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: 1880s

Ancient Order of United Workmen Benefit Certificate

The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was one of the first fraternal associations to provide mutual insurance policies for its members.
Description
The Ancient Order of United Workmen (AOUW) was one of the first fraternal associations to provide mutual insurance policies for its members. Founded in 1868, the AOUW was organized in a similar fashion to the Odd Fellows and Freemasons, providing mutual assistance, support, and organization for working men in a community. During this time, insurance was mainly available to commercial interests, but the AOUW and other labor-associated groups provided a financial safety net for its individual members in the occurrence of illness or death.
Albert H. Fowler bequeathed his Ancient Order of United Workmen $2,000 death benefit to his son, Clarence Fowler, upon his death September 30, 1888. Fowler served as the recorder for the lodge in Carroll County, New Hampshire which was governed by the Grand Lodge in Massachusetts. The Death Certificate is number 688 and bears a blue seal from the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts and a red seal from the Carroll Lodge No. 7.
Location
Currently not on view
signed
1888
ID Number
1992.0021.01
catalog number
1992.0021.01
accession number
1992.0021

French Horsehair Trunk

This horsehair-covered trunk has a domed top, iron straps, loop handles, and two iron latches. The initials R and D are stenciled onto the ends, and the number 10 appears beneath the handles.
Description
This horsehair-covered trunk has a domed top, iron straps, loop handles, and two iron latches. The initials R and D are stenciled onto the ends, and the number 10 appears beneath the handles. The trunk was brought from France in 1881 by an unknown Dominican sister when she joined a group of four nuns from Oullins, France. They had established a strictly cloistered life at Newark, New Jersey, the previous year, having been invited to the United States by the archbishop of New York.
Their religious observances included rising at midnight for Matins and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament, as well as abstinence, fasting, sleeping on board beds, and enduring the cold. After two years, the community of Dominican sisters numbered fifteen. In April 1884, the group moved to a new home at the Monastery of Saint Dominic, in Newark, and within nine years, all 47 rooms in the new monastery were occupied.
This trunk remained at the monastery until 1974, when it was purchased by the Smithsonian as an example of immigration, faith, and shared experiences in the United States. It was displayed in the Museum’s Bicentennial exhibition, A Nation of Nations, from 1976 to 1988.
Date made
1880
ID Number
CL.314563.02
catalog number
314563.02
accession number
314563

Fox and Geese Game Board

This 9-inch square board with 32 holes was made for playing Fox and Geese, a game of strategy between two players. The 19 pegs representing geese and a single longer peg for the fox are long gone from this particular board made in Gloucester, Massachusetts.
Description
This 9-inch square board with 32 holes was made for playing Fox and Geese, a game of strategy between two players. The 19 pegs representing geese and a single longer peg for the fox are long gone from this particular board made in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Fox and Geese was among the games played by fishermen during idle times on sailing schooners working in the North Atlantic fisheries. This board was part of a display on “Habits of Fishermen,” at the International Fisheries Exhibition in London in 1883. Other games in the display, all from Gloucester, included cards, a checkerboard, backgammon, and a diamond puzzle.
The rules of play for Fox and Geese are simple: one player controls the fox, while the other controls the geese. The fox can move in a straight line in any direction and, as it jumps over geese, the geese are removed from the board. To win, the fox must break through the entire line of geese. The geese are only allowed to move forward or sideways. To win, they must corner the fox so it cannot move.
The Oxford English Dictionary cites a 1633 reference to the game from a play called Fine Companion by Shackerley Marmion: “Let him sit in the shop . . . and let him play at fox and geese with the foreman.” The game was played in colonial America and, with minor variations, well into the 19th and 20th centuries.
This game board was one of several items donated to the Smithsonian by Capt. George Merchant Jr., of Gloucester.
Location
Currently not on view (Pegs from gameboard)
Date made
1883
ID Number
AG.057950
catalog number
057950
accession number
12158

Firefighter's Helmet

The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T.
Description (Brief)
The traditional American leather firefighter’s helmet with its distinctive long rear brim, frontpiece, and crest adornment was first developed around 1821-1836 in New York City. Henry T. Gratacap, a New York City luggage maker by trade, is often credited as the developer of this style of fire helmet. Gratacap created a specially treated leather helmet with a segmented “comb” design that led to unparalleled durability and strength. The elongated rear brim (also known as a duckbill or beavertail) and frontpiece were 19th century innovations that remain the most identifiable feature of firefighter’s helmets. The body of the helmet was primarily designed to deflect falling debris, the rear brim prevented water from running down firefighters’ backs, and their sturdy crowns could aid, if necessary, in breaking windows.
This leather fire helmet was made by Cairns & Brother of New York, New York around 1883 until 1885. The helmet is composed of 16 combs, painted yellow, with an eagle frontpiece holder on the crown and a rear brim embossed with hose and hydrants. The leather frontpiece is painted gold with the text “ASSISTANT/ENGINEER” above an image of a spider-type hose carriage, with the initials “P.Z.” underneath. The initials stand for Peter Zeluff, an assistant engineer in Paterson, New Jersey during the late 19th century who owned the hat.
Description
Worn by Peter Zeluff, assistant chief engineer
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1883-1885
user
Zeluff, Peter
maker
Cairns & Brother
ID Number
2005.0233.0015
accession number
2005.0233
catalog number
2005.0233.0015

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