called Blu Eye Extinction, who were really tight and played about a 45-minute set. Then the headliners came out and the funk really kicked it up a notch. There are times when you have certain expectations when seeing an iconic figure, but then it just doesn’t pan out. First off there were simply too many musicians sharing the stage with up to 22 people on stage performing at once. While they sounded ok, it just came across as chaotic and not really very good. Poor George Clinton seemed to me like nothing more than Fred Sanford on stage trying to recapture long past glory.

The funny thing is, as bad as the performance was, and it was pretty bad, I had an amazing time. It was so fun. The crowd loved it and was really into it and people were dancing, singing along and just having an amazing time. It was infectious and fun, which just goes to show that you can have fun at a pretty bad show. The rumor is that this is Clinton’s final tour, which may not be a bad thing. He is after all a music icon. 

https://georgeclinton.com/

African American History and Culture Museum and American History Museum

 

August 15, 2023

 

African American History and Culture Museum and American History Museum

My next stop on my visit to the National Mall was another old favorite, the National Museum of American History, which is located right next door to the Natural History Museum. Once again, it is a museum that I have visited numerous times of the course of my life, but not since it has undergone two massive restoration and expansion projects in the past fifteen years.

Again the museum is massive and there is no possible way to see everything, so I focused on a few areas that I wanted to make sure I was able to see.  The first was the massive and historic American Flag that was the inspiration for the Star-Spangled Banner. This was the original garrison flag that flew over Ft. McHenry in Baltimore during the Battle of Baltimore in 1814 and inspired what became our National Anthem.

For years the flag hung in the great hall upon entering the museum but now after being extensively cleaned and restored in 2008, the flag is displayed in its own massive, temperature controlled, dimly lit display chamber, which allows visitors to see it. As with many precious and delicate historical objects, no photos are allowed of the flag, but it is a remarkable and inspiring piece of American history.

Upstairs, I visited a couple of other galleries, one tracing the history of US soldiers through the ages, with artifacts from the various conflicts we have been engaged in since the nation was formed. It was a compact, but effective display but there are many more significant military history museums that feature more comprehensive collections.

But only the National History Museum features such a significant collection of what I really came to see, artifacts of Pop culture. From the Ruby slippers from the film “Gone with the Wind”, the original Kermit the Frog, the Lone Ranger’s mask, Archie Bunker’s chair, the Popular Culture section features a plethora of some of the most famous relics of American popular culture.

The list of cool artifacts just goes on and on and includes the original C3PO and R2D2 from Star Wars, Rocky Balboa’s robe, Prince’s guitar, Captain America’s shield and a sweater and shoes from Fred Rogers. The museum also features a fantastic and popular display on the First Ladies of US History and has dresses and White House china from first ladies from Mary Todd Lincoln to Melania Trump. 

I was in for more popular culture at my next stop, the at beautiful and relatively new National Museum of African American Culture and History. It wasn’t built the last time I spent significant time in Washington DC, having opened in 2016, and I was really interested to check it out. It is a beautiful and well-done building.

The museum is impressive and even though only about 3500 of their 40,000 artifacts are on display throughout the five floors of exhibits and displays it is an amazing array of historical items. The museum doesn’t shy away from the many negative experiences that black Americans have suffered, from slavery to modern-day racism, but it also highlights the many achievements of African Americans throughout our history and culture.

I was most drawn again, to the celebration of African Americans in our popular culture and sports, mostly because I am a pop culture nerd, who is excited to see artifacts from the TV series “Get Christie Love” and “Good Times” as well as the many larger than life sports figures who are celebrated from Tommie Smith, to Muhammad Ali and Althea Gibson to Kobe Bryant.

In the section on music, I was taken aback to see the “Mothership”, a set piece from George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic as I was going to see George in concert that very night. I loved the musical artifacts, instruments and even Chuck Berry’s red Cadillac that were on display yet while I enjoyed this aspect of the museum, it was the more historically significant pieces that resonated the most and that demonstrate the important and continued need to teach portions of our history that even today in my home state of Florida are trying to be restricted and even erased.

https://americanhistory.si.edu/

https://nmaahc.si.edu/