Religion

One hallmark of the American experience captured in the Museum's collections is the nation's broad diversity of religious faiths. Artifacts range from Thomas Jefferson's Bible to a huge "Sunstone" sculpture carved for a Mormon temple in Illinois in 1844 to a household shrine from the home of a Pueblo Indian in the 1990s. Furniture, musical instruments, clothing, cooking ware, and thousands of prints and figures in the collections have all played roles in the religious lives of Americans. The most comprehensive collections include artifacts from Jewish and Christian European Americans, Catholic Latinos, Protestant Arab Americans, Buddhist and Christian Asian Pacific Americans, and Protestant African Americans. One notable group is the Vidal Collection of carved figures known as santos and other folk religious material from the practice of Santeria in Puerto Rico.

This whistle was made by an unknown maker in Italy, about 1875-1890. It is one of a pair of whistles made from chestnut.
Description
This whistle was made by an unknown maker in Italy, about 1875-1890. It is one of a pair of whistles made from chestnut. This accession includes 2 bark whistles and this reed pipe which used by people on their annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Virgin of San Fruttuoso in Genoa.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875 - 1890
ID Number
MI.095321.02
catalog number
95321.02
accession number
26410
This hornpipe was made by an unknown maker in Italy, around 1875-1890. It is a cane reed with a bell of chestnut bark wound in a spiral.
Description
This hornpipe was made by an unknown maker in Italy, around 1875-1890. It is a cane reed with a bell of chestnut bark wound in a spiral. This accession includes 2 bark whistles and this reed pipe which used by people on their annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Virgin of San Fruttuoso in Genoa.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875 - 1890
ID Number
MI.095322
accession number
26410
catalog number
95322
This whistle was made by an unknown maker in Italy, about 1875-1890. It is one of a pair of whistles made from chestnut.
Description
This whistle was made by an unknown maker in Italy, about 1875-1890. It is one of a pair of whistles made from chestnut. This accession includes 2 bark whistles and this reed pipe which used by people on their annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Virgin of San Fruttuoso in Genoa.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875 - 1890
ID Number
MI.095321.01
catalog number
95321.01
accession number
26410
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
1910
about 1804
associated date
1890 - 1900
graphic artist
unknown
ID Number
2014.0037.23
catalog number
2014.0037.23
2014.0037.23
2014.0037.23
accession number
2014.0037
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
ID Number
CL.298628.01
accession number
298628
catalog number
298628.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1800-1899
ID Number
CL.310074.01
catalog number
310074.01
accession number
310074
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1899
published repro
1899
original
16th century
ID Number
GA.09446
catalog number
09446
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1896
ID Number
NU.68.263.1750
catalog number
68.263.1750
accession number
281689
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
NU.68.263.1753
catalog number
68.263.1753
accession number
281689
This sheet music for the song "The Lord Is My Shepherd (23rd Psalm)" was written and composed by John B. Marsh and published by the William. A. Pond and Co. of New York, New York in 1898.
Description
This sheet music for the song "The Lord Is My Shepherd (23rd Psalm)" was written and composed by John B. Marsh and published by the William. A. Pond and Co. of New York, New York in 1898. This cover is plain paper with black text, but the phrase “The Lord” is underlined by the image of a shepherd’s staff. The contralto solo was written with affectionate regard to Mr. Warren Pond.
Location
Currently not on view
publishing date
1898
composer
Marsh, John B.
publisher
William A. Pond & Co.
ID Number
1982.0439.35
accession number
1982.0439
catalog number
1982.0439.35
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1798
Associated Date
1817-03-30
1898
ID Number
DL.61.0382
catalog number
61.0382
accession number
232677
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1852-1853
1890
ID Number
GA.285049.02.01
accession number
285049
catalog number
285049.02.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date published
1850 or later
inscribed date
1872-06-19
1889-12-25
1898
printer
Eyre and Spottiswoode
ID Number
DL.033666
catalog number
033666
accession number
70138
Color woodcut on parchment-like paper. Naked woman and serpent in lush setting with twining vegetation. Printed by Frank Morley Fletcher from five wood blocks designed by John D. Batten, 1895. Edition: no. 58. Annotated in pencil in lower margin: "No. 58 John D. Batten. 1895.
Description
Color woodcut on parchment-like paper. Naked woman and serpent in lush setting with twining vegetation. Printed by Frank Morley Fletcher from five wood blocks designed by John D. Batten, 1895. Edition: no. 58. Annotated in pencil in lower margin: "No. 58 John D. Batten. 1895. First finished example made in Japanese style in England. Printed by F. Morley Fletcher."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895
original artist
Batten, John Dickson
ID Number
GA.05623
catalog number
05623
accession number
32331
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date book published
1894
stamped date
1895
inscribed date
1879
1901
publisher
American Bible Society
maker
Gorham Manufacturing Company
ID Number
DL.033662
catalog number
033662
accession number
70138
Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr. (1862–1932) used a wide variety of printing processes, printing out some negatives in more than one medium.
Description
Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr. (1862–1932) used a wide variety of printing processes, printing out some negatives in more than one medium. In his lectures, he pointed out that this approach to photography was important because in the hands of a photographer who “lives and understands the infinitely varied moods of nature, photography can be made to express and interpret them.” In correspondence with Dr. Olmstead at the Smithsonian, as the presentation of his gifts and bequest to the museum was being arranged, Eickemeyer wrote: “The collection illustrates the use of every important process and will, I believe, be of real educational value.”
The first of the Eickemeyer photographic collection came to the National Museum’s Department of Arts and Industries (the “Castle”), Division of Graphic Arts in 1922 at the close of a large exhibition of Eickemeyer’s work at the Anderson Gallery in New York. It was a gift from the photographer of five framed prints from the New York show that he considered representative of his work.
In 1929, Eickemeyer gave the Smithsonian 83 framed prints (including copies of the prints that he had previously given the museum), 15 portfolios, his medals and awards, and several miscellaneous photographic paraphernalia. In 1930, he made a will bequeathing most of his remaining prints, negatives, photographic equipment and other objects relating to his 30-year career as a photographer to the Smithsonian Institution.
Upon Eickemeyer’s death in 1932, an accession consisting primarily of photographic equipment from his studio came to the Smithsonian. Included in the bequest were 2 cameras, several lenses, scales, timers, printing frames, plate holders, dry mounters and a lecture case with slide projector and hand-colored lantern slides. Also included were 43 albums, journals and portfolios and assorted negatives and contact prints, many marked “discards.” There are 58 albums, notebooks and portfolios in the collection. Eickemeyer requested in his will that his gifts and bequests be called The Rudolf Eickemeyer, Jr. Collection.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
maker
Eickemeyer, Jr., Rudolf
ID Number
PG.003920.A43
catalog number
3920.A43
accession number
106456
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
CL.158464
catalog number
158464
accession number
34414
This small metal icon mounted as a pendant depicts a painted image of the Virgin of Vladimir.
Description
This small metal icon mounted as a pendant depicts a painted image of the Virgin of Vladimir. This representation of the Mary holding the infant Jesus to her cheek dates to the 12th century and has been highly venerated by Russian Orthodox Christians ever since.
The Russian Orthodox faith arrived in North America in the 18th century when Russian traders settled in what is now Alaska. A steady stream of Eastern Europeans many of whom were Orthodox came to America during the 19th century with a large influx leading up to the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917. This political turmoil in Eastern Europe and Russia likely explains how the small icon came to America although the story is not definitively known.
It was donated to the Smithsonian by Julia Asenath Romaine van Schaick. Neither she nor her husband’s family appear to have Russian ancestry. Both Julia and her husband resided in Belgium assisting the Red Cross with war relief beginning in 1917 and it is possible that she acquired the icon while she was in Europe. Her husband was a well-known Universalist minister who hosted Abdu’l-Baha, the leader of the Bahá'í Faith, at his church in Washington, DC in the Fall of 1912. Abdu’l-Baha spoke about the liberty of speech and religion enjoyed by Americans.
This little Virgin of Vladimir pendant represents not only the arrival of the Russian Orthodox faith in America but perhaps through its ownership by the van Schaick’s also represents the generosity of America in offering relief to victims of war and their openness to all religions whether Russian Orthodox, Bahá'í, or Universalist.
Date made
c. 1891
ID Number
CL.325928
catalog number
325928
accession number
70654
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
CL.158463
catalog number
158463
accession number
34414
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1894
associated date
1894
maker
Hope Publishing Co.
ID Number
CL.306787.91
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.91
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
CL.158462
catalog number
158462
accession number
34414
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1895
ID Number
CL.306171.01
accession number
306171
catalog number
306171.01
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
About 1850 to 1890
ID Number
CL.025819.226
accession number
25819
catalog number
025819.226
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
maker
Beer, Samuel Friedrich
Beer, Samuel Friedrich
ID Number
CL.158460
catalog number
158460
accession number
34414

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.