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.

This aquatint, titled Market Plaza by Geoge O. "Pop" Hart, was printed about 1925, a period of peak migration for workers streaming to the United States seeking opportunity in the United States and escape from the chaos of the Mexican Revolution (1910 1921).
Description
This aquatint, titled Market Plaza by Geoge O. "Pop" Hart, was printed about 1925, a period of peak migration for workers streaming to the United States seeking opportunity in the United States and escape from the chaos of the Mexican Revolution (1910 1921). Many of the married men settled in the United States and brought their wives and families—from 1900 to 1932, the Mexican-born population of the United States grew from 103,000 to over 1,400,000. Other Mexican workers returned to their homes in Jalisco, Guanajuato, or Michoacán, and came north periodically in search of seasonal or temporary work. Replacing recently banned workers from Asia, these men provided cheap labor for the newly irrigated cotton fields of Texas and Arizona, the copper mines of Utah, the fruit processing plants of California, and the railroads that connected all points in between. An abundance of factory jobs also increasingly attracted Mexican migrants to cities like Chicago and Milwaukee. But many of these hard-earned economic opportunities in the United States came to an end during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Mexican workers in areas like California had to compete with economic refugees from across the country. Many were targets of discrimination and anti-immigrant violence. Thousands of American citizens were among the 500,000 men, women, and children forcibly and suddenly moved to Mexico on buses and trains from Texas and California during the Great Depression. This print is one of a series of images created by American artists traveling in Mexico.
Description (Spanish)
Esta aguatinta, titulada Plaza del Mercado de Geoge O. "Pop" Hart, fue grabada alrededor de 1925, un período migratorio pico de trabajadores mexicanos a los Estados Unidos en busca de oportunidades y escapando del caos de la Revolución Mexicana (1910-1921). Muchos hombres casados se establecieron en Estados Unidos y luego llevaron sus esposas y sus familias—desde 1900 hasta 1932 la población de los Estados Unidos nacida en México aumentó de 103.000 a más de 1.400.000. Otros trabajadores mexicanos regresaban a sus hogares en Jalisco, Guanajuato o Michoacán y volvían al norte periódicamente en busca de trabajos de temporada. Estos hombres, quienes reemplazaron a los trabajadores provenientes de Asia, recientemente proscriptos, proveían mano de obra barata a los campos de algodón de Texas y Arizona, que gozaban de sistemas nuevos de irrigación, así como a las minas de cobre de Utah, las plantas procesadoras de frutas de California y los ferrocarriles que conectaban todos los puntos entre sí. También la abundancia de trabajos fabriles, convirtió en más atractivas para los mexicanos inmigrantes ciudades como Chicago y Milwaukee. Sin embargo, muchas de estas oportunidades económicas en los Estados Unidos, ganadas con el sudor de la frente, llegaron a su fin durante la Gran Depresión de los años '30. Los trabajadores mexicanos en áreas como California debían competir con refugiados económicos de todo el país. Muchos fueron objeto de discriminación y violencia contra los inmigrantes. Miles de ciudadanos americanos se contaron entre los más de 500.000 hombres, mujeres y niños que durante la Gran Depresión se vieron repentinamente forzados a mudarse a México en ómnibus y trenes desde Texas y California. Este grabado pertenece a la serie de imágenes creadas por artistas americanos que viajaban a México.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1925
Associated Date
20th century
graphic artist
Hart, George O. "Pop"
ID Number
GA.14183
catalog number
14183
accession number
92987
This engraving shows Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), the Spanish captain who headed the conquest of the Aztec Empire. He became a part of popular mythology the moment he arrived in Mexico around 1520.
Description
This engraving shows Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), the Spanish captain who headed the conquest of the Aztec Empire. He became a part of popular mythology the moment he arrived in Mexico around 1520. Cortés had spent time in Cuba killing and enslaving its indigenous inhabitants and administering the new social order of the Spanish colonies of the Caribbean. As his well-read memoirs attest, even his experiences in Cuba did not prepare him for the history-altering intrigues, battles, and cultural encounters between the Spanish and the Mexicans, Mayas, and their many neighbors in between. Motivated by an ancient notion of fame, Hernán Cortés wrote his own version of the conquest of Mexico that put him squarely at the center, favored by the Christian God. But neither his victories nor his pillage of the Mexican capital would have been possible without the aid of soldiers, slaves, and supplies from the enemies of the Aztecs. As a testament to Cortés's enduring fame, his portrait by the Spanish painter Antonio Carnicero was published as an engraving by Manuel Salvador y Carmona in 1791 in the book, Retratos de los españoles ilustres, con un epítome de sus vidas, (Portraits of Illustrious Spaniards, with a Synopsis of Their Lives.)
Description (Spanish)
Este grabado representa a Hernán Cortés (1485-1547), el capitán español que encabezó la conquista del Imperio Azteca. Desde que Cortés arribó a México en 1521 pasó a formar parte de la mitología popular. Había pasado algún tiempo en Cuba involucrado en la matanza y esclavización de los nativos y administrando la nueva estructura social de las colonias españolas del Caribe. Como lo atestiguan sus bien documentadas memorias, ni siquiera sus experiencias en Cuba lo prepararon para las decisivas intrigas, batallas y choques culturales entre españoles y mexicanos, mayas y otros pueblos vecinos. Motivado por el antiguo concepto de fama, Hernán Cortés escribió una versión propia de la conquista de México que lo situó manifiestamente en el centro de la historia, favorecido por el Dios cristiano. Sin embargo, ni sus victorias ni el saqueo de la capital mexicana hubieran sido posibles sin la ayuda de los soldados, esclavos y aprovisionamiento suplidos por los enemigos de los aztecas. Como testamento de la fama perdurable de Cortés, este retrato suyo del pintor español Antonio Carnicero se publicó como un grabado de Manuel Salvador y Carmona en 1791, en el libro Retratos de los Españoles Ilustres, con un Epítome de sus Vidas.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1795
depicted
Cortes, Hernan
original artist
Carnicero, D. A.
graphic artist
Carmona, D. J. A.
ID Number
GA.20683
catalog number
20683
accession number
226630
The Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History houses an extensive series of prints by archeologist and artist Jean Charlot (1898–1979), and prominent Los Angeles printer Lynton Kistler (1897–1993).
Description
The Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History houses an extensive series of prints by archeologist and artist Jean Charlot (1898–1979), and prominent Los Angeles printer Lynton Kistler (1897–1993). Charlot, the French-born artist of this print, spent his early career during the 1920s in Mexico City. As an assistant to the socialist painter Diego Rivera, he studied muralism, a Mexican artistic movement that was revived throughout Latino communities in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. This lithograph, titled Work and Rest contrasts the labor of an indigenous woman, grinding corn on a metate, with the slumber of her baby. Printed by Lynton Kistler in Los Angeles in 1956, it presents an image of a Mexican woman living outside the industrial age. This notion of "Old Mexico" unblemished by modernity appealed to many artists concerned in the early 20th century with the mechanization and materialism of American culture. It was also a vision that was packaged as an exotic getaway for many American tourists. It is worth contrasting the quaint appeal of an indigenous woman laboring over her tortillas with the actual industrialization of the tortilla industry. By 1956, this woman would likely have bought her tortillas in small stacks from the local tortillería, saving about six hours of processing, grinding, and cooking tortilla flour.
Description (Spanish)
La Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana alberga una extensa serie de grabados del arqueólogo y artista Jean Charlot (1898-1979), y del prominente grabador de Los Ángeles Lynton Kistler (1897-1993). Nacido en Francia, Chralot, autor original de esta ilustración, pasó los comienzos de su carrera durante la década de 1920, en la ciudad de México. Como asistente del pintor socialista Diego Rivera, estudió muralismo, un movimiento artístico mexicano que resurgió en las comunidades latinas de los Estados Unidos en las décadas de los '60 y '70. Esta litografía, titulada Trabajo y Descanso contrasta la labor de una mujer indígena moliendo maíz con un metate, con el letargo de su bebé. Impreso por Lynton Kistler en Los Ángeles en 1956, simboliza la imagen de una mujer mexicana con una vida al margen de la era industrial. Esta noción del "Viejo México" impoluto por la modernidad resultaba atractiva para los artistas de principios del siglo XX, preocupados por la mecanización y el materialismo de la cultura americana. También constituía una visión que se envasaba como un escape exótico para muchos turistas americanos. Vale la pena contrastar el pintoresco atractivo de una mujer indígena trabajando para hacer tortillas con la industrialización actual de la fabricación de tortillas. Ya hacia el año 1956 esta mujer probablemente hubiera comprado sus tortillas en pequeñas cantidades en la tortillería del barrio, ahorrándose las 6 horas de trabajo aproximadas que le hubiera llevado procesar, moler y cocinar la harina de maíz ella misma.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1956
graphic artist
Charlot, Jean
printer
Kistler, Lynton R.
ID Number
GA.23355.05
catalog number
23355.05
accession number
299563
The French-born artist Jean Charlot spent his early career during the 1920s in Mexico City. His 1948 lithograph depicts a scene from the domestic life of a Mexican indigenous woman, a favorite theme of the artist.
Description
The French-born artist Jean Charlot spent his early career during the 1920s in Mexico City. His 1948 lithograph depicts a scene from the domestic life of a Mexican indigenous woman, a favorite theme of the artist. Household work—without the aid of most, if any, electrical appliances—was a full-time job for many working-class and poor Mexican women, north and south of the border, well into the 20th century. Food preparation was especially labor-intensive. Corn had to be processed, wood gathered, and water fetched, in the midst of child rearing and other household duties. This was the daily fare of most women, who rarely worked outside the home after marriage. Mexican American women who found work in cities like El Paso in the early 20th century were either single or widowed. Many worked as domestic servants, others in industrial laundries or textile mills. Like today, some women turned to their kitchens to earn a living, making meager profits selling prepared food on the street to Mexican American workers and Mexican migrants.
Description (Spanish)
El artista francés Jean Charlot pasó los años 1920, a comienzos de su carrera, en la ciudad de México. Esta litografía suya de 1948 representa una escena de la vida doméstica de una mujer indígena, un tema favorito del artista. Las tareas domésticas—sin la ayuda de la mayor parte de los aparatos electrodomésticos—constituían un trabajo de todo el día para muchas mujeres pobres de la clase trabajadora de México, al norte y sur de la frontera, hasta bien entrado el siglo XX. La preparación de la comida era especialmente trabajosa. Debía procesarse el maíz, juntarse leña y acarrear el agua, sumados a la crianza de los hijos y otras obligaciones domésticas. Así era la vida diaria para la mayoría de las mujeres, quienes raramente trabajaban fuera del hogar una vez casadas. A principios del siglo XX, las mujeres mexicoamericanas que trabajaban, en ciudades como El Paso, eran solteras o viudas. Muchas se empleaban en el servicio doméstico, otras en lavanderías industriales o fábricas textiles. Al igual que en la actualidad, algunas mujeres convertían su cocina en un medio para ganarse la vida, obteniendo exiguas ganancias a través de la venta de comidas preparadas en la calle para trabajadores mexicoamericanos e inmigrantes mexicanos.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1948
graphic artist
Charlot, Jean
ID Number
GA.23377
catalog number
23377
accession number
299563
Though anchored in local Roman Catholic traditions, many of the religious beliefs and symbols of Mexican Americans have roots in indigenous notions about the soul and our universe.
Description
Though anchored in local Roman Catholic traditions, many of the religious beliefs and symbols of Mexican Americans have roots in indigenous notions about the soul and our universe. Between October 31st and November 2nd, Día de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is celebrated with family, decorating home altars and visiting the graves of loved ones. A holiday with much regional and individual variation, it is traditionally an occasion to commemorate parents and grandparents with altars of marigolds, candles, alcohol, skeleton-shaped sweets, and other foods and personal objects favored by the dearly departed. Day of the Dead celebrations were reinvented across many Mexican American communities beginning in the 1970s, as the Chicano movement promoted and readapted Mexican cultural practices. Many artists since then have seized on the visual power of the altar as a conduit for personal and public memory. In the United States, Day of the Dead altars can be found interrogating life and critiquing politics in public places. Contemporary Day of the Dead celebrations have memorialized those who have died from AIDS, gang violence, the civil wars in Central America, and crossing the border. This lithograph, titled Night of the Dead, was originally drawn in ink by Alan Crane in 1958. Alan Horton Crane (1901–1969) was a Brooklyn-born illustrator best known for his landscapes and genre scenes of life in Mexico and New England. This image is part of a series of prints by Alan Crane housed in the Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History.
Description (Spanish)
Se puede decir que muchas de las creencias religiosas y símbolos de los mexicoamericanos, si bien se afirman en las tradiciones de la iglesia católica romana, tienen sus raíces en nociones indígenas sobre el alma y el universo. Entre el 31 de octubre y el 2 de noviembre, se celebra el Día de los Muertos en familia, decorando el hogar y visitando las tumbas de los seres queridos difuntos. Se trata de una festividad con variaciones regionales e individuales, en ocasión de conmemorar a los padres y abuelos ausentes con altares de caléndulas, velas, alcohol, dulces con formas de esqueletos y otras comidas y objetos personales de preferencia de los seres queridos ya difuntos. Las celebraciones del Día de los Muertos se reinventaron en todas las comunidades mexicoamericanas a comienzos de la década de 1970, cuando el movimiento chicano propició y readaptó las prácticas culturales mexicanas. Desde entonces muchos artistas se han servido del poder visual del altar como conducto de la memoria personal y pública. En Estados Unidos, pueden hallarse altares del Día de los Muertos erigidos en lugares públicos para expresar interrogantes de la vida o críticas a políticos. Las celebraciones contemporáneas del Día de los Muertos han conmemorado a los muertos por SIDA, por la violencia de las pandillas, por las guerras en Centroamérica y por los cruces de frontera. Esta litografía, titulada Noche de los Muertos, fue originalmente dibujada en tinta por Alan Crane en 1958. Alan Horton Crane (1901-1969) fue un ilustrador nacido en Brooklyn, más conocido por sus paisajes y pinturas de género sobre la vida en México y Nueva Inglaterra. Esta imagen forma parte de la serie de grabados de Alan Crane albergados en la Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americano.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1958
maker
Crane, Alan
ID Number
GA.23836
catalog number
23836
accession number
306563
With the lucrative growth of tourism in 20th century, stereotypical and processed images of Mexico have often been marketed to the American imagination. In them, "South of the Border" becomes a sunny pre-modern place of vacations, trinkets, and convenient lawlessness.
Description
With the lucrative growth of tourism in 20th century, stereotypical and processed images of Mexico have often been marketed to the American imagination. In them, "South of the Border" becomes a sunny pre-modern place of vacations, trinkets, and convenient lawlessness. But contrasting and complex images of Mexico have pervaded the American imagination since well before the Civil War. Mexico, itself defined by cultural and racial exchange, has historically represented a starkly different social order to most Americans. A country with cheap land and labor and bountiful mineral and agricultural resources offered economic opportunities to many Americans, from white financiers and mercenaries to black oil workers and baseball players. Mexico was also a refuge for many American artists, of Mexican descent or otherwise, who imagined Mexico in different ways. Some artists sought inspiration from its ancient history, and others came looking for a pristine and exotic landscape. This lithograph, titled Mariposas at Patyenaro was drawn by Alan Crane in 1943. It depicts the picturesque, butterfly-shaped nets of Mexican fisherman paddling their canoes on a lake. Alan Horton Crane (1901–1969) was a Brooklyn-born illustrator best known for his landscapes and genre scenes of life in Mexico and New England. Similar prints by Crane showing scenes of idyllic Mexico are housed in the Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History.
Description (Spanish)
Con el lucrativo crecimiento del turismo en el siglo XX, se intensificó la comercialización de imágenes estereotípicas y procesadas de México dirigidas al consumo de los estadounidenses. México se convirtió en un soleado paraje premoderno para pasar vacaciones, comprar baratijas y disfrutar de una conveniente anarquía. Pero ya mucho antes de la Guerra Civil, México había penetrado la imaginación americana mediante contrastantes y complejas imágenes. México, en si mismo definido por el intercambio cultural y racial, ha representado históricamente un orden social completamente diferente para la mayoría de los americanos. Un país que ofrece tierra y mano de obra baratas, junto a generosos recursos mineros y agrícolas, ha brindado oportunidades económicas a muchos estadounidenses, desde financieros y mercenarios blancos hasta trabajadores del petróleo y beisbolistas negros. Pero México también pasó a ser un refugio para muchos artistas americanos de descendencia mexicana o viceversa, quienes se imaginaron a México de diversas formas. Algunos artistas buscaban inspiración en su pasado histórico y otros deseaban explorar paisajes prístinos y exóticos. Esta litografía titulada Mariposas en Patyenaro es un dibujo de Alan Crane de 1943. Representa las pintorescas redes en forma de mariposas de los pescadores mexicanos, remando sus canoas en un lago. Alan Horton Crane (1901-1969) era un ilustrador nacido en Brooklyn conocido por sus paisajes y escenas de género sobre la vida cotidiana en México y Nueva Inglaterra. La Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana alberga grabados similares de Crane en los que se observan escenas de un México idílico.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1943
maker
Crane, Alan
ID Number
GA.23830
catalog number
23830
accession number
306563
This scene of the Toluca market was depicted by Alan Crane in 1946. Housed in the Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History, it is one of a series of lithographs of Mexican landscapes and genre scenes he printed during the 1940s.
Description
This scene of the Toluca market was depicted by Alan Crane in 1946. Housed in the Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History, it is one of a series of lithographs of Mexican landscapes and genre scenes he printed during the 1940s. The growth of the tourist industry, rebounding after WWII, created a market for images of an idyllic Mexico—peaceful, scenic, and premodern. The elements of everyday life shown here—the densely packed stands of the ceramics vendors, the pulquería (a cantina that serves pulque, the fermented juice of the maguey plant), and the traditional dress of the marketeers—were as foreign to the urbanized Mexican American youth in Los Angeles, El Paso, and San Antonio as they were to American tourists seeking a memento of "Old Mexico." The generations of youths who grew up in the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s were fundamental in negotiating the language, aesthetics, and political vision that would constitute the contemporary culture of Mexican Americans. These young men and women, many of whom were war veterans as well as industrial and agricultural workers, created empowering images of Mexican Americans as they defined new roles for themselves as activists during the civil rights struggles of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
Description (Spanish)
Esta escena del mercado de Toluca es una estampa de Alan Crane pintada en 1946. Pertenece a la Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana, parte de una serie de litografías que grabó durante la década de 1940 en las que representa paisajes de México y escenas de género. El crecimiento de la industria turística, en recuperación después de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, abrió un mercado para las imágenes del México idílico—pacífico, escénico y premoderno. Los elementos de la vida diaria que aquí se observan—como los puestos atiborrados de cerámicas de los vendedores, la pulquería (cantina que sirve pulque, jugo fermentado de la planta de maguey) y la vestimenta tradicional de los mercaderes—eran tan ajenos para los jóvenes urbanos mexicoamericanos de Los Ángeles, El Paso y San Antonio, como lo eran para los turistas americanos que buscaban un recuerdo del "Viejo México". Las generaciones de jóvenes que crecieron durante las décadas de 1930, 1940 y 1950 fueron esenciales en la negociación del lenguaje, la estética y la visión política que constituiría la cultura contemporánea de los mexicoamericanos. Estos jóvenes, muchos de los cuales eran veteranos de guerra y trabajadores fabriles y agrícolas, crearon imágenes que fortalecieron a los mexiconamericanos en la definición de su nuevo rol de activistas durante las luchas por los derechos civiles de las décadas de 1950, 1960 y 1970.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1946
graphic artist
Crane, Alan
ID Number
GA.23825
catalog number
23825
accession number
306563
This model 55 Shure microphone was used at the KCOR-AM radio building in San Antonio, Texas during the 1950s. First introduced in 1939, the microphone became iconic due to its adoption by radio personalities and musical acts.
Description
This model 55 Shure microphone was used at the KCOR-AM radio building in San Antonio, Texas during the 1950s. First introduced in 1939, the microphone became iconic due to its adoption by radio personalities and musical acts. The microphone uses Shure’s “Unidyne” element, a pick-up element that only accepts sounds from one direction and forms a cardioid sensitivity pattern. KCOR was licensed and operated by Raoul A. Cortez (1905-1971), a pioneer of Spanish-language media in the United States. Cortez later established the KCOR-TV station in 1955, and programmed his stations to serve the Spanish-speaking community in Texas.
maker
Shure
ID Number
2015.0002.03
model number
555
S56
catalog number
2015.0002.03
accession number
2015.0002
This spur, worn over a riding boot, was made in Mexico in the mid-1800s. Rubbed against the animal's side, spurs are one of the instruments that riders use to direct horses. The spikes on this spur are set on a small wheel called a rowel, making this a rowel spur.
Description
This spur, worn over a riding boot, was made in Mexico in the mid-1800s. Rubbed against the animal's side, spurs are one of the instruments that riders use to direct horses. The spikes on this spur are set on a small wheel called a rowel, making this a rowel spur. Horses and good riding equipment, such as spurs, saddles, stirrups, and leather coverings, played a fundamental role in the European conquest, exploration, and settlement of wide areas of North America. Much of the technique and craftsmanship of riding culture that was found in the American West among both Native Americans and later U.S. settlers was introduced by the Spanish in Mexico within the first century of colonization (1500s). During this period, huge herds of cattle and sheep (both newly introduced species, like horses) flooded the dry grasslands of northern Mexico and were tended by men who would later be called vaqueros—cowboys. The ranching culture that they developed, as well as the ecological destruction that grazing produced, stretched from Texas to California. This economy of raising livestock on the open range was embraced by settlers coming overland from the American East along routes like the Santa Fe, Old Spanish, and Gila trails. To this day, ranching remains a vital economic and cultural force in both the American West and northern Mexico.
Description (Spanish)
Esta espuela, que se llevaba en la parte trasera de las botas de montar, fue fabricada en México a mediados del siglo XIX. Los jinetes dirigían al caballo rozando las espuelas contra el costado del animal. Las espigas de esta espuela sobresalen de una pequeña rueda llamada rodaja, la cual le da al nombre de espuela de rodaja. Los caballos y el buen equipo de montar, como las espuelas, la montura, los estribos y los revestimientos de cuero, desempeñaron un papel fundamental dentro de la conquista, exploración y asentamiento europeo en vastas extensiones de Norteamérica. Muchas de las técnicas y destrezas artesanales relacionadas con la cultura ecuestre que se observan en el oeste americano, tanto entre los americanos nativos como más tarde entre los colonos de Estados Unidos, fueron introducidas por los españoles a México durante el primer siglo de la colonización (S. XVI). A lo largo de este período, erraban por las pasturas secas del norte de México vastas manadas de vacunos y ovinos (especies recientemente introducidas, al igual que el caballo), al cuidado de hombres que luego se denominarían vaqueros. La cultura de hacienda que éstos desarrollaron, paralelamente a la destrucción ecológica que produjo el pastoreo, se extendió desde Texas hasta California. Esta economía sustentada en la ganadería a campo abierto fue adoptada por los colonizadores que llegaban por tierra desde el este por el Camino de Santa Fe, el Camino Español de Los Ángeles y el Camino del Diablo. Hasta el día de hoy, la ganadería continúa siendo de vital importancia económica y cultural tanto en el oeste americano como en norte de México.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1840 - 1860
ID Number
CL.004841
catalog number
4841
accession number
2007.0144
Titled Un Calendario Curioso para 1879, this almanac was printed in Mexico at the beginning of the Porfiriato—the period between 1876 and 1911 dominated by the presidency of Porfirio Díaz. This was a period of intense foreign investment in Mexico. U.S.
Description
Titled Un Calendario Curioso para 1879, this almanac was printed in Mexico at the beginning of the Porfiriato—the period between 1876 and 1911 dominated by the presidency of Porfirio Díaz. This was a period of intense foreign investment in Mexico. U.S. corporations were especially active in Mexico's mining industry, which was now connected to the United States by an ever-expanding web of railroads. While many fortunes were made during this era of peace and economic growth, the boom did not trickle down to the rural poor or the urban working classes. Many small farmers and indigenous communities lost their fields to powerful landlords and plantation owners. The middle and upper classes also grew disgruntled as the political elite stifled the country's democracy in the name of progress. This almanac offers a window into the everyday lives of Mexicans living in the late 1800s. In addition to a year-long forecast, it includes a timeline of world and Mexican history, highlighting dates such Noah's flood and the execution of Emperor Maximilian. A section at the end offers an elaborate list of recipes selected by "people of good taste" for "people of all classes."
Description (Spanish)
Titulado Un Calendario Curioso para 1879, este calendario se imprimió en México a principios del Porfiriato—el período abarcado entre 1876 y 1911 bajo la presidencia de Porfirio Díaz, que se caracterizó por intensas inversiones extranjeras en México. Las compañías estadounidenses se mostraron especialmente activas en la industria minera mexicana, que gozaba ahora de la conexión a Estados Unidos mediante una red de ferrocarriles en constante expansión. Si bien se amasaron muchas fortunas durante esta época de paz y crecimiento económico, la prosperidad no llegó hasta las zonas rurales pobres ni hasta las clases trabajadoras urbanas. Muchos pequeños granjeros y comunidades indígenas perdieron sus campos a manos de poderosos propietarios y terratenientes de las plantaciones. Incluso empezó a reinar el descontento entre las clases media y alta ante una elite política que sofocaba la democracia en nombre del progreso. Este calendario abre una ventana sobre las vidas cotidianas de los mexicanos que vivieron a fines del 1800. Además de un pronóstico anual, incluye una cronología de la historia del mundo y de México, destacándose fechas tales como la inundación de Noé y la ejecución del Emperador Maximiliano. Una sección al final, contiene una lista de recetas seleccionadas por la "gente de buen gusto" para la "gente de todas las clases".
ID Number
CL.300959.14
catalog number
300959.14
accession number
300959
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980
1980-1985
wearer
Gonzales, Rebecca
maker
Salazar, Jose Luis
manufacturer of fabric
Liberty & Co.
ID Number
2009.0252.01
catalog number
2009.0252.01
accession number
2009.0252
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez wore this cotton apron with embroidered images of birds while making tortillas in her small neighborhood business.
Description
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez wore this cotton apron with embroidered images of birds while making tortillas in her small neighborhood business. Her grandson, Adrian Sanchez, fondly recalls the machine and working with her to make tortillas and tamales:
I recall helping my Grandmother Concepcion Sanchez make corn tortillas for her to sell….[in] 1948 in Fillmore, California. …My uncle Arnulfo [bought] his mother a molino, a machine that grinds corn for masa to make tortillas…a comal, a griddle to cook the…tortillas, and a machine [tortilladora] that actually made the tortillas…the dry corn was cooked [and limed]…The cooked corn was then ready to be ground in the molino…The ground masa was then gathered into large balls to be placed on the machine…when the handle was turned, a tortilla would fall on an attached conveyor belt which…would drop the uncooked tortilla onto the comal…After the tortillas cooked, they were stacked and counted into dozens… The…neighborhood came to buy their warm tortillas…A…batch was sent…to…Tio Nuco’s market …During…Christmas…Grandma [made] masa for tamales…[she]…was into her 80’s when she quit. (Smithsonian interview, 2006)
Concha Sanchez and her family followed the path of many Mexican immigrants who turned their traditional foodways into a staple of community life. Concha and Abundio Sanchez migrated from Mexico in 1912 at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Through the 1920s, they worked in Kansas, in Texas, and in the produce fields of California, eventually opening a grocery store. When that failed in the Great Depression, Concha supported her family by creating a tortilleria, making and selling tortillas in her Ventura County neighborhood. Instead of making them by hand, as Mexican women had done for centuries, she used the new electric and gas-fired equipment bought by her son to produce tortillas and tamales for sale.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1940
1935-1945
ID Number
2006.0236.04
catalog number
2006.0236.04
accession number
2006.0236
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this comal (griddle) to cook tortillas.
Description
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this comal (griddle) to cook tortillas. Her grandson, Adrian Sanchez, fondly recalls the machine and working with her to make tortillas and tamales:
I recall helping my Grandmother Concepcion Sanchez make corn tortillas for her to sell….[in] 1948 in Fillmore, California. …My uncle Arnulfo [bought] his mother a molino, a machine that grinds corn for masa to make tortillas…a comal, a griddle to cook the…tortillas, and a machine [tortilladora] that actually made the tortillas…the dry corn was cooked [and limed]…The cooked corn was then ready to be ground in the molino…The ground masa was then gathered into large balls to be placed on the machine…when the handle was turned, a tortilla would fall on an attached conveyor belt which…would drop the uncooked tortilla onto the comal…After the tortillas cooked, they were stacked and counted into dozens… The…neighborhood came to buy their warm tortillas…A…batch was sent…to…Tio Nuco’s market …During…Christmas…Grandma [made] masa for tamales…[she]…was into her 80’s when she quit. (Smithsonian interview, 2006)
Concha Sanchez and her family followed the path of many Mexican immigrants who turned their traditional foodways into a staple of community life. Concha and Abundio Sanchez migrated from Mexico in 1912 at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Through the 1920s, they worked in Kansas, in Texas, and in the produce fields of California, eventually opening a grocery store. When that failed in the Great Depression, Concha supported her family by creating a tortilleria, making and selling tortillas in her Ventura County neighborhood. Instead of making them by hand, as Mexican women had done for centuries, she used the new electric and gas-fired equipment bought by her son to produce tortillas and tamales for sale.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1940
ID Number
2006.0236.02
accession number
2006.0236
catalog number
2006.0236.02
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2007
maker
Enselma
ID Number
2009.0224.02
catalog number
2009.0224.02
accession number
2009.0224
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this electric Molino (corn mill) to grind cooked corn, an important step in making masa (dough) for tortillas and tamales.
Description
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this electric Molino (corn mill) to grind cooked corn, an important step in making masa (dough) for tortillas and tamales. Her grandson, Adrian Sanchez, fondly recalls the machine and working with her to make tortillas and tamales:
I recall helping my Grandmother Concepcion Sanchez make corn tortillas for her to sell….[in] 1948 in Fillmore, California. …My uncle Arnulfo [bought] his mother a molino, a machine that grinds corn for masa to make tortillas…a comal, a griddle to cook the…tortillas, and a machine [tortilladora] that actually made the tortillas…the dry corn was cooked [and limed]…The cooked corn was then ready to be ground in the molino…The ground masa was then gathered into large balls to be placed on the machine…when the handle was turned, a tortilla would fall on an attached conveyor belt which…would drop the uncooked tortilla onto the comal…After the tortillas cooked, they were stacked and counted into dozens… The…neighborhood came to buy their warm tortillas…A…batch was sent…to…Tio Nuco’s market …During…Christmas…Grandma [made] masa for tamales…[she]…was into her 80’s when she quit. (Smithsonian interview, 2006)
Concha Sanchez and her family followed the path of many Mexican immigrants who turned their traditional foodways into a staple of community life. Concha and Abundio Sanchez migrated from Mexico in 1912 at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Through the 1920s, they worked in Kansas, in Texas, and in the produce fields of California, eventually opening a grocery store. When that failed in the Great Depression, Concha supported her family by creating a tortilleria, making and selling tortillas in her Ventura County neighborhood. Instead of making them by hand, as Mexican women had done for centuries, she used the new electric and gas-fired equipment bought by her son to produce tortillas and tamales for sale.
date made
ca 1920
maker
Tolteca
ID Number
2006.0236.01
accession number
2006.0236
catalog number
2006.0236.01
The Sony Corporation manufactured this U-matic S model VO-3800 portable videocassette remote recorder around 1974. The U-Matic was a ¾-inch tape that replaced the heavy and hard-to-process 16mm film used in the news field previously.
Description
The Sony Corporation manufactured this U-matic S model VO-3800 portable videocassette remote recorder around 1974. The U-Matic was a ¾-inch tape that replaced the heavy and hard-to-process 16mm film used in the news field previously. The portable recorder connected to a shoulder camera, worn on an over-the-shoulder strap. Although the unit weighed forty pounds, it freed reporters from the studio, allowing them to do more stories on location.
Cameraman and reporter Andreas Morin used this recording unit when he worked at KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas during the 1970s. The station operated on such a tight budget, that reporters like Morin often had to reuse the tape multiple times, recording over earlier programs.
KWEX-TV traces its roots to KCOR-TV, founded in 1954-1955 by Raoul A. Cortez. It was the first Latino-owned, all-Spanish television station in the continental United States. Struggling for financial support, the station was sold in 1961 to Cortez's son-in-law Emilio Nicolas and a group of investors. It became KWEX, the base of operations for the Spanish International Network (SIN). The network would eventually become Univision after a subsequent sale in the 1980s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1970s
maker
Sony Corporation
ID Number
2015.0002.04
serial number
20108
catalog number
2015.0002.04
accession number
2015.0002
model number
VO-3800
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2009
retailer
Mariachi Connection
maker
unknown
ID Number
2009.0224.06
catalog number
2009.0224.06
accession number
2009.0224
Cameraman and reporter, Andreas Morin used this handheld Sony Trinitron color camera when he worked for the Spanish-language KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas. The camera recorded to ¾-inch tape, allowed reporters to leave the studio and easily capture news on location.
Description
Cameraman and reporter, Andreas Morin used this handheld Sony Trinitron color camera when he worked for the Spanish-language KWEX-TV in San Antonio, Texas. The camera recorded to ¾-inch tape, allowed reporters to leave the studio and easily capture news on location. The camera connected to a portable recorder ( object 2015.0002.04) which was worn via on over-the-shoulder strap.
KWEX-TV Channel 41 broadcast various news and local interest programming from locations around the city, including Mass from the San Fernando Cathedral. KWEX traces its roots to KCOR-TV, launched by Raoul A. Cortez in 1954-1955 as the first Latino-owened, Spanish-language station in the continental United States. Cortez sold the station to his son-in-law, Emilio Nicolas and a group of investors in 1961. It would become the hub of operations for the Spanish International Network, the forerunner to Univision.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1970-1979
ca 1975
maker
Sony Corporation
ID Number
2015.0003.01
serial number
12266
catalog number
2015.0003.01
accession number
2015.0003
model number
DXC-1600
maker
General Electric Company
ID Number
2008.0053.01
accession number
2008.0053
catalog number
2008.0053.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 2009
maker
Reveles, Luis
ID Number
2009.0224.03
catalog number
2009.0224.03
accession number
2009.0224
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this hand-cranked tortilladora to press masa into tortillas. Machines like this were invented in Mexico by 1911. This “La Rotative” press dates from about 1923 but was bought used by the Sanchez family in the 1940s.
Description
Concepción “Concha” Sanchez used this hand-cranked tortilladora to press masa into tortillas. Machines like this were invented in Mexico by 1911. This “La Rotative” press dates from about 1923 but was bought used by the Sanchez family in the 1940s. Her grandson, Adrian Sanchez, fondly recalls the machine and working with her to make tortillas and tamales:
I recall helping my Grandmother Concepcion Sanchez make corn tortillas for her to sell….[in] 1948 in Fillmore, California. …My uncle Arnulfo [bought] his mother a molino, a machine that grinds corn for masa to make tortillas…a comal, a griddle to cook the…tortillas, and a machine [tortilladora] that actually made the tortillas…the dry corn was cooked [and limed]…The cooked corn was then ready to be ground in the molino…The ground masa was then gathered into large balls to be placed on the machine…when the handle was turned, a tortilla would fall on an attached conveyor belt which…would drop the uncooked tortilla onto the comal…After the tortillas cooked, they were stacked and counted into dozens… The…neighborhood came to buy their warm tortillas…A…batch was sent…to…Tio Nuco’s market …During…Christmas…Grandma [made] masa for tamales…[she]…was into her 80’s when she quit. (Smithsonian interview, 2006)
Concha Sanchez and her family followed the path of many Mexican immigrants who turned their traditional foodways into a staple of community life. Concha and Abundio Sanchez migrated from Mexico in 1912 at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Through the 1920s, they worked in Kansas, in Texas, and in the produce fields of California, eventually opening a grocery store. When that failed in the Great Depression, Concha supported her family by creating a tortilleria, making and selling tortillas in her Ventura County neighborhood. Instead of making them by hand, as Mexican women had done for centuries, she used the new electric and gas-fired equipment bought by her son to produce tortillas and tamales for sale.
date made
ca. 1920
ID Number
2006.0236.03
catalog number
2006.0236.03
accession number
2006.0236
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
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
The evolving civil rights movement of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s revolutionized the consciousness of young people across the United States. As in African American communities, a new sense of mobilization spread among Mexican Americans.
Description
The evolving civil rights movement of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s revolutionized the consciousness of young people across the United States. As in African American communities, a new sense of mobilization spread among Mexican Americans. Many adopted a more political identity—chicano and chicana—and explored their history, which was omitted from school textbooks. The Chicano movement sought to remedy the injustices experienced by many Mexican Americans, from substandard education and housing to working conditions. Many symbols and ideas of the Chicano movement were taken from the pre-Hispanic past, especially Aztec history. Aztlán, the original homeland in the Aztec migration stories, has an important place in Chicano mythology. As a symbolic reclamation of their place in American history, Chicanos locate Aztlán in the Southwest United States, in the area conquered during the Mexican-American War. The image shown here, by Manuel Moya, is an ink drawing done on a handkerchief known as a paño. Paños are graphic art works drawn on handkerchiefs by Chicano prisoners in California, Texas, and the Southwest. Titled, La Tierra Nueva en Aztlán, or The New Land in Aztlán, combines the images of the Aztec past with a Pancho Villa-like figure from the Mexican Revolution.
Description (Spanish)
El movimiento por los derechos civiles que se desarrolló entre las décadas de 1950, 1960 y 1970, revolucionó las conciencias de los jóvenes a los largo de los Estados Unidos. Al igual que en las comunidades afroamericanas, también se difundió entre los mexicoamericanos un nuevo sentido de movilización. Muchos adoptaron una identidad de carácter más político—chicano y chicana—y empezaron a explorar su historia, la cual había quedado omitida de los libros de texto escolares. El movimiento chicano buscó remediar las injusticias experimentadas por muchos mexicoamericanos, tales como condiciones educativas, de vivienda y de trabajo inferiores al estándar. Muchos símbolos e ideas del movimiento chicano se extrajeron del pasado prehispánico, especialmente de la historia azteca. Aztlán, la patria original aludida en las historias migratorias de los aztecas, ocupa un lugar de relieve en la mitología chicana. Como reclamo simbólico de su lugar en la historia americana, los chicanos ubican a Aztlán en el sudoeste de los Estados Unidos, en el área conquistada durante la guerra mexicoamericana. La imagen que se observa aquí, del artista Manuel Moya, es un dibujo en tinta hecho sobre un pañuelo o paño. Los paños son obras de arte gráfico diseñadas sobre pañuelos por los prisioneros chicanos en California, Texas y la región sudoeste. Titulado La Tierra Nueva en Aztlán, combina las imágenes del pasado azteca con una figura estilo Pancho Villa de la Revolución Mexicana.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1986
artist
Moya, Manuel
ID Number
1991.0431.01
catalog number
1991.0431.01
accession number
1991.0431

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