381 Days

This was Rosa Parks' police mug shot. It's part of the exhibit.

If you haven't been to the Columbus Public Library lately, you need to go. Not to check out any books, but to see "381 Days," the incredible exhibit from the Smithsonian Institution. The exhibit was the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery bus boycott that began when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus.

I went Friday night to a special viewing of the exhibit before it opened to the public on Sunday.

It's a powerful exhibit. And it's one that takes more than a few minutes to absorb. I went through it, but I need to go back and really read each panel and look at the photographs.

I urge everyone to see the exhibit, though you've got a little time. It closes in mid-January. I walked through the exhibit with local and state politicians, educators, lawyers, bankers, doctors, arts patrons — both black and white — and the gallery was silent as people took in the panels. Even the most talkative of us were reverently quiet.

It's truly a special exhibit.