Our+Letter+to+the+Board+Of+Directors

We sent a letter to the board of directors asking them and telling them about if they gave us money, what and how we would use it for a museum exhibit. Here's what we said.

University School of Milwaukee 2100 W Fairy Chasm Road Milwaukee WI, 53217

January 30, 2009

The US National Slavery Museum 1320 Central Park Boulevard, Suite 251 Fredericksburg, VA 22401

Dear Board of Directors,

We are a group of students in the eighth grade that attend University School of Milwaukee. We have been learning about slavery and the Civil War, in history, and we are reading books about slavery in English. The book our group is reading is titled __Send One Angel Down__ by Virginia Frances Schwartz. This book is about the life of a slave on a plantation. The twist to the book is that Eliza,one of the two main characters in the book, is fathered by the Master. This book is told in the point of view of Abram, Eliza's cousin. It is a really good book. We have been giving the assignment of making an online exhibit. We also have to think about what a real exhibit would look like if we got to make one. First we thought of the appearance of our exhibit. We wanted our exhibit to take place out in fields on a hot day. We chose this setting because Abram describes his challenges in the setting so well that we thought we could creatively make it. We want workers to be in the fields with baskets strapped to them picking cotton. The book also describes little children on the edges of the fields, waiting for the overseers to blow a big conker shell to symbol a break for the workers. They would be younger children aging from 1 to 3. In a distance, you would be able to see the big house. In front of the big there would be two little girls. They would be the masters daughters. The y would be playing a game. like tea party. The master might be on the porch of the porch smoking a cigar. Scattered around there would be cabins. These cabins would be the cabins that slaves that worked in the fields would sleep in. In the book, they also describe breeding cabins. For extra detail, we could put Runaway Slaves signs in different places. Runaway slaves were common but they were punished severely. We have been reading other books as well. One book we got information from is titled __Life of a Slave on a Southern Plantation__. It told us that runaway slaves would be punished if they were caught. It also stated that most were punished even more if they weren't caught. The number on reason not to leave was that you would be leaving the family and the only people you've known for your entire life. Occasionally, though, slaves would take the risk. That would be the physical appearance of our exhibit. To make our exhibit interactive, we were thinking about having old slave songs. They would be coming from the field. Many slaves say that the singing and story telling was the only thing that seemed to make the work go faster.

The purpose of our exhibit is to inform the general public about the life of a slave on a plantation. We want young adults and adults to view our exhibit, because we feel that they would take more from the exhibit than younger children would. We think that if that group of people learn something form our exhibit that they will know the harsh life slaves had and be grateful for what they do have. The goal of our exhibit is to inform and help. We want people to help others when they are in need. We think that the slaves had to live horrible lives because they had no one on their sides but the people with no power. If we can help just one person with our virtual exhibit we will be happy. We will not be done helping people but we know that the world has changed form slavery times. We thank you for taking the time to read this letter. We would love to hear what you think about it. Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

Za'Novia McKinley Clifford Pitts Matt Schumaker