In "The Plain Dealer", Susan Glaser wrote that the museum "is really two museums in one: Its historical exhibits encompasses about 60 percent of the gallery space, while cultural exhibits take up the other 40 percent." She wrote that the museum is "filled with difficult truths", such as a "statue of Thomas Jefferson, author of the words 'All Men Are Created Equal,' who is depicted in front of a brick wall – and on every brick, the name of one of his 609 slaves, including at least six who were his own children." But she wrote that "t was the coffin of Emmett Till that finally got to me." She describes 14-year-old Till, who was lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman: "Though his body was severely disfigured, his mother insisted on an open casket at his funeral, hoping to show the world the effects of racial injustice. It helped ignite the civil rights movement."