Day 2: The Location of the Newseum

Upon driving past the Newseum ( & Pennsylvania Ave.) while on the way to New Jersey from Fairfax, VA (on Wednesday July 8^th, 2009… a week prior to the WJMC), the first thing I noticed

 was the massive wall of stone on which the words of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution were engraved.  This was all rather interesting to me because of the Newseum’s distance from the U.S. Capitol building.  It is in this very building that the Legislative Branch of our blank year-old government takes on the task of passing laws to benefit the American people.  The giant stone tablet seemed to stand as a reminder to this branch of government and the other two (Executive and Judicial) branches, that this important Amendment should not be trampled upon.  I also believed that that was why the building (to remind the American public of the fact that a free press, as well as the other freedoms included in the Amendment, allows our country to flourish with ideas and outlook).  On Monday July 13^th, when I visited the interior of the

 Newseum I decided to find out if my speculation on this matter was correct.  I was able to perform a brief interview with a Newseum staff member named Marvin Kranz.  The two questions that I asked Mr. Kranz was simple: “Why is the Newseum located so close to the Capitol building?” and “Why is the stone tablet featuring the First Amendment displayed on the outside of the building?”  Mr. Kranz told me the building was so close to the Capitol because of the convienience of the location.  He explained that the lot on which the Newseum is located on Penn. Ave. had been in disrepair for quite some time, and that the Newseum had been built in order to draw more people to this specific area of D.C. (they also had an apartment complex attached to the building, in order that people could live in the area).  Even though the Newseum (according to Mr. Kranz) is so close to the Capitol due to chance, he said that the reason for the First Amendment being there for all to see was simple: because people needed to know about this freedom (there was also an exhibit on the First Amendment on the 4^th floor, which was quite

informative to the history of free speech, religion, press, and assembly) and that it should not be taken away.  So in short, my speculation was right I suppose…

 

 

 

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