National Museum of American History

The Division of Home and Community Life uses scholarship and collections to educate and inspire a broad audience about domestic and social environments and the intersections between public and private life in our nation's past. The division cares for its collections and develops them to represent the country's many peoples. Through collecting and research, division staff produce and contribute to publications, exhibitions, and other forms of public history. Staff of the division collect, research, and disseminate information in the areas of home life, gender identity, life cycles, lifestyles and family structure, work, patterns of domestic production and consumption, standards of cleanliness and health, diverse forms of housing, modernization and the role of technology, invention, leisure, community institutions, religion, and education. For areas of specialization, please see the staff listing below, and the collections link.