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.

Scrimshaw Sperm Whale Tooth, mid 19th Century

The main surface of this large sperm whale tooth is etched with the famous scene of Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas 1776 into New Jersey.
Description
The main surface of this large sperm whale tooth is etched with the famous scene of Washington crossing the Delaware River on Christmas 1776 into New Jersey. The river was filled with ice, and the rowers had to push it out of their way to get across the river in their heavy, flat-bottom Durham cargo boats. In all, Washington transported ca. 2,400 troops across the Delaware that day. After crossing, they marched nine miles to Trenton, NJ, where they surprised and conquered the British Hessian troops.
The absence of any pinholes indicates that the artist of this piece carved it freehand, but its subject indicates that the artist had a good look at the many images of the famous scene before he began carving. The back of the tooth is smoothed but uncarved, with a large piece missing from the bottom edge.
Scrimshaw began in the late 18th or early 19th century as the art of carving whale bone and ivory aboard whale ships. The crew on whalers had plenty of leisure time between sighting and chasing whales, and the hard parts of whales were readily available on voyages that could last up to four years.
In its simplest form, a tooth was removed from the lower jaw of a sperm whale and the surface was prepared by scraping and sanding until it was smooth. The easiest way to begin an etching was to smooth a print over the tooth, prick the outline of the image with a needle and then “connect-the-dots” once the paper was removed. This allowed even unskilled craftsmen to create fine carvings. Some sailors were skilled enough to etch their drawings freehand. After the lines were finished, they were filled in with lamp black or sometimes colored pigments.
Scrimshaw could be decorative, like simple sperm whale teeth, or they could be useful, as in ivory napkin rings, corset busks (stiffeners), swifts for winding yarn or pie crimpers. The sailor’s hand-carved scrimshaw was then given to loved ones back on shore as souvenirs of the hard and lonely life aboard long and dangerous voyages.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
mid 19th century
ID Number
DL.374497
catalog number
374497
accession number
136263

Pamphlet, "70,000 American Refugees - Made in USA"

Many fellow US citizens recognized the unjust interment of American people and went so far as to question the democratic ideology of the US government. Truman B. Douglass was one of these advocates.
Description
Many fellow US citizens recognized the unjust interment of American people and went so far as to question the democratic ideology of the US government. Truman B. Douglass was one of these advocates. In this pamphlet that he authored, Douglass called attention to these horrible circumstances and compelled others to move against the unfair treatment of American citizens of Japanese ancestry.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Douglass, Truman B.
ID Number
1986.3144.34
nonaccession number
1986.3144
catalog number
1986.3144.34

Indian with Tomahawk Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0920
catalog number
65.0920
accession number
256396

Card case

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2011.0164.25
catalog number
2011.0164.25
accession number
2011.0164

David and Goliath

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1763
ID Number
CL.65.1142
catalog number
65.1142
accession number
256396

Miss Esther Copp's Psalms Book

This book is a collection of psalms given to Esther Copp of Stonington, Connecticut on November 24, 1783. The book contained a collection of tunes taken from the book, The Chorister’s Companion, a collection of psalms and hymns first published in 1782.
Description
This book is a collection of psalms given to Esther Copp of Stonington, Connecticut on November 24, 1783. The book contained a collection of tunes taken from the book, The Chorister’s Companion, a collection of psalms and hymns first published in 1782. Esther would have been about 29 years old at the time, and the book was given by “a sincere friend to all lovers of Psalmody.”
The Copp Collection contains about 150 books of early American imprint and shows a wide range of reading matter typical of a New England Puritan family living in a port town. Literacy was expected of many New Englanders, as Puritan doctrine required everyone to read the Bible. The abundance of multiple Bibles, psalms, hymnodies, sermons, and morality tales reflects the Copp’s religious beliefs. Other highlights of the library include the works of Shakespeare, almanacs, historical and political texts, and travel narratives.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
DL.006865.01
accession number
28810
catalog number
6865.01

Letter to his parents from Samuel and Pheobe Copp

The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s.
Description
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1816-05-13
originator (author or composer, etc.)
Copp, Jr., Samuel
recipient
Copp, Dolly Brown
originator (author or composer, etc.)
Copp, Jr., Samuel
recipient
Copp, Samuel
originator (author, etc.)
Copp, Jr., Samuel
Copp, Pheobe
ID Number
DL.006873.053
catalog number
6873.053
accession number
28810

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Blondie

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Blondie comic strip shows the title character cooking a big dinner for her family, which they all enjoy and praise.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Blondie comic strip shows the title character cooking a big dinner for her family, which they all enjoy and praise. Blondie is left disappointed when everybody disappears once it comes time to clean up.
Murat Bernard "Chic" Young (1901-1973) began working as a comic artist in 1921 on the strip The Affairs of Jane. The strip was published by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. A few years later Young was hired by King Features Syndicate to draw the strip Dumb Dora, which ran until 1935. Young had modest success with other strips, but his debut of Blondie in 1930 far overshadowed his other artistic products. He drew the strip until his death in 1973.
Blondie (1930- ) is portrayed as a sweet, if not featherbrained, young woman whose 1933 marriage to the affluent Dagwood Bumstead made national news. The strip followed the young couple after Bumstead’s parents disowned him because of their aversion to Blondie. The strip continued to gain in popularity after the introduction of Blondie and Dagwood’s two children, Alexander and Cookie.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-02-24
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22395
catalog number
22395
accession number
277502

Children of the Abbey, Vol. II

Regina Maria Roche’s Children of the Abbey, Volume II was published by Deare & Andrews of New York, in 1805.
Description
Regina Maria Roche’s Children of the Abbey, Volume II was published by Deare & Andrews of New York, in 1805. Roche‘s novel was published in four volumes, and the tale follows trials and tribulations of Oscar and Amanda Fitzalan, the children of an Irish soldier and a wealthy Scottish heiress. The children’s misfortune begins after their mother’s passing when a forged will costs them their inheritance. Amanda is pursued by the lecherous Colonel Belgrave, while pining for Lord Mortimer of Cherbury, her true love. Oscar is in love with beautiful Adela Honeywood, who is married off to the loathsome Colonel Belgrave. Devastated, Oscar leaves the army and ends up in prison. With the help of her grandmother’s ghost, Amanda rediscovers the rightful will written by her grandfather bequeathing the estate to the siblings. At the end of the novel the siblings are reunited with their true loves, while the villains of the novel are punished or killed. Our heroes regain their aristocratic inheritance and live happily ever after.
The Copp Collection contains about 150 books of early American imprint and shows a wide range of reading matter typical of a New England Puritan family living in a port town. Literacy was expected of many New Englanders, as Puritan doctrine required everyone to read the Bible. The abundance of multiple Bibles, psalms, hymnodies, sermons, and morality tales reflects the Copp’s religious beliefs. Other highlights of the library include the works of Shakespeare, almanacs, historical and political texts, and travel narratives.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
DL.006868.048
catalog number
006868.048
accession number
28810

Picture postcard "The Corridors, San Juan Bautista Mission, Calif. Founded 1797"

This postcard view of Mission San Juan Bautista was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."The Detroit Publishing Company, previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company, was first listed in
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission San Juan Bautista was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."
The Detroit Publishing Company, previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company, was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888. Its manager, William A. Livingstone, invited the famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images, which would be used by the company.
Mission San Juan Bautista was the fifteenth of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions founded in California between 1769 and 1823. It was established to convert American Indians of the Mutsun, or Costanoan, and Yokuts tribes to Catholicism.
Today the mission serves as a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1910
graphic artist
Detroit Publishing Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.2018
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.639.2018

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Mr. Merryweather

Mr. Merryweather, created and drawn by Dick Turner (1909-1999), was a companion strip to his other comic, Carnival. The comic was distributed by the Newspaper Enterprise Association from 1940-1972.
Description
Mr. Merryweather, created and drawn by Dick Turner (1909-1999), was a companion strip to his other comic, Carnival. The comic was distributed by the Newspaper Enterprise Association from 1940-1972. The comic was based on the humor and humiliations of everyday life in a small town. In this strip, Mr. Merryweather deals with restaurant culture in five individual gag-joke panels.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
06/19/1966
publisher
NEA, Inc.
graphic artist
Turner, Dick
ID Number
GA.22525
catalog number
22525
accession number
277502

Letter to Esther Copp from Eliza Chesebrough

The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s.
Description
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
recipient
Copp, Esther
ID Number
DL.006873.107
catalog number
6873.107
accession number
28810

Horse Weathervane

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850-1899
ID Number
CL.65.0936
catalog number
65.0936
accession number
256396

Sister's Gift ..., the

The Copp Collection contains about 150 books of early American imprint and shows a wide range of reading matter typical of a New England Puritan family living in a port town. Literacy was expected of many New Englanders, as Puritan doctrine required everyone to read the Bible.
Description
The Copp Collection contains about 150 books of early American imprint and shows a wide range of reading matter typical of a New England Puritan family living in a port town. Literacy was expected of many New Englanders, as Puritan doctrine required everyone to read the Bible. The abundance of multiple Bibles, psalms, hymnodies, sermons, and morality tales reflects the Copp’s religious beliefs. Other highlights of the library include the works of Shakespeare, almanacs, historical and political texts, and travel narratives.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
DL.006875.02.01
catalog number
6875.02.01
accession number
28810

Letter to Esther Copp from William Copp

The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s.
Description
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1801-02-26
recipient
Copp, Esther
ID Number
DL.006873.112
catalog number
6873.112
accession number
28810

Picture postcard, "La Purísima Mission, Founded 1787, near Santa Barbara, California"

This postcard view of La Purísima Concepcíon Mission was printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company in Los Angeles, Calif.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of La Purísima Concepcíon Mission was printed by the Van Ornum Colorprint Company in Los Angeles, Calif. using photomechanical processes.
The Van Ornum firm (1908-1921) was one of many picture postcard publishing companies producing California landmark scenes.
Mission La Purísima Concepcíon is located northwest of Santa Barbara in Lompoc, California. It was the eleventh of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions founded in California between 1769 and 1823, and was established to convert American Indians of the Chumash tribe to Catholicism.
Today the mission, along with the Mission San Francisco de Solano in Sonoma, is managed by the California State Park system.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1908-1921
graphic artist
Van Ornum Colorprint Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.0496
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.0639.0496

Letter to his parents from Elisha

The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s.
Description
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1812-06-02
originator (author or composer, etc.)
Copp, Jr., Samuel
Copp, Dolly Emery
recipient
Copp, Jr., Samuel
Maker
Copp, Jr., Samuel
originator (author, etc.)
Starr, Elisha
ID Number
DL.006873.029
catalog number
6873.029
accession number
28810

Darkness at Noon

Darkness at Noon was a pamphlet published by D. Carlisle & A. Newell of Boston, Massachusetts in May of 1806. It described the particularities of the solar eclipse that was to occur.
Description
Darkness at Noon was a pamphlet published by D. Carlisle & A. Newell of Boston, Massachusetts in May of 1806. It described the particularities of the solar eclipse that was to occur. The pamphlet featured copious details including: the time of its expected start, the time it would end, the duration, the motions of the heavens that brought it about, and a listing of past eclipses.
The Copp Collection contains about 150 books of early American imprint and shows a wide range of reading matter typical of a New England Puritan family living in a port town. Literacy was expected of many New Englanders, as Puritan doctrine required everyone to read the Bible. The abundance of multiple Bibles, psalms, hymnodies, sermons, and morality tales reflects the Copp’s religious beliefs. Other highlights of the library include the works of Shakespeare, almanacs, historical and political texts, and travel narratives.
The Copp Collection contains a variety of household objects that the Copp family of Connecticut used from around 1700 until the mid-1800s. Part of the Puritan Great Migration from England to Boston, the family eventually made their home in New London County, Connecticut, where their textiles, clothes, utensils, ceramics, books, bibles, and letters provide a vivid picture of daily life. More of the collection from the Division of Home and Community Life can be viewed by searching accession number 28810.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
DL.006868.018
catalog number
6868.018
accession number
28810

Indians discovery U.S. Cavalry

Koba aka Wild Horse (Kiowa),drawn between 1875 and 1878 at Fort Marion, Florida"Indian Discovery of U.S. Cavalry"Collected by Richard Henry Pratt about 1878Colored pencil, ink, and watercolorThe focus of this drawing by Koba is a Kiowa warrior coming down from his lookout hill.
Description
Koba aka Wild Horse (Kiowa),
drawn between 1875 and 1878 at Fort Marion, Florida
"Indian Discovery of U.S. Cavalry"
Collected by Richard Henry Pratt about 1878
Colored pencil, ink, and watercolor
The focus of this drawing by Koba is a Kiowa warrior coming down from his lookout hill. He carries a pair of field glasses (either a trade item or possibly taken from an enemy combatant) which assisted him in the discovery of the cavalry unit riding nearby. The Kiowa camp below is at rest; tribesmen welcome the scout's return and warning.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1875-1878
original artist
Koba
ID Number
2008.0175.52
catalog number
2008.0175.052
accession number
2008.0175

Picture postcard, "San Carlos Borroméo (El Carmel Mission) near Monterey, California - 1770."

This postcard view of San Carlos Borroméo (El Carmel Mission) was printed by the Curt Teich Company of Chicago using photomechanical processes. The card was published about 1914 by the I. L.
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of San Carlos Borroméo (El Carmel Mission) was printed by the Curt Teich Company of Chicago using photomechanical processes. The card was published 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," later "colortone,' to describe its color printing processes.
Mission San Carlos Borroméo del rio Carmelo is situated on the Monterey Peninsula in Carmel, Calif. It was the second of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions to be established in California between 1769 and 1823, and was built to convert American Indians of the Esselen and Ohlone, or Costanoan, tribes to Catholicism. It was moved from its original location in Monterey to its present site in 1771.
Today the mission in Carmel Valley serves as a parish church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1914
graphic artist
Eno, I. L.
ID Number
1986.0639.0331
accession number
1986.0639
catalog number
1986.0639.0331

Face Vessel

The earliest face vessels known to have been produced by white southern potters were probably not made until the end of the 1800s.
Description
The earliest face vessels known to have been produced by white southern potters were probably not made until the end of the 1800s. White potters working in the Edgefield area in the mid-1800s may have seen similar vessels made by African American potters who were enslaved, and taken the idea with them as they moved out of South Carolina.
Like many southern pottery families, the Brown family encompasses a line of potters generations long. The Browns began making pottery in west-central Georgia by the mid-1800s before migrating east to the Atlanta area after the Civil War. The family spread
from there to North and South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas. This piece, on the left, may have been produced by the Brown family of Georgia in the early 1900s.
This face vessel came to the Museum as part of the Van Alstyne Collection of American Folk Art. Eleanor and Mabel Van Alstyne collected more than 300 examples of American folk art over a period of about 40 years.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 1900s
maker
Brown Pottery
ID Number
CE.65.1067
catalog number
65.1067
accession number
256396

Picture postcard, "Corridor at Santa Barbara Mission, Calif. Founded 1786"

This postcard view of Mission Santa Barbara was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first listed in Det
Description (Brief)
This postcard view of Mission Santa Barbara was printed by the Detroit Publishing Company in about 1910, using a copyrighted photolithographic process called "Photostint."
The Detroit Publishing Company (previously known as the Detroit Photographic Company) was first listed in Detroit city directories in 1888. Its manager, William A. Livingstone, invited famous landscape photographer William Henry Jackson to join the company as a partner in 1897. Jackson brought with him his own photographic images, which would be used by the company.
Mission Santa Barbara was founded on December 4th, 1786, the tenth of twenty-one Spanish Franciscan missions founded in California between 1769 and 1823. The mission was established 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 1910
graphic artist
Detroit Publishing Co.
ID Number
1986.0639.2039
catalog number
1986.639.2039
accession number
1986.0639

Stove Plate or Fireback

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1748
ID Number
CL.65.1139
accession number
256396
catalog number
65.1139

Pliers

Slip Joint Pliers are for gripping round work, such as pipes and nuts. These pliers are made of steel, have an adjustable grip and yellow plastic covered handles. Made by Fuller Tools. Fuller first started in Whitestone New York in the 1930's.
Description
Slip Joint Pliers are for gripping round work, such as pipes and nuts. These pliers are made of steel, have an adjustable grip and yellow plastic covered handles. Made by Fuller Tools. Fuller first started in Whitestone New York in the 1930's. In 1944 two Canadian brothers, Stanley and Lloyd Davis set up production and made tools near Montreal. In the early 1990's, Fuller moved to Montreal and the US manufacturing facility was consolidated with the Canadian facility. These pliers were used by Jillian Gross while working for Habitat for Humanity, a not-for-profit, non-government organization advocating affordable housing around the world.
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. The plyers were found in the tool belt.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2005.0276.23
catalog number
2005.0276.23
accession number
2005.0276

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