Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge

Wonderful things are happening at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.

Yesterday the museum unveiled the Appalachian Heritage exhibit, an expanded version of the old log cabin exhibit. I’ve been a longtime fan of the Children’s Museum, but I found the quality of this exhibit — both the quality of the items on display and the professionalism of the interpretation — much better than I imagined it could be. The three original log cabins in the exhibit (all displayed indoors where they are protected from the elements) are set up to show children and adults what life was like for siblings “Jonah” and “Sarah” in an earlier century. Associated displays contain numerous artifacts, and together with artwork and “Heartland series” videos, they provide a lot of good information on topics like clothing production, shoemaking, farming, foods, shape-note hymn-singing, and the roots of country music.

I’ve often urged visitors and newcomers — with or without children — to include the Children’s Museum in their Oak Ridge itineraries, but now I’m going to become more emphatic about recommending it. A visit to the Children’s Museum has long provided an excellent introduction to life in Oak Ridge during the Manhattan Project (featuring numerous photos by Ed Westcott, and in recent years also including displays focused on Oak Ridge icons Westcott and Bill Pollock). Now I predict that the expanded Appalachian Heritage exhibit will surprise even veteran visitors to the Museum of Appalachia with  something “new and different.” And that’s not to mention old familiar kid attractions like the polar bear that stands near the entrance, the model of an erupting volcano in the lobby, the model rocket and indoor play structures, Anna Cebrat’s puppets, and the “waterworks” — nor the doll house room and model railroads, which seem to have tremendous appeal to the kids hiding inside most adult visitors.