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.

Swamp Rat XXX is a drag racing car of the top-fuel class, designed, built and raced by Don Garlits of Ocala, Florida. Garlits, better known as "Big Daddy," is one of the pioneers of drag racing, which is a test of acceleration on quarter-mile tracks.
Description
Swamp Rat XXX is a drag racing car of the top-fuel class, designed, built and raced by Don Garlits of Ocala, Florida. Garlits, better known as "Big Daddy," is one of the pioneers of drag racing, which is a test of acceleration on quarter-mile tracks. He began racing in 1950 in modified stock cars at Zephyr Hills, Fla., not far from his home in Tampa, shifting to drag racing in 1959. Over a 30-year career, he was one of the most innovative builders in the sport.
Swamp Rat XXX won the National Hot Rod Association championship in 1986 with a quarter-mile speed of 272.55 miles an hour. It crashed at a race in Spokane, Washington, and, along with Garlits, retired from active competition.
The vehicle displays the state of drag racing art in the 1980s: a very long wheelbase, small front wheels to minimize aerodynamic drag, engine in the rear, and a wing for added aerodynamic down force. The engine placement puts most of the vehicle's weight on the rear or driving wheels and behind the driver for safety reasons in case of an engine blow-up.
The car is covered with emblems, chiefly of sponsoring corporations. It carries a Christian cross and the words "God is Love," reflecting Garlits' experience in 1959 when, after an accident, his system could not handle pain-killing drugs. In severe pain, he cried out, "Lord help me," and his pain ceased.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1985-1986
user
Garlits, Donald G.
maker
Garlits, Donald G.
ID Number
1987.0889.01
catalog number
1987.0889.01
accession number
1987.0889
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980
ID Number
1983.0823.07
accession number
1983.0823
catalog number
1983.0823.07
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980
ID Number
1983.0823.08
accession number
1983.0823
catalog number
1983.0823.08
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1980
ID Number
1983.0823.06
accession number
1983.0823
catalog number
1983.0823.06
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.11
catalog number
1990.0361.11
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.04
catalog number
1990.0361.04
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.07
catalog number
1990.0361.07
accession number
1990.0361
In April 1981 in Springfield, Missouri, Kappa Mu Epsilon celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. At this celebration KME, a mathematics honor society with chapters at institutions that emphasize undergraduate mathematics programs, named fifty members as Distinguished Members.
Description
In April 1981 in Springfield, Missouri, Kappa Mu Epsilon celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. At this celebration KME, a mathematics honor society with chapters at institutions that emphasize undergraduate mathematics programs, named fifty members as Distinguished Members. Sister Helen Sullivan was one of those so honored.
In about 1936 Sister Helen Sullivan organized Euclid’s Circle, a mathematics club at Mount St. Scholastica College. In 1940 she founded the Kansas Gamma Chapter of Kappa Mu Epsilon there. Sullivan often served as the faculty sponsor of her local chapter of KME, and in 1967 the alumnae of that chapter established the Sister Helen Sullivan scholarship in her honor. On the national level Sullivan served as KME’s historian in the years 1943–47, and as an assistant editor of its journal, The Pentagon, during those years and again from 1961–70.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1981
maker
Kappa Mu Epsilon
ID Number
1993.3019.03
nonaccession number
1993.3019
catalog number
1993.3019.03
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1984
maker
Zalesky, Roy Joseph
ID Number
2017.0306.0027
catalog number
2017.0306.0027
accession number
2017.0306
A poster advertising a program at Elyria High School featuring the televanglist, James Robison.Currently not on view
Description
A poster advertising a program at Elyria High School featuring the televanglist, James Robison.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1980-1982
1974-04
associated date
July 7-14
ID Number
2010.0228.04
accession number
2010.0228
catalog number
2010.0228.04
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.02
catalog number
1990.0361.02
accession number
1990.0361
catalog number
1990.361.2
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
maker
Rafaelian, C.
Rafaelian
ID Number
1990.0361.12
catalog number
1990.0361.12
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.03
catalog number
1990.0361.03
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.13
catalog number
1990.0361.13
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.06
catalog number
1990.0361.06
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1981
user
Miguel, John
Miguel, Terena
ID Number
1991.0301.01
catalog number
1991.0301.01
accession number
1991.0301
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
Diego, Juan
ID Number
1990.0361.14
catalog number
1990.0361.14
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.10
catalog number
1990.0361.10
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1970s
associated dates
1980 12 30 / 1980 12 30
1970 00 00+ / 1970 00 00+
ID Number
1980.0463.04
catalog number
1980.0463.04
accession number
1980.0463
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated dates
1980 12 30 / 1980 12 30
1970 00 00+ / 1970 00 00+
ID Number
1980.0463.07
catalog number
1980.0463.07
accession number
1980.0463
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated dates
1980 12 30 / 1980 12 30
1970 00 00+ / 1970 00 00+
ID Number
1980.0463.05
catalog number
1980.0463.05
accession number
1980.0463
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated dates
1980 12 30 / 1980 12 30
1970 00 00+ / 1970 00 00+
ID Number
1980.0463.06
catalog number
1980.0463.06
accession number
1980.0463
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.01
catalog number
1990.0361.01
accession number
1990.0361
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1989
depicted
Virgin of Guadalupe
ID Number
1990.0361.16
catalog number
1990.0361.16
accession number
1990.0361

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