Military - Overview
The Museum's superb military collections document the history of the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. The collections include ordnance, firearms, and swords; uniforms and insignia; national and military flags and banners; and many other objects.
The strength of the collections lies in their enormous depth. Some 3,000 military small arms and 2,400 civilian firearms document the mechanical and technological history of the infantryman's weapons from the beginning of the gunpowder era to the present. Among the 4,000 swords and knives in the collection are many spectacular presentation pieces. The collections also include Civil War era telegraph equipment, home front artifacts from both world wars, early computers such as ENIAC, Whirlwind, and Sage, and materials carried at antiwar demonstrations.
"Military - Overview" showing 221 items.
Page 1 of 23
The Russian Imperial Guard awaiting the German Emperor, Peterhof Pier. [Active no. 1081 : photonegative,] 1897
- Notes
- Company catalog card included
- Similar to RSN 19907
- Currently stored in box 3.1.11 [197]
- Date
- 1897
- 1900-2000
- publisher
- Underwood & Underwood
- Subject
- Imperial Guard (Russian)
- Local number
- RSN 12425
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
Target for Military Laser
- Description
- Potential military uses for lasers have attracted both government funding and popular interest. While laser ”ray guns” remain in the realm of science fiction, significant research has been conducted toward that goal. In the 1980s, tests of a deuterium-fluoride (or DF) chemical laser were conducted at the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal. A chemical reaction created the energy necessary to generate a laser beam. As this object shows, that beam can be quite powerful.
- In 1985, the Army transferred this test target to the Smithsonian. The target consists of six steel plates, each about 2 mm thick, bolted together. A hole of decreasing diameter is burned through the target from front to back. Information provided with the target reported that a 130 kilowatt laser illuminated the target from a distance of 60 meters for 5 seconds.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1984
- ID Number
- 1985.0321.01
- accession number
- 1985.0321
- catalog number
- 1985.0321.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
"Valor"
- Description
- Mexican Americans have served in U.S. armed forces since the Civil War. But it was the generation of Mexican Americans returning from World War II who mobilized their communities and changed the political landscape of the West. Laying the groundwork for the Chicano movement of the 1960s, organizations like the American G.I. Forum began advocating on behalf of Hispanic veterans who were denied the educational, health care, housing, and other rights guaranteed by the G.I. Bill. Often working in concert with the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC) and other Latino civil rights organizations, the Texas-based G.I. Forum soon engaged in broader social battles over school desegregation and voter registration rights. Today, the G.I. Forum is a nationally recognized source of scholarships among Mexican American students. This paño, titled Valor, the Spanish word for courage, commemorates the Korean War Medal of Honor winner Rodolfo Hernández. Paños are an art form created traditionally by Chicano prisoners on white handkerchiefs. Often mailed as gifts to friends and families, the images on paños remember loved ones, depict important memories, and tell stories about the dark side of life, as well as redemption. The maker of this paño is unknown.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1988
- depicted
- Hernandez, Rudy
- ID Number
- 1993.0150.06
- catalog number
- 1993.0150.06
- accession number
- 1993.0150
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
National Company (NATCO) Atomic Clocks Records, 1955-1968
- Notes
- Richard Timothy Daly, Jr. directed the development of the commercial clock. The papers probably include material created by him and other project personnel listed below
- The first commerical atomic clock was invented by a team of physicists working under J. R. Zacharias at MIT after WWII. They were produced by NATCO, Inc. of Malden, Mass., from 1955-1967. The company also researched other applications for the clocks, including a collision avoidance system
- Summary
- Original acquisition: Blueprints, technical drawings, research reports, instruction manuals, photographs, marketing brochures documenting the production of the first commerical cesium beam frequency standard and subsequent models. Other projects and proposals, esp. Collision Avoidance system, are also documented
- Addendum, 2012: Proposals, memoranda and reports on the technical aspects of atomic clocks, 1960s, generated by the National Company
- Cite as
- National Company (NATCO) Atomic Clocks Records, 1955-1968, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1955
- 1955-1968
- 1950-1970
- 1950-2000
- 1940-1970
- 20th century
- creator
- NATCO, Inc (National Company, Inc.)
- author
- Bagnall, James
- Daly, Richard Timothy Jr
- donor
- Lerner, Louis C
- author
- Grant, Eugene
- Mainberger, Walter
- Orensberg, Arthur
- George, James
- Holloway, Joseph
- Bovarnick, Michael
- Subject
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- Local number
- 1985.0027 (NMAH Acc.)
- 2012.3018 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
Everett H. Bickley Collection, 1919-1980 (bulk 1919-1965)
- Notes
- Bickley was one of the more active inventors of twentieth century. While his main and most portable invention was an automatic bean sorter, his other inventions were numerous and wide in scope. Examples are: a photographic exposure meter; fly killing device; dance charts; nut-cracking device; and outdoor electric sign
- Summary
- Correspondence, patents, drawings, manuals, trade literature, and photographs, particularly rich in information on Bickley's sorting devices. World War II innovations, and other inventions such as an exposure meter, dance charts, fly-killing device, and an outdoor electric sign known as the Motograph
- Spans much of the twenthieth century and is of value to researchers interested in product development, the patent application process, product marketing and promotion, World War II innovation, and the daily operation of a small, privately owned industry. General correspondence, patents and patent correspondence, drawings, manuals, trade literature, and photographs; also, several artifacts designed by Bickley, including a photographic exposure meter (Fotimer), a prototype slide mount (Color Tight Slide Mount), dance chart, and even a clipboard (Deskette)
- Cite as
- The Everett H. Bickley Collection, 1919-1980, Archives Center, National Museum of American History
- Date
- 1919
- 1919-1980
- bulk 1919-1965
- 20th century
- 1930-1950
- creator
- Bickley, Everett H. 1888- 1972
- donor
- Beyer, Audrey Bickley
- Subject
- Bickley Manufacturing Company
- H. J. Heinz Company
- Local number
- 1999.3022 (NMAH Acc.)
- Data Source
- Archives Center - NMAH
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Dunhills Ltd.]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- Dunhills Ltd.
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_13741
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from Franz & Meyer]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- Franz & Meyer
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_15738
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from G. A. Goebel Co., Inc.]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- G. A. Goebel Co., Inc.
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_17652
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from J. R. Gaunt & Son]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- J. R. Gaunt & Son
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_17809
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- No Image Available
[Trade catalogs from W. C. Silley & Co.]
- Date
- 1900s
- Company Name
- W. C. Silley & Co.
- Record ID
- SILNMAHTL_19528
- Data source
- Smithsonian Institution Libraries
- Next Page
