Natural Resources - Overview
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
"Natural Resources - Overview" showing 88 items.
Page 1 of 9
Horned Grebe
- Description
- Robert Havell Jr.'s 1835 engraving for John James Audubon's publication the Birds of America, was published in Britain between 1827 and 1838 as a series of large folio engravings. The Museum's Graphic Arts Collection includes seven of the original copper plates and prints from several editions of the work.
- The Birds of America was published in several formats. The first large folio edition was intended for wealthy patrons or institutions. Later editions, produced in the United States for a more general audience, included text and smaller, less costly lithographic illustrations.
- Audubon introduced new species and new artistic forms. His dramatic images of birds, pictured life-size in animated poses with realistic backgrounds, represented a departure from the conventions of natural history illustration. His artistic ingenuity, as reproduced in engravings and lithographs, won new audiences for the subject of nature study, eventually leading to the organization of Audubon societies.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1835
- referenced
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- Audubon, John James
- original artist
- Audubon, John James
- graphic artist
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- ID Number
- 2006.0021.01
- accession number
- 2006.0021
- catalog number
- 2006.0021.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Horned Grebe
- Description
- Robert Havell Jr. engraved this copper plate in 1835 for John James Audubon's publication, the Birds of America, published in Britain between 1827 and 1838 as a series of large folio engravings. The Museum's Graphic Arts Collection includes seven of the original copper plates and prints from several editions of the work.
- The Birds of America was published in several formats. The first large folio edition was intended for wealthy patrons or institutions. Later editions, produced in the United States for a more general audience, included text and smaller, less costly lithographic illustrations.
- Audubon introduced new species and new artistic forms. His dramatic images of birds, pictured life-size in animated poses with realistic backgrounds, represented a departure from the conventions of natural history illustration. His artistic ingenuity, as reproduced in engravings and lithographs, won new audiences for the subject of nature study, eventually leading to the organization of Audubon societies.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1835
- referenced
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- Audubon, John James
- original artist
- Audubon, John James
- graphic artist
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- ID Number
- GA*00927
- accession number
- 1884.015094
- catalog number
- 00927
- accession number
- 15094
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Whooping Crane, Grus Americana
- Description
- Robert Havell Jr. engraved this copper plate in 1834 for John James Audubon's publication, Birds of America, published in Britain between 1827 and 1838 as a series of large folio engravings. The Museum's Graphic Arts Collection includes seven of the original copper plates and prints from a number of editions of the work.
- Birds of America was published in several formats. The first large folio edition was intended for wealthy patrons or institutions. Later editions, produced in the United States. for a more general audience, included text and smaller, less costly lithographic illustrations.
- Audubon introduced new species and new artistic forms. His dramatic images of birds, pictured life-size in animated poses with realistic backgrounds, represented a departure from the conventions of natural history illustration. His artistic ingenuity, as reproduced in engravings and lithographs, won new audiences for the subject of nature study, eventually leading to the organization of Audubon societies.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1834
- referenced
- Audubon, John James
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- graphic artist
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- original artist
- Audubon, John James
- ID Number
- GA*16984
- catalog number
- 16984
- accession number
- 15996
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Hooping Crane, Grus Americana (Young)
- Description
- Robert Havell Jr. engraved this copper plate in 1835 for John James Audubon's publication, Birds of America, published in Britain between 1827 and 1838 as a series of large folio engravings. The Museum's Graphic Arts Collection includes seven of the original copper plates and prints from several editions of the work.
- Birds of America was published in several formats. The first large folio edition was intended for wealthy patrons or institutions. Later editions, produced in the United States for a more general audience, included text and smaller, less costly lithographic illustrations.
- Audubon introduced new species and new artistic forms. His dramatic images of birds, pictured life-size in animated poses with realistic backgrounds, represented a departure from the conventions of natural history illustration. His artistic ingenuity, as reproduced in engravings and lithographs, won new audiences for the subject of nature study, eventually leading to the organization of Audubon societies.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1835
- referenced
- Audubon, John James
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- original artist
- Audubon, John James
- graphic artist
- Havell, Jr., Robert
- ID Number
- GA*16986
- accession number
- 15996
- catalog number
- 16986
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "Bird's-eye view of the Grand Canyon"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Bird’s-eye view of the Grand Canyon" was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as as Figure 72 (p.187) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0467
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0467
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Climbing the Grand Canyon"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Climbing the Grand Canyon” was prepared by F. S. King and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 on page 98 of John Wesley Powell's Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Thomas Moran (1837-1926) was the original artist.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- original artist
- Moran, Thomas
- graphic artist
- King, Francis Scott
- maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0474
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0474
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of the "View of Marble Canyon (from the Vermillion Cliffs)"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “View of Marble Canyon (from the Vermillion Cliffs)” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Figure 63 (p.180) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The image depicts the “Colorado River [and] the Eastern Kaibab Displacements, appearing as folds [and] faults.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- block maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1355
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1355
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a "Bird’s-eye view of cliffs of erosion"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of the “Bird’s-eye view of cliffs of erosion” was prepared and printed by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 74 (p.162) in The Exploration of the Colorado River of the West by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) engraved the illustration which “depicts the Shin-ar’-ump Cliffs, Vermillion Cliffs, and Gray Cliffs, in order from right to left.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- block maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1562
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1562
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved wood block "Madeira Boat"
- Description
- Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after a drawing of a Portugese Madeira Boat by Expedition Artist Joseph Drayton. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 26 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1845
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- graphic artist
- Brightly, Joseph H.
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Drayton, Joseph
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.005
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.005
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved wood block "Kasanji"
- Description
- Joseph H. Brightly (about 1818–about 1858) of Philadelphia and New York City engraved this printing block after the drawing Kasanji, a native of Kasanji, by Expedition Artist Alfred T. Agate. The wood engraving illustration was published on page 63 of Volume I of the U.S. Exploring Expedition Narrative by Charles Wilkes, 1844.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1845
- ca 1844
- publisher
- Wilkes, Charles
- printer
- Sherman, Conger
- author
- Wilkes, Charles
- original artist
- Agate, A. T.
- graphic artist
- Brightly, Joseph H.
- ID Number
- 1999.0145.038
- accession number
- 1999.0145
- catalog number
- 1999.0145.038
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
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