Family & Social Life

Donations to the Museum have preserved irreplaceable evidence about generations of ordinary Americans. Objects from the Copp household of Stonington, Connecticut, include many items used by a single family from 1740 to 1850. Other donations have brought treasured family artifacts from jewelry to prom gowns. These gifts and many others are all part of the Museum's family and social life collections.

Children's books and Sunday school lessons, tea sets and family portraits also mark the connections between members of a family and between families and the larger society. Prints, advertisements, and artifacts offer nostalgic or idealized images of family life and society in times past. And the collections include a few modern conveniences that have had profound effects on American families and social life, such as televisions, video games, and personal computers.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
2000-05-05
maker
Kennerly, David Hume
ID Number
2003.0005.009
catalog number
2003.0005.009
accession number
2003.0005
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
2006-01-22
date made
2006
Associated Date
January 22, 2006
ID Number
2006.0053.02
accession number
2006.0053
catalog number
2006.0053.02
MC Lyte. MC Lyte is Lytro da Undaground Heat, Vol. 1.(BMG ‎– 80119-01094-2). CDCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
MC Lyte. MC Lyte is Lytro da Undaground Heat, Vol. 1.
(BMG ‎– 80119-01094-2). CD
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2003
maker
Lyte, MC
ID Number
2006.0057.03
accession number
2006.0057
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
2000-02-06
maker
Kennerly, David Hume
ID Number
2003.0005.010
catalog number
2003.0005.010
accession number
2003.0005
Del McCoury's voice is known as one of the finest examples of traditional bluegrass's "high lonesome" sound. Delano Floyd McCoury (b.1939) got his first big break in 1963 when Bill Monroe hired McCoury's band to play a few shows.
Description
Del McCoury's voice is known as one of the finest examples of traditional bluegrass's "high lonesome" sound. Delano Floyd McCoury (b.1939) got his first big break in 1963 when Bill Monroe hired McCoury's band to play a few shows. McCoury briefly joined Monroe's band, but returned to a successful career with his own group. He was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry in 2004.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1975
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.013
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.013
Beginning in 1936, brothers Earl (1919-1998) and Bill Bolick (b. 1917), known for their intricate melodies on guitar and mandolin, influenced many other duet performers.
Description
Beginning in 1936, brothers Earl (1919-1998) and Bill Bolick (b. 1917), known for their intricate melodies on guitar and mandolin, influenced many other duet performers. The Blue Sky Boys retired in 1951, but returned to performing in 1962, drawn by the rising interest in folk and traditional country music.
Location
Currently not on view
negative
1974
print
2003
maker
Horenstein, Henry
ID Number
2003.0169.002
accession number
2003.0169
catalog number
2003.0169.002
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
2000-08-26
depicted (sitter)
Cheney, Richard B.
maker
Kennerly, David Hume
ID Number
2003.0005.105
accession number
2003.0005
catalog number
2003.0005.105
Sold mostly at craft and folk fairs, toys like this show how artisans on the island have creatively used and re-used rubber, metal, paper, and other natural materials.Juguetes como éste, que se venden en su mayoría en las ferias de artesanías y cosas típicas, son prueba del modo
Description
Sold mostly at craft and folk fairs, toys like this show how artisans on the island have creatively used and re-used rubber, metal, paper, and other natural materials.
Description (Spanish)
Juguetes como éste, que se venden en su mayoría en las ferias de artesanías y cosas típicas, son prueba del modo en que los artesanos recurrían a la creatividad para reutilizar el caucho, el metal, el papel y otros materiales naturales.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
20th century
maker
unknown
ID Number
1997.0097.1211
accession number
1997.0097
catalog number
1997.0097.1211
Natalia Flores wore this pink silver-embroidered evening gown for her Quinceanera held in Chicago in 2006. Quinceaneras are a Latina religious tradition that celebrate the maturing of a girl into a woman.
Description
Natalia Flores wore this pink silver-embroidered evening gown for her Quinceanera held in Chicago in 2006. Quinceaneras are a Latina religious tradition that celebrate the maturing of a girl into a woman. Traditionally, the celebration takes place on the girl's fifteenth birthday, is religious in nature, and involves her dressing in a formal gown.
American immigrants have strived to preserve their cultural identities through performing these traditions. Although Natalia's mother did not have a Quinceanera in Mexico, she thought it was important for her daughter to experience this custom in America.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2006
distributor
P.C. Mary's Inc.
wearer
Flores, Natalia
maker
unknown
ID Number
2009.0169.001
accession number
2009.0169
catalog number
2009.0169.001

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