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.

Telegraph message, printed in Morse code, transcribed and signed by Samuel F. B. Morse.
Description
Telegraph message, printed in Morse code, transcribed and signed by Samuel F. B. Morse. This message was transmitted from Baltimore, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., over the nation's first long-distance telegraph line.
In 1843, Congress allocated $30,000 for Morse (1791-1872) to build an electric telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore. Morse and his partner, Alfred Vail (1807-1859), completed the forty-mile line in May 1844. For the first transmissions, they used a quotation from the Bible, Numbers 23:23: "What hath God wrought," suggested by Annie G. Ellsworth (1826-1900), daughter of Patent Commissioner Henry L. Ellsworth (1791-1858) who was present at the event on 24 May. Morse, in the Capitol, sent the message to Vail at the B&O Railroad's Pratt Street Station in Baltimore. Vail then sent a return message confirming the message he had received.
The original message transmitted by Morse from Washington to Baltimore, dated 24 May 1844, is in the collections of the Library of Congress. The original confirmation message from Vail to Morse is in the collections of the Connecticut Historical Society.
This tape, dated 25 May, is a personal souvenir transmitted by Vail in Baltimore to Morse in Washington the day following the inaugural transmissions. The handwriting on the tape is that of Morse himself. Found in Morse’s papers after his death the tape was donated to the Smithsonian in 1900 by his son Edward, where it has been displayed in many exhibitions.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1844-05-25
1844-05-24
associated date
1844-05-24
donated
1900-04-18
associated person
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
maker
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
ID Number
EM.001028
catalog number
001028
accession number
65555
This postcard view of the Garden of Mission Santa Barbara was published by the Edward H. Mitchell company of San Francisco about 1908, as a photomechanical lithograph. The Edward H.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of the Garden of Mission Santa Barbara was published by the Edward H. Mitchell company of San Francisco about 1908, as a photomechanical lithograph. The Edward H. Mitchell company published postcards between about 1900 and 1928.
Founded in 1786, Mission Santa Barbara was the tenth of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions established in California between 1769 and 1823. The mission was built to convert American Indians of the Chumash tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish church and includes a museum, a Franciscan friary, or monastery, and a retreat site.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1900
graphic artist
Mitchell, Edward H.
ID Number
GA.24880.016
catalog number
24880.016
accession number
1978.0801
This postcard view of Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes. The card was published in about 1914 by the I. L.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma was printed by the Curt Teich Company using photomechanical processes. The card was published in about 1914 by the I. L. Eno company in San Diego, Calif.
The Chicago-based Curt Teich Company manufactured postcards between 1898 and 1978 in association with several publishers. It used the term "Photochrom" and later "Colortone" to describe its color printing processes.
Mission San Francisco Solano De Sonoma founded in 1823, was the last of twenty-one missions built by Spanish Franciscans in California between 1769 and 1823. The mission was established to convert American Indians of the region to Catholicism.
Today the mission is a historical site managed by the Sonoma State Historic Parks system.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914
graphic artist
Eno, I. L.
ID Number
1986.0639.0322
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.0322
In the mid-1960s, novelist and counterculture guru Ken Kesey used this 38" x 68" plywood sign as an announcement board and invitation card to promote the activities of his "Merry Pranksters" (an itinerant band of free thinkers) during their memorable cross-country rides on an old
Description
In the mid-1960s, novelist and counterculture guru Ken Kesey used this 38" x 68" plywood sign as an announcement board and invitation card to promote the activities of his "Merry Pranksters" (an itinerant band of free thinkers) during their memorable cross-country rides on an old bus named "Further." Kesey and his band drove Further from northern California to Washington, D.C., and New York, ostensibly to attend Kesey book parties. In the process they used the bus rides to encourage people to discuss anything with them, to try anything, to perform civic pranks of various sorts, and to otherwise call attention to alternative ways of thinking about the issues of the day.
Like the bus, the sign is a colorful smorgasbord of offerings from the Pranksters and visitors to the bus. Splashes of day–glo paint are overlaid with newspaper clippings, political cartoons, doodles, yarn, and the names of influential West Coast figures from the counterculture movements of the 1950s and 1960s. During a 1992 visit to the Kesey farm in rural Oregon to examine the remains of Further, the Smithsonian found this signboard in the loft of a chicken coop, covered with dust and feathers. A family of foxes occupied the rear seat of Further, moldering in a field, so Kesey decided to donate this sign instead of the bus.
Date made
1960s
user
Kesey, Ken
ID Number
1992.0413.01
accession number
1992.0413
catalog number
1992.0413.01
Women's Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) uniform from World War I, consisting of hat, coat, shirtwaist, tie, skirt, and insignia. Coat and skirt are olive green wool gabardine, shirt is white dimity, hat is blue cotton, and tie is blue silk.
Description
Women's Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) uniform from World War I, consisting of hat, coat, shirtwaist, tie, skirt, and insignia. Coat and skirt are olive green wool gabardine, shirt is white dimity, hat is blue cotton, and tie is blue silk. Metal "U.S." insignia on coat lapel and cloth "J.W.B." patch with Star of David background on shouler and hat. Donated by the Jewish Welfare Board through The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America.
The Jewish Welfare Board (JWB) was organized shortly after America’s entry into World War I, consolidating religious groups in the Jewish community to become an official agency to work with the War Department through its Commission on Training Camp Activities. It was modeled after the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and the Knights of Columbus, and other organizations that in World War I adapted military-like uniforms for women and men volunteers. The JWB built buildings and stocked libraries on army installations and distributed books, articles, Bibles, and prayer books supplied through its affiliation with the Jewish Publication Society. It established community branches in the “second line of defense,” by supporting Jewish workers in the shipyards, arsenals, and other military plants and factories, as well as hospitals and universities where the government had taken over under military regulations. Following the Armistice, under direction of the Navy Department, the JWB transferred its peacetime work to veteran’s hospitals and enlarged Jewish community centers.
associated date
1914-1918
ID Number
1998.0165.25.01
catalog number
1998.0165.25.01.01
1998.0165.25.01.02
accession number
1998.0165
catalog number
1998.0165.25.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Fruit of the Loom
ID Number
1999.0352.02
Volunteerism plays an important role in philanthropy in America. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed lives and homes in the Gulf Coast in 2005, many nonprofit groups organized volunteers to help the recovery effort.
Description (Brief)
Volunteerism plays an important role in philanthropy in America. After Hurricane Katrina destroyed lives and homes in the Gulf Coast in 2005, many nonprofit groups organized volunteers to help the recovery effort. Jillian Gross led a team from Habitat for Humanity in rebuilding homes in Louisiana.
Description
This hard hat was worn by Jillian Gross while working for Habitat for Humanity, a not-for-profit, non-government organization advocating affordable housing around the world. Hard hats are used for head protection on construction and other work sites. This hat has a lightweight shell with suspension straps inside that absorbs shock from falling objects. It is made by MSA Incorporated.
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
ID Number
2005.0276.39
catalog number
2005.0276.39
accession number
2005.0276
In the nineteenth century, volunteer fire companies often commissioned paintings to decorate their hand-pumped fire engines for parades, competitions, and community events.
Description (Brief)
In the nineteenth century, volunteer fire companies often commissioned paintings to decorate their hand-pumped fire engines for parades, competitions, and community events. Sometimes framed with elaborate carvings, they adorned the tall air chamber located at the middle or rear of a pumper. The paintings would often feature patriotic, heroic, or allegorical images to associate the volunteer companies with these lofty ideals.
This fire engine panel came from the Franklin Engine Company No. 12 of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active as a hand engine company from 1792 until 1863 when it acquired a steam fire engine. It operated as a steam fire engine company until 1871 when Philadelphia’s paid firefighting department was established. The painting “Franklin with Loaf of Bread” is attributed to David Rent Etter and dates to around 1830. The painting depicts the young Benjamin Franklin’s arrival in Philadelphia in 1723. As recounted in his autobiography, he mistakenly bought more bread than he could eat and gave the extra loaves to a poor woman and child. Benjamin Franklin was well known for organizing the first volunteer fire company in Philadelphia, and his image and his name were popular among the city’s fire companies. By invoking Franklin, volunteer firemen linked themselves to the progenitor of their trade, as well as someone who played a key role in the Revolution and securing America’s freedom. This painting and its companion piece (object 2005.0233.0307) would have adorned either side of the company’s engine.
Location
Currently not on view (screws)
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1830
depicted
Franklin, Benjamin
artist attribution
Etter, David Rent
ID Number
2005.0233.0018
accession number
2005.0233
catalog number
2005.0233.0018
Yolande Betbeze, "the Basque spitfire," surprised Atlantic City and the nation in 1951 when she was named Miss America. The former Miss Alabama beat out over forty fair-haired, fair-skinned state champions with her dramatic singing performance and her undeniable Iberian beauty.
Description
Yolande Betbeze, "the Basque spitfire," surprised Atlantic City and the nation in 1951 when she was named Miss America. The former Miss Alabama beat out over forty fair-haired, fair-skinned state champions with her dramatic singing performance and her undeniable Iberian beauty. Of Basque heritage, Betbeze tested the limits of a system that in the 1950s was still basing its standards on an ethnically and racially narrow definition of feminine beauty.
Betbeze would go on to continue testing the Miss America institution with her refusal to parade in a bathing suit and, after her reign, with her advocacy of women's and minority rights, her political activism, and ultimately her generous donation of this, her original 1951 crown, to the Smithsonian Institution in 2005.
Location
Currently on loan
Date made
1951
ID Number
2005.0078.01
accession number
2005.0078
catalog number
2005.0078.01
Most stoneware pottery produced in the South before about 1890 iscovered with alkaline glazes made from local materials.Based on lime or wood ash, these glazes often fired to a green or brown color, typical of 19th-century southern stoneware.Although this piece was found in Ports
Description
Most stoneware pottery produced in the South before about 1890 is
covered with alkaline glazes made from local materials.
Based on lime or wood ash, these glazes often fired to a green or brown color, typical of 19th-century southern stoneware.
Although this piece was found in Portsmouth, New Hampshire it shares some characteristics of early southern face vessels.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
mid 19th century
delete
delete
date made
mid- 19th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
CE.392525
catalog number
392525
accession number
196885
Sometime around her 17th birthday, Canadian Bernice Palmer received a Kodak Brownie box camera (No. 2A Model), either for Christmas 1911 or for her birthday on 10 January 1912.
Description
Sometime around her 17th birthday, Canadian Bernice Palmer received a Kodak Brownie box camera (No. 2A Model), either for Christmas 1911 or for her birthday on 10 January 1912. In early April, she and her mother boarded the Cunard liner Carpathia in New York, for a Mediterranean cruise. Carpathia had scarcely cleared New York, when it received a distress call from the White Star liner Titanic on 14 April. It raced to the scene of the sinking and managed to rescue over 700 survivors from the icy North Atlantic. With her new camera, Bernice took pictures of the iceberg that sliced open the Titanic’s hull below the waterline and also took snapshots of some of the Titanic survivors. Lacking enough food to feed both the paying passengers and Titanic survivors, the Carpathia turned around and headed back to New York to land the survivors. Unaware of the high value of her pictures, Bernice sold publication rights to Underwood & Underwood for just $10 and a promise to develop, print, and return her pictures after use. In 1986, she donated her camera, the pictures and her remarkable story to the Smithsonian.
date made
ca 1912
user
Ellis, Bernice P.
maker
Eastman Kodak Company
ID Number
1986.0173.38
accession number
1986.0173
catalog number
1986.0173.38
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1870-1900
ID Number
CL.65.0997
catalog number
65.0997
accession number
256396
Made of painted wood. Very little trace of original paint. Small standing figure holding a box of cigars, right hand pointing to label. Large curving feathered headdres, simple tunic with a curled collar carved in a baroque style. Banded sleves and fringed trousers.
Description (Brief)
Made of painted wood. Very little trace of original paint. Small standing figure holding a box of cigars, right hand pointing to label. Large curving feathered headdres, simple tunic with a curled collar carved in a baroque style. Banded sleves and fringed trousers. Legs cut into the log support.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
CL.65.1003
accession number
261195
catalog number
65.1003
collector/donor number
T-42
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.65.0999
catalog number
65.0999
accession number
256396
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.65.0983
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.0983
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
CL.65.1146
catalog number
65.1146
accession number
256396
Made of stained wood with some paint. Smal, dark-skinned figure holding a pipe in right hand and a bundle of tobacco leaves in the left. Feather headress, feather skirt, and beads around neck.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Made of stained wood with some paint. Smal, dark-skinned figure holding a pipe in right hand and a bundle of tobacco leaves in the left. Feather headress, feather skirt, and beads around neck.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th to early 19th century
ID Number
CL.65.1002
accession number
261195
catalog number
65.1002
collector/donor number
T-20
Made of carved wood with traces of paint. Standing figure, right hand holds a bundle of cigars. Figure is wearing a simplified, short-sleeved tunic, fringed trousers. Behind figure are stacked tobacco boxes. Simplified banded headdress.
Description (Brief)
Made of carved wood with traces of paint. Standing figure, right hand holds a bundle of cigars. Figure is wearing a simplified, short-sleeved tunic, fringed trousers. Behind figure are stacked tobacco boxes. Simplified banded headdress. Sheaf of tobacco leaves in left hand.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
CL.65.1001
catalog number
65.1001
accession number
261195
collector/donor number
T-43
This large Chinese export bowl features a panoramic view of the hongs—the office, warehouse, and living spaces for foreign merchants in Canton, China, in the late 18th century.
Description
This large Chinese export bowl features a panoramic view of the hongs—the office, warehouse, and living spaces for foreign merchants in Canton, China, in the late 18th century. There European and American merchants traded with their Chinese counterparts for highly desirable teas, silks, and porcelains. The presence of the Stars and Stripes outside the American factory suggests that the bowl was made in or after 1785, following America’s entry into direct trade with China in 1784. (Note that the Chinese artist painted the stars in blue on the white porcelain background, probably for technical reasons rather than in error.) The flags of France, Britain, Spain, Denmark, and Sweden also can be seen outside their respective factories. Punch bowls depicting the hongs were exotic souvenir items, brought back to America by the East Coast entrepreneurs who sailed to China as independent merchants, thereby breaking dependence on the British East India Company to provide the former colonies with tea and other luxury goods.
The Chinese produced bowls like this in the town of Jingdezhen in southern China specifically for the western market. Undecorated, they were carried five hundred miles overland to Canton, where enamel decoration was applied in workshops close to the hongs. On completion a large bowl like this was packed in a crate with several others and dispatched through the hongs. All goods for export were ferried in the small boats seen painted on this bowl, to the deep-water port of Whampoa farther down the Pearl River.
A large bowl of this kind would have been used to serve punch. The word “punch” is thought to derive from the Hindu word “pànch,” meaning “five”—for the number of ingredients used to make the brew.The custom of drinking punch reached the West through the East India trade. Punch bowls became indispensable at convivial male gatherings in the clubs, societies, and private homes of the port cities on the American East Coast in the late 18th century.
The Smithsonian Institution acquired this bowl in 1961 from dealer Herbert Schiffer. Before coming to the Smithsonian, the bowl had been broken and repaired, and then it was heavily damaged in a 1958 fire. After the fire Helen Kean, a specialist in the restoration of ceramics, reconstructed the bowl from shattered fragments. Once it came to the Smithsonian, conservators performed a radical restoration, referring to very similar hong bowls held in collections at the Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum in Delaware, and the Reeves Collection at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Date made
18th century
date made
1785-1795
ID Number
CE.61.8
catalog number
61.8
accession number
234613
Unknown artist, about 1894“Cheyenne Picture. Warrior Killing a Soldier.”Ink and watercolorThis drawing shows the victory of a Cheyenne warrior over a U.S. Army soldier.
Description
Unknown artist, about 1894
“Cheyenne Picture. Warrior Killing a Soldier.”
Ink and watercolor
This drawing shows the victory of a Cheyenne warrior over a U.S. Army soldier. The artist depicts the warrior counting coup on his enemy by touching the fallen soldier with his riding whip (quirt). Counting coup - in this instance touching an adversary in battle - was considered an act of bravery that could gain war honors. This single event took place during a larger battle against many adversaries, as indicated by the large number of rifles at the left.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1875
date made
ca 1894
original artist
unknown
ID Number
GA.08111
accession number
1897.031963
catalog number
GA*08111
accession number
1897.31963
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1871 - 1893
ID Number
1978.0635.01
accession number
1978.0635
catalog number
1978.0635.01
This exotic Eastern-influenced dress was designed by Callot Soeurs, a popular Parisian fashion house.The dress was worn by Mrs.
Description
This exotic Eastern-influenced dress was designed by Callot Soeurs, a popular Parisian fashion house.
The dress was worn by Mrs. Florence Sheffield Keep, a prominent Washingtonian whose busy social schedule and contacts within the diplomatic community were often noted in the Washington, DC and New York City newspapers. It is possible that this dress was worn to a diplomatic event in Washington, DC.
Callot Soeurs opened in 1895 at 24, rue Taibout in Paris, France. It was founded and operated by four sisters: Marie Callot Gerber, Marthe Callot Bertrand, Regina Callot Tennyson-Chantrell, and Josephine Callot Crimont with Marie being the head designer. Coming from an artistic family, their mother was a lace maker and their father a painter and teacher of design. Before opening the salon, the sisters first worked with antique laces and ribbons to adorn blouses and lingerie. They later expanded into other clothing to include daywear, tailored suits, and evening dresses being best known for their eighteenth century inspired dishabille and their exotic evening dress influenced by the East. In 1914, the design house moved to grander quarters at 9-11, avenue Matignon, and they became involved in Le syndicat de defense de la grande couture francaise. Through this organization Callot Soeurs along with designers Paul Poiret, Jacques Worth, Jeanne Paquin, Madeleine Cheruit, Paul Rodier, and Bianchini and Ferier, put in place controls to protect their original designs from copy houses that sold them to ready-to-wear manufacturers without their permission. This is the time when the Callot Soeurs began to date their labels.
As evident with the design of this dress of bright orange color, gold lace, and elaborate trim, in the 1920’s, Callot Soeurs used brilliant and rich fauvist colors and Eastern inspired designs with exotic details in their formal evening wear. Along with other designers such as Paul Poiret, they were strongly influenced by the wave of orientalism in fashion and the arts. It was during this period that Callot Soeurs became one of the leading fashion houses in Paris, serving exclusive clientele from Europe and the United States. In 1928, Pierre Gerber, Marie Callot Gerber’s son took over the business and moved it to 41, avenue Montaigne. It remained there until Marie retired in 1937. It was at this time that the House of Callot Soeurs closed and was absorbed into the House of Calvert.
This dress is constructed of bright orange silk chiffon with a lining of off-white satin. Gold metallic lace trim and elaborate decorative motifs of beading and iridescent sequins decorate entire dress. The bodice section forms a deep V at front and back with the under bodice lining covered with net forming an insert at center front. Bands of lace and decorated chiffon form diagonal straps at front with at a criss-cross pattern at back. A large decorative diamond-shape emblem of pearls, green and blue beads, and glass stones at corners and center are attached at lower edge of bodice front insert. Five pearl tassels extend from lower edge of the emblem. Horizontal bands of two-inch wide gold metallic lace centered with a band of beaded orange chiffon are set in at the mid-section of the dress. Long tails of chiffon decorated all over with beading and sequins are shirred at the shoulders forming a flowing sleeve-like appearance. The decorated orange chiffon skirt section has an inverted V insert of two-inch gold metallic lace at front which extends into a horizontal band at back. A scalloped pattern at the lower edge has an insert of gold metallic lace. A label woven into a waistband at inside lining reads: “Hiver 1922-1923, Callot Soeurs, Paris, Nouvelle Marque Deposee”.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1922-1923
used by
Keep, Florence Sheffield Boardman
maker
Callot Soeurs
Callot Soeurs
ID Number
CS.057028
catalog number
57028
accession number
202244
Migrant farm workers had to use the short-handled hoe or el cortito for thinning and weeding. Because it required them to stoop during long hours in the fields, the hoe became a symbol of the exploitive working conditions.
Description
Migrant farm workers had to use the short-handled hoe or el cortito for thinning and weeding. Because it required them to stoop during long hours in the fields, the hoe became a symbol of the exploitive working conditions. Campaigns by the United Farm Workers and others helped outlaw use of the hoe in 1975.
American agriculture’s dependence on Mexican labor has always been a source of great conflict and great opportunity for field workers and the agriculture industry. In the U.S., agricultural labor was overwhelmingly Mexican and Mexican American. Issues of legal status, workers rights, and use of domestic workers are issues the unions, agricultural producers, and the federal government have been struggling with since the 1920’s.
ID Number
2009.0134.01
catalog number
2009.0134.01
accession number
2009.0134
This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Short Ribs comic strip shows the wedding of Gert and a younger, attractive man who appears to have been the victim of a spell.Frank O’Neal (1921-1986) sold his first cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post in 1950.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Short Ribs comic strip shows the wedding of Gert and a younger, attractive man who appears to have been the victim of a spell.
Frank O’Neal (1921-1986) sold his first cartoon to the Saturday Evening Post in 1950. In 1958 he debuted his Short Ribs comic strip and continued to draw the strip until 1973. His assistant, Frank Hill, then took over the strip and O’Neal spent the rest of his career creating advertising art.
Short Ribs (1958-1982) was a strip without a regular cast or a continuous setting. With some frequency, however, the strip took place in a castle in Medieval Europe. Other locations included Ancient Egypt or the American West. The storylines regularly made references to 20th-century events.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-04-17
graphic artist
O'Neal, Frank
publisher
NEA, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22568
catalog number
22568
accession number
277502

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