Cultures & Communities

Cleveland Many Peoples One Language Poster

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.

Date: 2000s

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 19th-20th Centuries

Patriotic scenes were among the most popular for amateur scrimshaw artists in the 19th century American whaling fleet. On the front of this sperm whale tooth is a large, intricately detailed eagle with a shield in its midsection marked "USA".
Description
Patriotic scenes were among the most popular for amateur scrimshaw artists in the 19th century American whaling fleet. On the front of this sperm whale tooth is a large, intricately detailed eagle with a shield in its midsection marked "USA". His talons clutch a pennant inscribed "MASSACHUSETTS". Above is flying another pennant marked "BENJ GRAY 1857": likely the scrimshaw artist. The other side of the tooth is carved with a tall, slender urn marked "HOPE" on its lip, out of which large leaves are sprouting. The etching on this tooth is entirely freehand, attesting to a high level of artistic skill.
There are two Ben or Benjamin Grays in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Whaling Crew List Database, but their dates and ships do not match the date or ship on this tooth.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th-20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.24
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.0052.24

Plato de Madera

Carved from a single piece of wood, this large and oblong shallow wood platter was probably used for drying coffee or serving sweets in the early 20th century.Este gran plato de madera oblongo y llano, tallado de una sola pieza, se empleaba probablemente para secar café o servir
Description
Carved from a single piece of wood, this large and oblong shallow wood platter was probably used for drying coffee or serving sweets in the early 20th century.
Description (Spanish)
Este gran plato de madera oblongo y llano, tallado de una sola pieza, se empleaba probablemente para secar café o servir dulces al comienzo del siglo XX.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
20th century
early 20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.0357
catalog number
1997.0097.0357
accession number
1997.0097

mask making sample

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
20th century
maker
Pagan, Leonardo
Pagan, Leonardo
ID Number
1997.0097.1171.002
accession number
1997.0097
catalog number
1997.0097.1171.002

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, 19th-20th Centuries

The obverse of this sperm whale tooth is filled with a freehand etching of a large whaling ship with all sails set moving from right to left. Below is carved the name "JOSH-HEWITT" in a pennant.
Description
The obverse of this sperm whale tooth is filled with a freehand etching of a large whaling ship with all sails set moving from right to left. Below is carved the name "JOSH-HEWITT" in a pennant. On the other side is a set piece of four whaling tools: a harpoon, a boat hook, two head spades and a boat spade, loosely bundled together vertically on their handles by a pennant marked "THE FLORIDA NEW BEDFORD/ SEP 1858 To OCT 1861."
Built at New York in 1821, this whaling ship named Florida (there were others as well) was already very old in the 1850s. Hailing from Fairhaven, MA (not New Bedford, on the other side of the Acushnet River) in 1858, this Florida did undertake a whaling voyage in the North Pacific from September 1858 to October 1861, collecting 750 barrels of sperm oil and 1660 barrels of whale oil. However, there is no one named Hewitt in the New Bedford Whaling Museum Whaling Crew List Database for this ship. The Florida was sold at San Francisco upon its arrival in October 1861, and its oil was shipped back east via another vessel. Florida was finally abandoned in 1871, after a remarkable 50-year career.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
19th-20th century
ID Number
1978.0052.31
accession number
1978.0052
catalog number
1978.0052.31

Police SWAT Vest

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

boots

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2009
maker
unknown
ID Number
2009.0224.04
catalog number
2009.0224.04
accession number
2009.0224

Marímbula

The marímbula, (also marímbola), is an African-derived folk instrument found across the Caribbean. Large enough for its player to sit on, this instrument consists of a large, resonating box with metal strips that are plucked to provide a simple bass accompaniment.
Description
The marímbula, (also marímbola), is an African-derived folk instrument found across the Caribbean. Large enough for its player to sit on, this instrument consists of a large, resonating box with metal strips that are plucked to provide a simple bass accompaniment. Its affordability, ease of construction, and portability (it can be strapped to its player like a marching drum), made it adaptable to many styles of folk music, from the roving aguinaldo of the Christmas season to a street-corner plena.
Description (Spanish)
La marímbula, o marímbola, es un instrumento derivado del folklore africano que puede hallarse en todo el Caribe. Es lo suficientemente grande como para que el intérprete pueda sentarse sobre él. Consiste en una caja de resonancia con flejes de metal que se puntean produciendo un simple acompañamiento de sonidos graves. Dado que se trata de un instrumento accesible, fácil de construir y de transportar (el intérprete puede colgárselo con una faja al igual que un tambor de marcha), se lo adaptó a diferentes estilos de música folclórica, desde el aguinaldo de la época navideña hasta la plena.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.0512
catalog number
1997.0097.0512
accession number
1997.0097

Funda de Almohada

Lace-making and sewing were more than utilitarian projects. They allowed young girls to express themselves artistically while learning discipline and attention to detail. This embroidered linen and lace pillow sham belonged to Miguel Roses at the turn of the 20th century.
Description
Lace-making and sewing were more than utilitarian projects. They allowed young girls to express themselves artistically while learning discipline and attention to detail. This embroidered linen and lace pillow sham belonged to Miguel Roses at the turn of the 20th century. Bird and flower designs surround the monogram in the center.
Description (Spanish)
El tejido de encaje no se consideraba únicamente como proyecto utilitario, sino también como una actividad mediante la cual las niñas podían expresarse artísticamente, a la vez que aprendían disciplina y atención al detalle. Esta ropa blanca bordada junto a la funda de almohada hecha en encaje pertenecieron a Miguel Roses a comienzos del siglo XX. Se observa el diseño de un pájaro y una flor rodeando el monograma central.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
20th century
user
Rosas, Miguel
ID Number
1997.0097.0158
accession number
1997.0097
catalog number
1997.0097.0158

Jazz Clarinet

Few aspects of the harm done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 are more poignant than the losses suffered by the musical community. The New Orleans jazz scene was especially vulnerable, since many jazz performers lived in areas inundated by the flood waters.
Description
Few aspects of the harm done to New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 are more poignant than the losses suffered by the musical community. The New Orleans jazz scene was especially vulnerable, since many jazz performers lived in areas inundated by the flood waters. One such performer was Dr. Michael White.
White's house on Pratt Drive filled with eight feet of water when the London Avenue Canal levee failed behind his neighborhood. That water sat for several weeks before pumps could drain the area, destroying White's furniture, his rooms, his priceless collection of jazz sheet music, his recordings, and a lifetime's collection of jazz clarinets. Over sixty rare wood and metal clarinets, some from the 19th century, were lost. One of them, this 1930s marching band clarinet from Elkhart, Indiana, found its way from White's devastated house to the Smithsonian to acknowledge the hit taken by the New Orleans musical community but also the resilience of this community in the face of setbacks and hardship. Katrina has given new meaning to the blues. The struggle to overcome this loss adds a powerful chapter to this city's storied record of musical achievement.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1930s
Associated Date
August - September 2005
referenced
White, Michael
ID Number
2006.0062.01
catalog number
2006.0062.01
accession number
2006.0062

Fans with Carl and Pearl Butler

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

Accordian Player, Louisiana

The first accordion was built in Germany in 1822. It took close to one hundred years before it was introduced into country music.Currently not on view
Description
The first accordion was built in Germany in 1822. It took close to one hundred years before it was introduced into country music.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1977
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.027
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.027

Herramientas De Coser

Date made
20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.0593.004
catalog number
1997.0097.0593.004
accession number
1997.0097

San Sebastián

Saint Sebastian was an early Christian martyr who, according to legend, was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and left for dead. He not only recovered, but returned to preaching Christianity. For this, the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered him beaten to death.
Description
Saint Sebastian was an early Christian martyr who, according to legend, was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and left for dead. He not only recovered, but returned to preaching Christianity. For this, the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered him beaten to death. He is almost always represented tied to a post and shot with arrows, thus making him instantly recognizable.
Description (Spanish)
San Sebastián fue un antiguo mártir cristiano, a quien según cuenta la leyenda, amarraron a un árbol, dispararon flechas y abandonaron dándolo por muerto. Sin embargo, no solo se recobró sino que regresó a promulgar el cristianismo. Por esta razón, el emperador romano Diocletian ordenó que se lo matara a golpes. Es fácil reconocer su imagen porque casi siempre se lo representa amarrado a un poste con flechas clavadas en el cuerpo.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
late 19th-early 20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.0696
accession number
1997.0097
catalog number
1997.0097.0696

Güiro

A traditional güiro is made from gourd-like fruit of the higüero tree (Crescentia cujete) that is native to the region. This musical instrument, common throughout the Caribbean, takes on various forms and can be made from modern materials like metal or plastic.
Description
A traditional güiro is made from gourd-like fruit of the higüero tree (Crescentia cujete) that is native to the region. This musical instrument, common throughout the Caribbean, takes on various forms and can be made from modern materials like metal or plastic. A musical instrument of Pre-Columbian origin, it is played by scraping the carved ridges with the tines of a special pick or scraper.
Description (Spanish)
El güiro tradicional se hace con la calabaza del higüero, Crescentia cujete, que es un árbol nativo de la región. Este instrumento musical, común a todo el Caribe, se presenta de distintas formas y materiales, como de metal o plástico. Sus orígenes se remontan a la época precolombina. Se ejecuta raspando las ranuras talladas con las puntas de un puyero o raspador.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.1077
accession number
1997.0097
catalog number
1997.0097.1077

Canasta Colgante

This basket was bought in Luquillo in 1979. The hanging supports are made of bejuco, processed fiber from the century plant, or maguey. A large metal disk was placed around the top to keep rodents from crawling into it from above.
Description
This basket was bought in Luquillo in 1979. The hanging supports are made of bejuco, processed fiber from the century plant, or maguey. A large metal disk was placed around the top to keep rodents from crawling into it from above. Widely used in rural kitchens, it is called a canestillo in the center of the island and a barandillo in the north.
Description (Spanish)
Esta canasta colgante fue adquirida en Luquillo en 1979. Los soportes están hechos de bejuco, fibra procesada del maguey. Se colocó un disco de metal grande alrededor de la parte superior para evitar que se introdujeran los roedores. Se utiliza mucho en las cocinas rurales y se la conoce como canestillo en el centro de la isla y como barandillo en el norte.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
20th century
ca 1979
ID Number
1997.0097.1012
catalog number
1997.0097.1012
accession number
1997.0097

Escaramuza 5 piece ensemble

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2009
maker
Enselma
ID Number
2009.0224.01
catalog number
2009.0224.01
accession number
2009.0224

Cuatro

The modern cuatro is a five double-string guitar-like instrument used to play música jíbara, Puerto Rican country music.
Description
The modern cuatro is a five double-string guitar-like instrument used to play música jíbara, Puerto Rican country music. In this unusual example, the dried, woody fruit of the higüero tree, a material more commonly used in the fabrication of maracas or güiros, comprises the main body of the instrument. The archaic cuatro had only four strings (sometimes doubled), like the example here. In the early 20th century, Puerto Rican musicians on the northern part of the island revamped the cuatro and added up to six more metal strings to allow for heightened virtuosity.
Description (Spanish)
El cuatro moderno es un instrumento parecido a la guitarra, con cinco cuerdas dobles, que se usa para tocar música jíbara, es decir, música campesina de Puerto Rico. En este ejemplo poco usual, el cuerpo principal del instrumento está hecho con el fruto seco del higüero, material que por lo general se emplea en la fabricación de maracas o güiros. El cuatro arcaico estaba dotado de solo cuatro cuerdas (a veces dobles), como en este caso. A principios del siglo XX, los músicos del norte de Puerto Rico modernizaron el cuatro y le agregaron hasta seis cuerdas más que permiten destacar el virtuosismo el intérprete.
Date made
20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.1082
accession number
1997.0097
catalog number
1997.0097.1082

Herramientas De Coser

Date made
20th century
ID Number
1997.0097.0593.006
catalog number
1997.0097.0593.006
accession number
1997.0097

"Hot Nuts" Fred's Lounge, Mamou, Louisiana

Fred's Lounge was a well-known honky-tonk in the heart of Cajun country. The bar opened at 7 a.m. on Saturday mornings to host the droves of visitors who came to hear the local bands that played from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.Currently not on view
Description
Fred's Lounge was a well-known honky-tonk in the heart of Cajun country. The bar opened at 7 a.m. on Saturday mornings to host the droves of visitors who came to hear the local bands that played from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1977
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.039
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.039

Tootsies' Bartender

Bartender Wanda Lohman, known as "Miss Wanda," worked at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge from 1960 to 1984. The walls of Tootsie's became a kind of community scrapbook. Tootsie, like her patrons, was a fan of country music.
Description
Bartender Wanda Lohman, known as "Miss Wanda," worked at Tootsie's Orchid Lounge from 1960 to 1984. The walls of Tootsie's became a kind of community scrapbook. Tootsie, like her patrons, was a fan of country music. She collected autographs, posters, record albums, and photographs. Patrons, family, and friends contributed their comments and added photos.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1974
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.107
catalog number
2003.0169.107
accession number
2003.0169

Ernest Tubb signing autographs

For much of his career, Ernest Tubb, the "Texas Troubadour" was considered the ultimate honky tonk vocalist and stylist. Inspired by Jimmie Rodgers in the 1920s, Tubb sustained a musical career that at times also branched into film and television.
Description
For much of his career, Ernest Tubb, the "Texas Troubadour" was considered the ultimate honky tonk vocalist and stylist. Inspired by Jimmie Rodgers in the 1920s, Tubb sustained a musical career that at times also branched into film and television. No artist toured as much, or for as long as Ernest Tubb, who worked 150 to 200 shows each year between the early 1960s and 1982. No artist was kinder to his fans, and no fans were more loyal to their star. Ernest Tubb had one national fan club with a single president for its entire existence between 1944 and its deactivation in the early 1990s.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.086
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.086

Henry Horenstein with Maybelle Carter

Photographer Henry Horenstein stands with Mother Maybelle Carter for photograph.Currently not on view
Description
Photographer Henry Horenstein stands with Mother Maybelle Carter for photograph.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1973
print
2003
Associated Name
Horenstein, Henry
Carter, Mother Maybelle
maker
Horenstein, Henry
Rosenburg, Lewis
ID Number
2003.0169.093
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.093

Rosary

Weather forecasting, like air traffic controlling, can at times be an unnerving occupation.
Description
Weather forecasting, like air traffic controlling, can at times be an unnerving occupation. Dramatic changes in weather patterns have the potential to affect millions of people, as do warnings issued by the National Weather Service, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Robert Ricks, chief NWS forecaster on duty at the Slidell, Louisiana weather station the morning of August 28, studied the computer maps of Hurricane Katrina's movement across the Gulf of Mexico. At 10:11 that morning, he quickly composed an urgent and unambiguous weather alert, what became the most accurate prediction of Katrina's impact. "A MOST POWERFUL HURRICANE WITH UNPRECEDENTED STRENGTH . . ." it began. "MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS . . . PERHAPS LONGER . . . ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL . . . ALL WOOD-FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED . . . WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS . . . NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED . . . LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED . . . "
To comfort him during his forecasting assignment that day, and in the chaotic days immediately after, Ricks carried this Catholic rosary given to him by his grandmother. He later donated it to the Smithsonian as a symbol of his own perilous journey through the arms of Hurricane Katrina.
Location
Currently not on view
Associated Date
August - September 2005
user
Ricks, Robert
referenced
National Weather Service
ID Number
2006.0220.01
accession number
2006.0220
catalog number
2006.0220.01

Anita Carter

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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