Saturday, August 23, 2008

Chocolate will get you lots of places

Another adventure yesterday. I went to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn which I probably haven't done in at least 8 years and perhaps as many as 14. The draw this time was an exhibit on the history and making of chocolate. A disturbing thought -- as the fame of chocolate grew its increased availability, along with the sugar to sweeten it, was due to slaves on both the cacao and sugar plantations. It is, of course, nearly impossible to visit such an exhibit and not buy some in the gift shop. Fortunately, I was able to buy a small packet of sugar-free nut and caramel chocolates. I didn't bother with lunch until nearly 2:00. You have only two more weeks to get to Dearborn yourself.

I got the free audio tour of the whole museum, a cell phone with a special number to call and a map of the 17 sites with audio supplements. So after the chocolate I looked over the rest of the museum, or at least as much as I had stamina for while concentrating on the 17 points of the audio tour. Most interesting to me was the area around the Rosa Parks Bus and Lincoln's chair. This area featured four milestones of human rights in the USA -- the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, Woman's Suffrage, and the Civil Rights movement. The woman's suffrage section talked about two women (alas, I forget names) who assumed leadership after Susan B. Anthony. One worked in a determined, low key manner. The other was much more in-your-face. That meant whichever way women were more comfortable expressing themselves they had an organization to join.

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