A Day in Detroit...
Yesterday I went to the Detroit Science Center to see the "Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato" exhibition that is running there now until April. Hubby didn't want to go. I admit that it was a bit ghoulish, but I found it interesting and different to say the least.
Back in the 1800's there was a cemetery in Mexico with wall crypts that were rented out. If the family didn't pay the rent for 5 years, then the body was exhumed to be reburied elsewhere and the crypt given to someone else. In 1865 when they exhumed the remains of Dr. Remigio Leroy they found that his body had mummified. All the bodies that they exhumed after that were found to be in this mummified state. Something to do with the climate, and the cement walls of the crypts that drew the water from the bodies dehydrating them instead of decomposing them. Over 100 of these mummys are on display in Mexico. 36 of them are on loan to the DSC and this is the first time that they have been displayed anywhere in the United States. These were real people who lived and breathed a life and now they are mummies on display. The sad ones are the infants....about 5 of them. You can see their little fingers and one is clutching a little doll.
Like I said, it was a bit ghoulish cause basically you're looking at dead corpses but it was interesting. And no, I'm not having nightmares. It was done in a respectful way. There was a sign on the wall that said something about "the body being a cocoon cause the butterfly has flown away".
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Today I went to the Detroit Historical Museum. All of these museums are in walking distance from each other....Det Sci Ctr, Det Inst of Arts, and the Det Hist Museum. I had read in the paper that one of their displays was on Soupy Sales who passed away recently and I wanted to see it. I was one of the little kiddies who use to watch Soupy on TV way back when. It was a small display, but they had White Fang, Black Tooth and Pooky! Then I toured the rest of the museum and it was very interesting....basically the history of Detroit from the frontier days. The lower level was fun because it was set up like the old streets of Detroit in the 1800's with streetlights and storefronts and trading posts, etc.
Gee, I'm getting so much culture in my life....LOL
Back in the 1800's there was a cemetery in Mexico with wall crypts that were rented out. If the family didn't pay the rent for 5 years, then the body was exhumed to be reburied elsewhere and the crypt given to someone else. In 1865 when they exhumed the remains of Dr. Remigio Leroy they found that his body had mummified. All the bodies that they exhumed after that were found to be in this mummified state. Something to do with the climate, and the cement walls of the crypts that drew the water from the bodies dehydrating them instead of decomposing them. Over 100 of these mummys are on display in Mexico. 36 of them are on loan to the DSC and this is the first time that they have been displayed anywhere in the United States. These were real people who lived and breathed a life and now they are mummies on display. The sad ones are the infants....about 5 of them. You can see their little fingers and one is clutching a little doll.
Like I said, it was a bit ghoulish cause basically you're looking at dead corpses but it was interesting. And no, I'm not having nightmares. It was done in a respectful way. There was a sign on the wall that said something about "the body being a cocoon cause the butterfly has flown away".
________________________
Today I went to the Detroit Historical Museum. All of these museums are in walking distance from each other....Det Sci Ctr, Det Inst of Arts, and the Det Hist Museum. I had read in the paper that one of their displays was on Soupy Sales who passed away recently and I wanted to see it. I was one of the little kiddies who use to watch Soupy on TV way back when. It was a small display, but they had White Fang, Black Tooth and Pooky! Then I toured the rest of the museum and it was very interesting....basically the history of Detroit from the frontier days. The lower level was fun because it was set up like the old streets of Detroit in the 1800's with streetlights and storefronts and trading posts, etc.
Gee, I'm getting so much culture in my life....LOL
posted by Diane @ 10:40 PM
1 Comments:
At 12:56 PM,
Happy Housewife said…
I'm jealous! I'd love to see thowe museums!
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