Museum preserves, promotes values of objects linked with Hoang Van Thu

(LSO) – Over the past years, the Museum of Lang Son province has always been a magnet for thousands of visitors to learn about the life and carrier of Hoang Van Thu (1909 – 1944), a revolutionary whose hometown is in Lang Son.

Duong Thi Binh, deputy director of the museum, said the museum is showcasing 14 objects, 10 photos and an excerpt of a scientific document on Hoang Van Thu. Five other items linked with the revolutionary are also being preserved in the museum’s storage room. A scientific dossier has been built and scientific-technological advances have been applied to keep the items in the best condition. The collected documents have also been digitalised to help with their management and utilization.

The objects and documents are exhibited on the museum’s second floor in the section about Lang Son during the resistance war against the French colonists. They include a bicycle, an overcoat, an ethnic minority costume, a cloth bag, a wash basin, a dagger and a hammer. These are personal belongings that Hoang Van Thu often brought along during his revolutionary activities in Lang Son, Cao Bang and Thai Nguyen provinces.

A staff member of the Lang Son Museum introduces the objects linked with Hoang Van Thu to visitors.

Notably, there are some books entitled “Cach mang tien phong” (Pioneering Revolution) and “Cac Dieu le tom tat cua Dang” (Brief Statutes of the Party) that he used for dissemination purposes in Lang Son. They not only demonstrate part of Hoang Van Thu’s life and career that was connected with major historical events of Lang Son in the pre-August Revolution period (1936 – 1945) but also highlight his role and contributions to Vietnam’s revolution.

Nguyen Gia Quyen, a division head of the museum who has applied himself to studying and collecting objects relevant to Hoang Van Thu, said the museum has paid special attention to collecting artifacts and documents about the revolutionary. Since its establishment in 1993, it has also sent personnel to collect items in localities other than Lang Son like Hanoi, Quang Ninh and Thai Nguyen.

Nearly 100 objects, photos and documents have been brought home during those trips. They are now displayed not only at the museum but also the Hoang Van Thu memorial site in his hometown in Van Lang district and the relic site House No. 8 on Chinh Cai street of Lang Son city.

Every year, the museum coordinates with local schools to organise extra-curricular activities like film screenings or history knowledge contests, including those on Hoang Van Thu. It welcomes more than 1,000 visitors each month with 90 percent being students.

To prepare for the 110th birth anniversary of Hoang Van Thu (November 4), since March this year, the museum’s staff has studied and collected more objects relevant to him at the Longzhou museum of China’s Guangxi province, which witnessed his important revolutionary activities between 1928 and 1930. They will help diversify the exhibits at the provincial museum as well as the memorial site in Van Lang district. Outstanding items will be showcased at celebrations of the revolutionary’s 110th birthday in the time ahead.