Cultures & Communities - Overview
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.
"Cultures & Communities - Overview" showing 893 items.
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San José
- Description
- The santos collected by Teodoro Vidal were objects of religious devotion. Note the milagros tied to this base of the figure of San José. Saint Joseph is often depicted with his staff as he carries the Christ Child.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- late 19th-early 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0849
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0849
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Milagros
- Description
- Ex-votos, called milagros in Spanish, are offerings to a particular saint for help in curing an ailment. Many milagros are in the shape of specific body parts. Usually made of silver or tin, they can also be found in wax, gold, and other metals. Santos and milagros in the Vidal Collection date from the 1700s.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1006.001
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1006.001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Güiro
- Description
- A traditional instrument of the Taínos, the unusual güiro is made from the seed pod of the native flamboyán, also know as the flame tree. It is played by scraping the carved ridges with the tines of a special pick or scraper.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1074
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1074
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Güiro
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1077
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1077
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tiple
- Description
- The tiple, Puerto Rico's smallest string instrument, shows great regional variations in how it is strung and tuned. It and its jumbo version, the bordonúa, were often played to accompany religious songs. While the melodic cuatro has been embraced as a popular symbol of puertorriqueñidad (Puerto Ricanness), the tiple nearly disappeared in the 20th century.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- late 19th-early 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1078
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1078
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tiple
- Description
- The tiple, the smallest string instrument in Puerto Rico, may be the one with the most regional variety. Small guitar or ukulele-like instruments are found throughout Latin America with the name tiple. The Puerto Rican tiple is derived from an instrument of the same name brought by settlers from the Canary Islands.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- early 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1081
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1081
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Cuatro
- 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.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1082
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1082
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Pandereta
- Description
- This large, hand-held drum, known in Puerto Rico as a pandereta, is an essential instrument in the musical genre known as plena. The plena was developed by agricultural workers at the end of the 19th century on the southern coast of the island, around the city of Ponce. Considered a national musical genre throughout the 20th century, the plena may have originally reflected musical traditions brought to Puerto Rico by immigrants from other Caribbean islands. This example is from the city of Mayagüez.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1083
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1083
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Maracas
- Description
- This pair of maracas is made from the dried, gourd-like fruit of the calabash or higüero tree. Their construction and the painted words "Puerto Rico" indicate that they were produced as souvenirs or emblems of national identity rather than as functional musical instruments.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1084
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1084
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Rosary
- Description
- The beads in this rosary are made from wood, and four large milagros, or "miracles" representing offerings to a particular saint, are attached to the rosary. Rosaries are strings of beads used by Catholics to repeat prayers such as the "Hail Mary" and the "Our Father". Sometimes they are offered as tokens of special thanks to particular saints. Rosaries in the Vidal Collection are made from a wide variety of materials such as silver, gold, horn, seed, wood, and coral.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.1088.001
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.1088.001
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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