Silent Witness

Hybrid Wayside Exhibit:
Lockkeeper’s House
600 words / Total Audio Description: 3 minutes, 20 seconds

Site Information
230 words / 1 minute, 16 seconds

This is an audio description of an interpretive sign titled Silent Witness. The sign is divided into 2 parts. On the left is an angled graphic panel measuring 3 feet (1 meter) wide by 2 feet (0.5 meters) tall. On the right is a table-like surface measuring 16” x 16” square. An audio speaker with push buttons and two solar panels separates the graphic panel from the table. All parts are set within an angled black metal frame with two legs that raise the sign 3 feet (1 meter) off the ground. Beyond the sign is a 1-foot (0.3 meters)-high, 2 feet (0.6 meters) deep gray stone wall then the Lockkeeper’s House. The house is a 2-story weathered stone building with a gable roof and brick chimneys at each end. The stone varies in color from light gray and beige to russet, charcoal, and slate gray. Centered on the house is a light wood door measuring 3 feet (0.9 meters) wide by 7 feet (1.8 meters) tall with white painted trim. On either side of the door are double-hung windows measuring 3 feet (0.9 meters) by 4 feet (1.2 meters). Each window has 12 panes. Directly above the windows are double-hung dormer windows in the upper story. The dormer windows are 3 feet (0.9 meters) by 3 feet (0.9 meters) with 9 panes. All the windows have white painted trim.

Exhibit Panel Content
279 words / 1 minute, 33 seconds

The title reads Silent Witness.A historic black and white photograph shows the stone façade of the Lockkeeper’s House. It has two steps leading up to the entrance. Only two of the building’s four windows are not covered by the tree growing in the front yard: the first-floor window lined with security bars and a double-hung dormer window in the upper story. The upper story also features two chimneys, seen on either side of the tree canopy. Sunlight is hitting the vines that crawl up along the brick on the right side of the house, while deciduous and evergreen trees frame the house in the background. A long-exposure blur appears on the left side of the photograph, indicating a passing vehicle.

Black text, located in a grey footer at the bottom of the sign, reads:

The Lockkeeper’s House has lived many lives and witnessed almost all of American history. When it was built in 1837, it was a home for the lockkeeper’s family, but that was one of its shortest lives. Over the next 175 years, it served as a comfort station (a public restroom), a holding cell, a police station, and a tool shed. Today, it is a visitor experience welcoming you to the National Mall.

In the lower left-hand corner of the sign, an image caption in black text reads:

This photograph of the Lockkeeper’s House was taken in 1933 from the far side of Constitution Avenue. You can see a car whizzing by on Constitution, just like you see today.

In the bottom right-hand corner of the sign, a maroon circle lined in light yellow with white text reads:

What history have you witnessed in your lifetime?

Tactile Model
91 words / 30 seconds

On the right side of the sign, a bronze replica of the Lockkeeper’s House stands 12 inches long by 7 inches wide (30.4 cm by 17.7 cm). This tactile represents the current era of the house—not the 1930s version described in the historic photograph on the sign. Feel the four windows—two above and two on the first floor—as well as the two prominent chimneys at the top. You can also feel the textures of the house’s original construction, such as the stone masonry and planks on the roof.

[End of description.]