Chicago is home (like how we did that?) to the American Writers Museum, the country’s first and only museum that celebrates the words, work and cultural contributions of American writers.
Now, before you start yawning, you should know that the museum is actually a pretty fascinating place. And with March being Women’s History Month, the folks there have put together the Women Writers Scavenger Hunt, a self-guided tour through the literary contributions of American women. So of course, we went.
We each like to think that we’re pretty well read, but there was quite a bit about writers, writing and women writers in particular that we’d never known before. In terms of the museum itself, here are just a few of the things we discovered.
The spinning wheel of emotion (located in the Children’s Literature Gallery). We each took a turn and out of 12 possible feelings, the wheel landed precisely on the words that described us that morning. (If you must know, one of us was furious and the other grumpy, which are also our favorite dwarves in Snow White.)
Squirrels. The Children’s Literature Gallery features a giant tree mural, painted by children’s illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky (of Wheels on the Bus fame), with more than 30 hard-to-spot squirrels hidden in its branches. The museum hosts preschool storytime every Saturday morning, which is totally something we would have done with our own kids, back in the day.
Typewriters. Pull up a stool to one of several vintage typewriters the museum has loaded up with fresh sheets of paper, ready to go.
Instructions on how to use a typewriter. No one in that museum under the age of 40 knows how to use a typewriter (a museum guide told us this after that morning’s high school field trip cleared out) and everyone over 40 has a story about using one in college or at work. “Kids today have no idea how good they have it” was an actual sentence we overheard uttered by an actual woman as we left the typewriter table.
Word waterfall. In the back of the museum is a black wall with projections in white type of quotations that consider the question: What does it mean to be an American? The words undulate, with different sections getting lighter and darker to form images of the Statue of Liberty, a waving flag and other effects. The light projects onto you as well, covering you in words. Really cool.
Word play. You can sit and play a touchscreen game of MadLibs from famous first lines, a magnetic poetry kind of thing, and a sort of genre roulette where you pick a genre and learn more about its writers. There was also an interactive screen that promised smells, but that didn’t seem like something furious and grumpy would enjoy.
Free bookmarks. The museum partners with dozens of author homes around the country, which are listed on maps near the gift shop. Underneath the maps is a rack with free bookmarks, each featuring an American author whose home you can visit. We chose the women.
I’ve never even heard of the American Writers Museum but now I want to visit!
Oh, you should! It’s fascinating, and right down the street from the Art Institute too. A fun day of words and pictures!