Cultures & Communities

Furniture, cooking wares, clothing, works of art, and many other kinds of artifacts are part of what knit people into communities and cultures. The Museum’s collections feature artifacts from European Americans, Latinos, Arab Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, African Americans, Gypsies, Jews, and Christians, both Catholics and Protestants. The objects range from ceramic face jugs made by enslaved African Americans in South Carolina to graduation robes and wedding gowns. The holdings also include artifacts associated with education, such as teaching equipment, textbooks, and two complete schoolrooms. Uniforms, insignia, and other objects represent a wide variety of civic and voluntary organizations, including youth and fraternal groups, scouting, police forces, and firefighters.

Working on assignment, Henry Horenstein photographed EmmyLou Harris (b. 1947) at her home. In the 1970s, Harris represented the generation of musicians who were influenced by traditional country, rock, and folk music.
Description
Working on assignment, Henry Horenstein photographed EmmyLou Harris (b. 1947) at her home. In the 1970s, Harris represented the generation of musicians who were influenced by traditional country, rock, and folk music. Over the years, Harris has had a profound impact on contemporary popular and country music.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1980
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.034
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.034
Pearl Butler accepts a song request from a young fan. Pearl (1927-1998) and Carl Butler (1927-1992) were part of the honky-tonk and bluegrass music movements before World War II.
Description
Pearl Butler accepts a song request from a young fan. Pearl (1927-1998) and Carl Butler (1927-1992) were part of the honky-tonk and bluegrass music movements before World War II. After their 1962 hit, "Don't Let Me Cross Over," the Butlers became one of the most popular male-female vocal teams in country music.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.076
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.076
This large, highly polished sperm whale tooth is carved on both sides. The obverse is etched with a large full-rigged three-masted ship sailing towards the observer with all sails set.
Description
This large, highly polished sperm whale tooth is carved on both sides. The obverse is etched with a large full-rigged three-masted ship sailing towards the observer with all sails set. Atop the mainmast is a homeward bound pennant, and fifteen gunports are aligned along the starboard side of the ship. Below the sailing ship is etched in upper case letters "MONMOUTH-L.Is." (for Long Island). The reverse has a large heart with a keyhole in the center, with a forked pennant swirling around it marked "SARAH THE KEY IS WITH THEE 1864". Below the name "Wm. BAYLES" is etched along the same line as the lettering on the other side. There were no whalers named Monmouth in the records, and William Bayles does not appear in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Whaling Crew List Database.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th-20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.25
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.25
This large sperm whale tooth has a satyr-like male figure with a horned mask posed in two scenes on obverse and reverse in a sexual embrace with a full-bodied maenad, or mythological female figure associated with the Roman god Bacchus.
Description
This large sperm whale tooth has a satyr-like male figure with a horned mask posed in two scenes on obverse and reverse in a sexual embrace with a full-bodied maenad, or mythological female figure associated with the Roman god Bacchus. The subjects of this tooth, along with their shading and poses, argue for a modern carver, who worked freehand. In the 19th century Victorian period, such a tooth would have offended contemporary sensibilities; as a consequence, authentic erotic scrimshaw of the period is exceedingly rare.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.29
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.29
Henry Horenstein photographed Hank Williams Jr., the son of legendary singer Hank Williams, leaving his tour bus. Williams Jr. (b. 1949) spent his early career singing his father's songs in his own style.
Description
Henry Horenstein photographed Hank Williams Jr., the son of legendary singer Hank Williams, leaving his tour bus. Williams Jr. (b. 1949) spent his early career singing his father's songs in his own style. After a 1974 suicide attempt and a mountain climbing accident in 1975, he revamped his own image, modeling it after rowdy southern rockers. Later he was considered part of the Outlaw Country Movement.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.074
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.074
This is a double end pry bar designed to pull out nails and for light demolition. The length has a flat shape, one end has a slight curve that is tapered and slotted and the other end is shaped like the claw portion of a common hammer.
Description
This is a double end pry bar designed to pull out nails and for light demolition. The length has a flat shape, one end has a slight curve that is tapered and slotted and the other end is shaped like the claw portion of a common hammer. It was used by Jillian Gross while working for Habitat for Humanity, a not-for-profit, non-government organization advocating affordable housing around the world.
When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in August 2005, Jillian Gross had worked with Habitat for Humanity for three years learning woodworking and house-building skills. Groups such as Habitat for Humanity marshaled volunteers, tools and lumber to step in when it became clear that normal avenues of housing assistance were overwhelmed.
In November 2005, Habitat for Humanity launched “America Builds on the National Mall,” a demonstration house-building marathon in Washington, D.C. in which the basic components of 51 homes were assembled within a week and shipped to the Gulf Coast. Upon completion of the project Ms. Gross, one of the house building leaders during this event, donated her tool belt, tools and protective wear to the Smithsonian Institution.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1998-2005
ID Number
2005.0276.11
catalog number
2005.0276.11
accession number
2005.0276
At Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, musicians could hang out, perform and hope for a chance to be discovered.Currently not on view
Description
At Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, musicians could hang out, perform and hope for a chance to be discovered.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1974
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.111
catalog number
2003.0169.111
accession number
2003.0169
An intergenerational crowd leaves the Ryman Auditorium after a show. The "WSM" stands for "We Shield Millions," the motto for the insurance company that originally funded the Grand Ole Opry.Currently not on view
Description
An intergenerational crowd leaves the Ryman Auditorium after a show. The "WSM" stands for "We Shield Millions," the motto for the insurance company that originally funded the Grand Ole Opry.
Location
Currently not on view
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.060
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.060
This shekere was made by an unknown maker, provenance unknown, 20th century. It is a shekere made from a dried gourd, with reddish-brown plastic beads woven into a cord net covering the gourd. a rope network of reddish-brown plastic beads.
Description (Brief)

This shekere was made by an unknown maker, provenance unknown, 20th century. It is a shekere made from a dried gourd, with reddish-brown plastic beads woven into a cord net covering the gourd. a rope network of reddish-brown plastic beads. This shekere was used by the all-woman, African-American a cappella group, Sweet Honey in the Rock.

For thirty years, Sweet Honey in The Rock, a Grammy Award-winning ensemble of African-American women, has stirred, consoled, and uplifted audiences internationally with messages of love, struggle, and liberation through music deeply rooted in the African American experience. Sweet Honey in The Rock was established in 1973 by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Since then, twenty-two women have participated as members in its powerful communion of lyrics, movement, and social commentary. Members of the group at the time of donation include Ysaye Maria Barnwell, Nitanu Bolade Casel, Aisha Kahlil, Carol Lynn Malliard, Bernice Johnson Reagon, and American Sign Language interpreter Shirley Childress Saxon.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
20th century
user
Sweet Honey In The Rock
ID Number
2003.0290.10
accession number
2003.0290
catalog number
2003.0290.10
The obverse of this large sperm whale tooth is filled with the etching of a large, unidentified three-masted ship sailing from left to right with all sails flying.
Description
The obverse of this large sperm whale tooth is filled with the etching of a large, unidentified three-masted ship sailing from left to right with all sails flying. Although it has an American flag at the stern, the vessel is unidentified and there are no visible crew on deck handling the sails or rigging.
The reverse is decorated with a dove perched in a small bouquet of flowers over a heart with "1863 Susanna" carved in the middle. A pennant at the top of the tooth is inscribed "SAMUAL WIGGENS". There is no one named Wiggens in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Whaling Crew List Database.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.26
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.26
Concession stands provided refreshments for park vistors.Currently not on view
Description
Concession stands provided refreshments for park vistors.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1972
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.088
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.088
A man listens to music at the Hillbilly Ranch bar.Currently not on view
Description
A man listens to music at the Hillbilly Ranch bar.
Location
Currently not on view
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.067
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.067
The tradition of shaping human likenesses on ceramic vessels is thousands of years old. Face vessels held different meanings in different cultures around the world.
Description
The tradition of shaping human likenesses on ceramic vessels is thousands of years old. Face vessels held different meanings in different cultures around the world. Some were probably used in burial rituals, others satirized the person whose features were captured in clay, and still others were made just for fun.
The earliest face vessels known to have been produced by white southern potters were probably not made until the end of the 1800s. White potters working in the Edgefield area in the mid-1800s may have seen vessels made by African American potters who were enslaved, and taken the idea with them as they moved out of South Carolina.
Like many southern pottery families, the Brown family encompasses a line of potters generations long. The Browns began making pottery in west-central Georgia by the mid-1800s before migrating east to the Atlanta area after the Civil War. The family spread from there to North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. This face vessel, on the right, was made by one of many Brown family potters working in Georgia in the 1960s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1960s
Date made
Mid-20th century
maker
Brown Pottery
ID Number
CE.74.22
accession number
313386
catalog number
74.0022
Fans gather around the stage to hear the husband and wife team of Carl and Pearl Butler at the Lone Star Ranch Music Park.Currently not on view
Description
Fans gather around the stage to hear the husband and wife team of Carl and Pearl Butler at the Lone Star Ranch Music Park.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.077
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.077
The obverse of this large sperm whale tooth has a freehand etching with an imaginary 10-gun warship, framed by a rope motif. A fluttering pennant below is inscribed "KING NEPTUNE".
Description
The obverse of this large sperm whale tooth has a freehand etching with an imaginary 10-gun warship, framed by a rope motif. A fluttering pennant below is inscribed "KING NEPTUNE". The top of the tooth is inscribed "WILLIAM•CULLIMORE•N•Y•1842", and the reverse is a rope-framed image of a seated and crowned King Neptune with a trident in his left hand.
This tooth is probably a reference to the Neptune ceremony inflicted upon the crew and passengers of ships the first time they crossed the equator. King Neptune would emerge from a cabin or the sea and administer some form of mild hazing on the first timers, as a way of passing time and entertaining the veteran sailors aboard the ship.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.16
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.52.16
During the Civil War, Confederate commerce raiders like the CSS Alabama made it very difficult for the North's merchant vessels to conduct their business.
Description
During the Civil War, Confederate commerce raiders like the CSS Alabama made it very difficult for the North's merchant vessels to conduct their business. After a two-year chase, on 19 June 1864 the Union steam warship USS Kearsarge caught the CSS Alabama at the port of Cherbourg, France. The evenly-matched ships fought a battle that ended with the Alabama sinking. The loss of the most famous Confederate raider was a strategic and political victory.
On the obverse of this sperm whale tooth, Kearsarge on the left is delivering a broadside at the Alabama to the right. The scene is framed by an oval pennant inscribed with the date on the top and "ALABAMA and KEARSARGE" below. To the left is an eagle atop a shield. The reverse has a bust portrait of victorious Union ship captain John A. Winslow, surrounded by an oval rope motif, a striped swag, a cannon and a barrel. The tip of the tooth was broken off and repaired with two staples and adhesive. Specific decorative elements in common indicate that this tooth was carved by the same anonymous artist as the Constitution vs. Guerriere tooth (Cat. 1978.0052.18).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th-20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.36
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.0052.36
Carl and Pearl Butler pose for photographs with fans.Currently not on view
Description
Carl and Pearl Butler pose for photographs with fans.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
Associated Name
Butler, Pearl
Butler, Carl
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.090
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.090
The shaft of this heavy cane is made of clear oak, ending at the bottom in a brass ferrule covered with a rubber cushion. The ferrule is stamped “STONEHOUSE”. At the top is a brass handle with a scrimshawed ivory panel on each side.
Description
The shaft of this heavy cane is made of clear oak, ending at the bottom in a brass ferrule covered with a rubber cushion. The ferrule is stamped “STONEHOUSE”. At the top is a brass handle with a scrimshawed ivory panel on each side. On one side, two sailing ships (probably whalers) are leaving a harbor with a distinctive lighthouse on the right. The presence of a covered walkway between the house and the tower suggests a colder winter climate, but precise identification of the lighthouse is difficult. The other side depicts a whaleboat on the ocean attached with a line to a sounding (diving) whale, with the mother whaleship in the middle background. The brass top of the cane is engraved in cursive with the name “Lawrence N. Ravick”. A man by that name was a lawyer in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1925-1994).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
20th century
ID Number
1994.0217.02
catalog number
1994.0217.02
accession number
1994.0217
Tootsie's Orchid Lounge offered a place where hopeful musicians could put their demo 45s in the jukebox.Currently not on view
Description
Tootsie's Orchid Lounge offered a place where hopeful musicians could put their demo 45s in the jukebox.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1972
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.109
catalog number
2003.0169.109
accession number
2003.0169
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
August - September 2005
referenced
White, Michael
ID Number
2006.0062.02
accession number
2006.0062
catalog number
2006.0062.02
Jean Shepard (b.1933) joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1956. Beginning with her first solo top ten single, "A Satisfied Mind" in 1955, Shepard's pure country voice led to hit after hit.Currently not on view
Description
Jean Shepard (b.1933) joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1956. Beginning with her first solo top ten single, "A Satisfied Mind" in 1955, Shepard's pure country voice led to hit after hit.
Location
Currently not on view
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.051
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.051
Billy Bird, seen here autographing a paper plate, played with Ernest Tubb (1920-2001) and was a pioneer of the electric guitar.Currently not on view
Description
Billy Bird, seen here autographing a paper plate, played with Ernest Tubb (1920-2001) and was a pioneer of the electric guitar.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.075
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.075
Law enforcement personnel joined with many other groups to save lives in the wake of Katrina's passage through the Gulf Coast in August 2005.
Description
Law enforcement personnel joined with many other groups to save lives in the wake of Katrina's passage through the Gulf Coast in August 2005. Skills used to apprehend criminals were supplemented by heroic attempts to rescue victims caught up in the swirling waters of the hurricane.
On the night of the hurricane Officer David Waite of the New Orleans Police Department was wearing this bullet-proof vest when he jumped into deep water in a city housing project to save a five-day-old girl. That girl and her family were escaping their housing in an overloaded boat that had just capsized. A nearby police boat witnessed the scene. The girl's mother attempted to lift the baby out of the water, but the infant seat in which she was strapped was too heavy and sank. Waite swam down to it and pulled the seat and baby into his craft. Another officer, Lejon Roberts, administered CPR to the infant as their boat sped to a nearby hospital. The child and her family survived.
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
August - September 2005
user
Waite, David J.
referenced
Roberts, LeJon
New Orleans Police Department
ID Number
2006.0066.01
catalog number
2006.0066.01
accession number
2006.0066
The youngest of the three Carter Sisters, Anita began performing with Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family at age four. She performed with her mother and sisters throughout her career, though she found success of her own during the 1950s.
Description
The youngest of the three Carter Sisters, Anita began performing with Mother Maybelle and the Carter Family at age four. She performed with her mother and sisters throughout her career, though she found success of her own during the 1950s. Anita (1933-1999) was the first to record the song "Ring of Fire," written by her sister June (1929-2003). It later became a hit for her brother-in-law Johnny Cash.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.078
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.078

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