{"id":112,"date":"2025-02-08T21:52:33","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T21:52:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/?p=112"},"modified":"2025-02-08T21:52:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T21:52:33","slug":"physical-digital-site-comparison-fairfax-museum-and-visitor-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/?p=112","title":{"rendered":"Physical\/Digital Site Comparison – Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center: Curators Nate and Michelle, managed by The Town of Fairfax and Virginia State Gov.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center Website: Part of the City of Fairfax Gov, Website Design by Granicus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For my comparative review essay I chose to focus on the Fairfax Museum and visitor center located right here in the town of Fairfax, VA. Beginning with the physical museum, my learning experience began before I had even entered the building when I noticed an informational bulletin outside the entrance entitled \u201cFairfax; Spies, Mosby, and Marr. The sign offered a brief but detailed account of the skirmish between Union Lieutenant Charles Tompkins and Confederate Captain John Quincy Marr, during which Marr became the first Confederate officer to be killed in the war. Two years later Confederate Colonel John Mosby rode into town and captured Union General Edwin Stoughton at Gunnel House while he was sleeping, along with 30 other soldiers and 58 horses. It also describes the incarceration of Fairfax resident Antonia Brown who was convicted of being a Confederate spy, but was later freed by a Union General whom she married. I thought this bulletin did a good job of preparing visitors for the overall themes of the museum, though I would have liked to see some information about the enslaved population of Fairfax as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering the building itself, I was greeted by the two curators Nate and Michelle, who were kind enough to answer many of the questions I had regarding the origins and history of the town and museum. They informed me that although there was no specific targeted audience, they had done their best to create exhibits that anyone passing through might find interesting and educational, and had tried to accommodate families as well by crafting interactive sections for kids. The first floor of the two-story building currently houses a temporary exhibit showcasing the life and work of former slave turned activist, Frederick Douglass. The exhibit is composed of 6 graphic posters each pertaining to an aspect of Douglass\u2019 life; Education and Freedom, Fighting Against Slavery, The Civil War, Reconstruction and Voting Rights, and The Fight Against Jim Crow. There was also a tv in the corner which played a video of experts discussing Douglass\u2019 legacy, and a table where kids could \u201ccreate their own exhibit\u201d by choosing pictures and writing what they had learned. Although Douglass himself was not from Fairfax, I found this exhibit to be a very informative and interesting attempt to represent the experience of slavery that so many others shared in the region. This being a temporary exhibit, I understood the difficulties of curating an entire room within a short period of time, yet I couldn’t help but feel that the space was not being used to its greatest potential, and could have benefitted from stories of other enslaved individuals or perhaps some objects which add a physical dimension to the written segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving up to the second floor, I was immediately struck by the quantity and variety of objects and artifacts that filled this space. This room was also much larger than the first floor, but luckily the team had laid out lines on the floor to direct the flow of traffic which guides the visitor through a chronological timeline of Fairfax\u2019s history. The primary theme of this room centered around the town\u2019s prominent figures, agricultural origins, and eventual economic rebirth of Fairfax after the mass exodus of farmers post World War One. Some of the objects on display included a child’s nightgown from the 1800s, antique paintings, pieces of a Confederate general\u2019s uniform, and even the flight suit of Fairfax-born astronaut Pierre J. Thuot, who flew on the space shuttle Endeavor. Many of the artifacts and information also detail the importance of the Fairfax Courthouse in matters of everyday life, which served an especially important function to the citizens of Fairfax county to settle legal, civil, and property disputes heightened by the Civil War. Another interactive aspect of this exhibit was a scavenger hunt which kids could fill out to receive a prize from the front desk, along with a donation box where the proceeds go directly to the restoration and upkeep of the artifacts themselves. This was easily my favorite room in the museum, however if I had one suggestion it would be to expand the section about Native American History which only consisted of a single glass case with a few objects inside. Nevertheless I walked away from this museum having learned a great deal about the town of Fairfax, and with the distinct impression that its creators had strived above all to represent the history of the town in an honest, accurate, and unbiased manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moving on to the digital aspect of this site, the museum’s information can be accessed from within the City of Fairfax, VA’s government website under the domain https:\/\/www.fairfaxva.gov\/government\/historic-resources\/fairfax-museum-visitor-center<\/a>. Along with the Fairfax Museum, the website also includes information about other local historic sites such as the Historic Blenheim and the Civil War Interpretive Center, and the Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House. Listed at the top of the page are details to help plan a visit such as hours of operation, street address, and holiday closures. The site continues by providing a bit of background information about the museum building, including the fact that it was the first elementary school in the town of Fairfax, something that was not immediately apparent to me when visiting the physical location. There are also sections about the gift shop, volunteer opportunities, and tours\/programs which include a self guided walking tour encompassing some of the prominent local building from the 19th and early 20th century. One major drawback to this website is that there are hardly any interactive components to be found anywhere, possibly because of logistical constraints put on the small staff of employees who have been tasked with its creation and maintenance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the left-hand side of the page are additional resource tabs about various categories like the city history, history map, exhibitions, and information about “Histree” day. The history map section is my favorite part of this website because it does contain an interactive element where users can select points on a map of Fairfax which will redirect them to information concerning that particular building or place. One interesting point to note about this section is that the Marr Monument which was dedicated to Confederate Captain John Quincy Marr was ordered to be moved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in November 2020. Although the website does not state the cause for this, it is reasonable to assume that it was a result of the Social Justice Movement or Black Lives Matter movement which put pressure on southern states to remove iconography that commemorated Confederate officers. I believe that addressing this issue would likely clear up some of that confusion, and it would benefit the sites creators to be honest and forthcoming about such sensitive topics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The “Histree” day tab of the website is another noteworthy section, which aims to combine living history with the Earth Day celebration through interactive activities, crafts, presentations, and tours. I personally love this idea, not only because it is inclusive for families, but also because it fosters appreciation for both history and the environment for younger generations. The website itself is fairly straightforward and easy to navigate, and provides all the necessary information for its target audience which is generally people who are looking to plan a visit to one or more of the historic locations. There are also numerous way to reach out to the staff in order to request additional details or get involved with volunteer opportunities, however staff interaction is not necessarily essential to the success of the site. I think the team did a great job of designing this page with the relatively limited resources available to them, but if I had to make a suggestion it would be to more include more interactive elements such as a history oriented game for kids, or a catalog of local photographs that users could explore and click on to see more details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center: Curators Nate and Michelle, managed by The Town of Fairfax and Virginia State Gov. Fairfax Museum and Visitor Center Website: Part of the City of Fairfax Gov, Website Design by Granicus For my comparative review essay I chose to focus on the Fairfax Museum and visitor center located right here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113,"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions\/113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maximiliansmith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}