Religion - Overview
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.
"Religion - Overview" showing 16 items.
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“In the Chapel in the Moonlight” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “In the Chapel in the Moonlight” written and composed by Billy Hill. The song was published by Shapiro, Bernstein & Company Inc. of New York City in 1936. The bright yellow cover features an illustration of a man standing in a chapel in the moonlight, signed by Barbelle. There is a large inset photograph of performer Phil Regan on the right of the cover.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1936
- composer; lyricist
- Hill, Billy
- publisher
- Shapiro, Bernstein & Co., Inc.
- ID Number
- 1983.0313.09
- accession number
- 1983.0313
- catalog number
- 1983.0313.09
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“The Maiden's Prayer” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “The Maiden's Prayer” which was composed by Thécla (Tekla) Badarzewska in 1856. The sheet music was published by the Armstrong Music Publishing Company in the early 1900s. The white and red cover features an inset illustration of a maiden kneeling before a cross and candles in front of her window, as light shines down on her face. This song was published in Polish and French prior to being published in English, which is why the sub-title is “La Priére D’une Vierge.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- composer
- Badarzewska, Thecla
- publisher
- Armstrong Music Publishing Company
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.015
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.015
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“The Rosary” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “The Rosary.” The lyrics come from a poem of the same name by Robert Cameron Rogers, and the music was composed by Georgia B. Welles. The sheet music was published by Eclipse Publishing Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1908. The cover features a floral print background, and an inset illustration of a dark haired woman clutching a beaded rosary that is signed “Starmer.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1908
- lyricist
- Rogers, Robert Cameron
- composer
- Welles, Georgia B.
- publisher
- Eclipse Publishing
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.020
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.020
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“There's A Quaker Down in Quaker Town” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music for the song "There's A Quaker Down in Quaker Town" was written by David Berg and composed by Alfred Soloman. The music was published by the Joe Morris Music Company of New York, New York in 1916. The blue cover features an illustrated image of a Quaker girl walking through a village, with an image of four white flowers to her right.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1916
- composer
- Soloman, Alfred
- lyricist
- Berg, David
- publisher
- Joe Morris Music Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0439.06
- accession number
- 1982.0439
- 1982.0439
- catalog number
- 1982.0439.06
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“The Shepherd Boy” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music for the song "The Shepherd Boy" was written and composed by G. D. Wilson. The song was published by the Armstrong Music Co. of New York, New York in 1903. The cover features an illustration of a shepherd boy sitting on rocks among sheep and doing his best to woo a girl.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1903
- composer
- Wilson, G. D.
- publisher
- Armstrong Music Publishing Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0439.30
- accession number
- 1982.0439
- catalog number
- 1982.0439.30
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“The Lord Is My Shepherd (23rd Psalm)” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- 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
- Date made
- 1898
- composer
- Marsh, John B.
- publisher
- William A. Pond and Company
- ID Number
- 1982.0439.35
- accession number
- 1982.0439
- catalog number
- 1982.0439.35
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“Just a Baby's Prayer at Twilight (for Her Daddy Over There)” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “Just a Baby's Prayer at Twilight (for Her Daddy Over There).” The song was written by Sam M. Lewis and Joe Young, and the music was composed by M.K. Jerome. The sheet music was published by Waterson, Berlin and Snyder Co. of New York, New York in 1918. The cover features an illustration of a young girl kneeling on her bed in prayer, which is signed by Barbelle.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1918
- lyricist
- Lewis, Sam M.
- Young, Joe
- composer
- Jerome, M. K.
- publisher
- Waterson, Berlin & Snyder Co.
- ID Number
- 1983.0313.07
- accession number
- 1983.0313
- catalog number
- 1983.0313.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Sheet Music, "God Bless America"
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “God Bless America,” written and composed by Irving Berlin, and published by Irving Berlin, Inc in 1938. Irving Berlin (1888–1989) wrote the song in 1918, at the end of World War I. In 1938, with war again approaching, Berlin revised the work as a “peace song.” Kate Smith’s recording of the updated “God Bless America” became the number three hit in 1939.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1939
- composer; lyricist
- Berlin, Irving
- publisher
- Irving Berlin, Inc.
- ID Number
- 1983.0320.07
- accession number
- 1983.0320
- catalog number
- 1983.0320.07
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“Rock Me to Sleep Mother” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “Rock Me to Sleep Mother.” The song’s lyrics were written by Florence Percy (the pen name for Elizabeth Akers Allen) and the music was composed by John H. Hewitt. The sheet music was published by Julian A. Selby of Columbia, South Carolina in 1861. The song expresses a desire to give up the sorrows of life and go back to being a child, being rocked to sleep by mother.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1861
- lyricist
- Percy, Florence
- composer
- Hewitt, John H.
- composer; lyricist
- Lady of Richmond, Virginia
- publisher
- Selby, Julian A.
- ID Number
- 1983.0365.03
- accession number
- 1983.0365
- catalog number
- 1983.0365.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
“Good-Bye, Good Luck, God Bless You” Sheet Music
- Description (Brief)
- This sheet music is for the song “Good-Bye, Good Luck, God Bless You.” This ballad had lyrics written by J. Keirn Brennan, and music composed by Ernest R. Bail. The sheet music was published by M. Witmark and Sons of New York City around 1916. The orange cover features a central illustration of a man wishing his woman farewell as she picks flowers. This sheet music is a good example of how many publishers used colorful covers to try to boost sales.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1916
- lyricist
- Brennan, J. Keirn
- composer
- Ball, Ernest R.
- publisher
- M. Witmark & Sons
- M. Witmark & Sons
- ID Number
- 1983.0424.011
- accession number
- 1983.0424
- catalog number
- 1983.0424.011
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center