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.

Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.
Description
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
Too great a measure of praise cannot be bestowed upon a more noble and industrious body of men than the Fiftieth New York Volunteer Engineers. In the midst of the great demands made upon their services in tune of battle and of siege, the officers and men found pleasure in designing, planning, and building the beautiful rustic structure presented in this view, and devoting the same to the worship of the great God of Battles. The timber upon the spot, and the tools, with which they were provided for engineering purposes, furnished the material and means wherewith to exercise the taste, genius, and energy displayed. The first services, though they cannot well be styled a dedication, were conducted on Sunday, March 5, 1865, by the Rev. Mr. Duryea, of New York, and on each succeeding Sabbath day, and during many evenings of the week, the army chaplains and visiting clergymen were invited to officiate. It is built not far from the site of the old Poplar Spring Meeting House, a plain country board church, which was used successively by both armies as a hospital during the operations on the 29th and 30th of September, and 1st and 2d of October, 1864, near the Pegram House, now the site of Fort Fisher.
The present Church was used for the same purpose during the movements on the last of March, and 1st and 2d of April, 1865. The Regiment, upon moving away from its camp to take part in the pursuit of Lee's army, left a wooden tablet over the entrance to the Church, with these words inscribed upon it: "Presented to the Trustees of the Poplar Springs Church, by the Fiftieth Regiment New York Volunteer Engineers." Colonel Ira Spaulding commanded the Regiment, Captain McGrath, the architect and builder of the Church. In front is a group of several of the officers of the Regiment. On the foreground stands the architect himself. One view of the Church also shows, on the left, the quarters, neatly and tastefully arranged, of the Regimental officers.
It has been proposed to move the edifice to the great Central Park of New York City, as one of the mementoes of the war, and certainly no more interesting or striking feature could be added to the already many beautiful adornments that embellish those grounds. This monument to the skill and ingenuity of the builders, receives universal admiration.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-02
maker
Gardner, Alexander
ID Number
1986.0711.0283.24
accession number
1986.0711
catalog number
1986.0711.0283.24
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H.
Description
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by Timothy H. O'Sullivan, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
"Old Blanford Church," of which a view is here presented, is a great object of interest to all visitors; the cemetery surrounding it having monuments erected one hundred and fifty years ago. The walls of the main body of the building are of English brick, imported from the mother country. The services of the Episcopal Church were first performed in 1735, and continued to be read until 1825, nearly a century. Since that time, owing to the movement of the inhabitants of Blandford to the present site of Petersburg, the church has not been used, although the cemetery, now much enlarged, still continues to be the general depository of the dead. The ivy-covered walls now stand as a historic monument of what was formerly the aristocratic portion of the city. In the cemetery the stranger is not only shown the almost obliterated slab beneath which rests the remains of General Phillips, who died in May, 1781, during the war of independence, but also the monument. erected to the memory of the brave volunteers from the "Cockade City," who left houses and friends in the war of 1812. The greater space, however, has been allotted during the last four years to the graves of "Our Soldiers," these words being cut on a simple wooden cross, to mark the resting place of the Confederate dead.
A somewhat eccentric sexton, whose father before him performed the same duties, is generally on the spot to enlighten visitors in regard to the history of the church, and is apparently much pleased to do so from the manner in which he enters upon his oft-repeated narrative. During the siege the edifice and its surroundings suffered but little damage from shot or shell, although the position was in front of the point of attack at the time of the explosion of the mine on the 30th July, 1864.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1865-04
maker
Gardner, Alexander
ID Number
1986.0711.0283.35
accession number
1986.0711
catalog number
1986.0711.0283.35
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II.
Description
Text and photograph from Gardner's Photographic Sketchbook of the War, Vol. II. Negative by James Gardner, text and positive by Alexander Gardner.
This Church is located on a ridge near Sharpsburg, on the battle-field of Antietam, and suffered severely in that engagement, it was against this point that General Hooker, on the right of our line, made his assaults, and near it where he received his wound. The attack of King's Division, temporarily commanded by General Hatch, was made upon the rebels posted immediately around the Church. The slaughter here was fearful. Each of the contending lines charged repeatedly across the field in front of the building, and strewed the ground with their dead. The terrible effect of cannister was never more clearly demonstrated than in this vicinity. Battery B, Fourth United States Artillery, had lost heavily in the course of the engagement, its commander, Lieutenant Campbell, having been wounded and carried from the field, the command devolving on Lieutenant Stewart. Several of the horses had been killed, and Lieutenant Stewart, sending two guns to the rear, took up a position with his four remaining pieces on a little knoll near a sunken road.
The smoke obstructed the view considerably, and the Lieutenant not seeing anything of the enemy was cooling his guns, when suddenly his sergeant shouted "Here they come! Here they come!" A rebel brigade was coming down the road on a double-quick, and when discovered were only fifty yards distant. The cannoniers sprang to their pieces, and instantly opened on the approaching column with cannister double-spotted, the discharge from the four twelve pounders sweeping out half a dozen panels of the fence, and driving a storm of slugs and spotted rails into the mass of Confederates. The rear still pressed on, ignorant of the havoc in front, and again and again the artillery poured its iron hail into the column, completely obstructing the road with dead and wounded. Later in the day a Captain of this brigade was taken prisoner, and stated, that of the command of eighteen hundred men which received that fire, but eighteen had returned to the division. Some of course had been taken prisoners or had wandered off after the annihilation of the brigade, but most of the men had fallen in front of the cannon.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Gardner, Alexander
ID Number
1986.0711.0334.21
accession number
1986.0711
catalog number
1986.0711.0334.21
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1983.0838.0006
accession number
1983.0838
catalog number
1983.0838.6
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints founded the town of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1839 and finished construction of their elaborate temple in 1846.
Description
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints founded the town of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1839 and finished construction of their elaborate temple in 1846. Initially welcomed by the Illinois General Assembly, growing anti-Mormonism and the 1844 murder of leader Joseph Smith drove them to abandon the town less than three years after completing the temple.
This celestial limestone carving was one of thirty that adorned the grand temple at Nauvoo, which was destroyed by a fire (possibly due to arson) in 1848 and tornado-force winds in 1850.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1846
associated dates
1844
architect
Weeks, William
associated institution
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
associated person
Smith, Joseph
maker
Weeks, William
ID Number
1989.0453.01b
catalog number
1989.0453.01b
accession number
1989.0453
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1987.0605.16
catalog number
1987.0605.16
accession number
1987.0605
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1930-01-09
maker
Bucher, William F.
ID Number
1986.0711.0218
catalog number
1986.0711
1986.0711.0218
This color print is a circular allegorical image labeled 'THE WORLD' depicting the divergent paths of good and evil while on life's journey.
Description
This color print is a circular allegorical image labeled 'THE WORLD' depicting the divergent paths of good and evil while on life's journey. The path splits as the child leaves the school house, turning left toward the on the lower center and then up the right side of the print that leads from the House of God to Eternal Life. Among the architectural structures portrayed on the Good side are a church, a schoolhouse, a peaceful home, and a college with an American flag flying above it. The key words for the path to Good and the Eternal Life through "The Word" are: OBEDIENCE TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS, TRUTH, WISDOM, INDUSTRY, HEALTH, AVOIDING EVIL, RIGHTEOUSNESS, PURE OF HEART, FAITH IN CHRIST, HUMILITY, .Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth/ the heart. (Proverbs 21:2).toward THE WORD.
The other path has the child turning right up the left side of the print and starts with “disobedience to parents and teachers,” leads from the House of Sin to a tavern, a States Prison to Destruction and Everlasting Punishment. The path to destruction depicts a demon with a pitchfork among the fires of Hell and includes the words: DISOBEDIENCE TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS, DISEASE, SHAME, LUSTING, , DEATH, VANITY, PROFANE, IGNORANCE, LYING PRIDE, FALSE, GAMBLING, GAMING, RUM, INTEMPERANCE, FIGHTING, DUELING, HYPOCRISY, CHEATING, SWEARING, FORGERY, ADULTRY, ROBBERY, MURDER, GALLOWS, EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT, and DISTRUCTION.
This pictorial map for children vividly illustrates the moral choices in life, according to the teachings of Christianity. This genre had been popularized by two German-American printers in Pennsylvania, Gustav S. Peters of Harrisburg and Herman William Villee in Lancaster. Hailer’s distinctive map belongs to this local tradition.
John Hailer (1825-1906) was an artist and publisher, though he may also have had other professions as his Civil War draft record indicates in 1863 he was a currier. His firm was located in Bath, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1862
maker
Hailer, John
ID Number
DL.60.2955
catalog number
60.2955
accession number
228146
Thomas Moran etched this view of a mission church in New Mexico in 1881 after a photograph by friend and traveling companion William Henry Jackson (1843–1942). Moran had met Jackson in 1871 on Ferdinand V.
Description
Thomas Moran etched this view of a mission church in New Mexico in 1881 after a photograph by friend and traveling companion William Henry Jackson (1843–1942). Moran had met Jackson in 1871 on Ferdinand V. Hayden’s Yellowstone expedition, the first government-sponsored survey of that area. Jackson and Moran worked side by side recording views. While Moran’s paintings of the West made his reputation, fewer than one-fifth of his etchings depict Western or Mexican scenes. His signature “TYM” at lower left stands for Thomas “Yellowstone” Moran.
The church shown in this print was replaced by a stone building in the early 20th century, and the San Juan Pueblo recently changed its name to Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. It lies twenty-five miles north of Santa Fe.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1881
Associated Date
1881
graphic artist
Moran, Thomas
photographer
Jackson, William Henry
ID Number
GA.14750
catalog number
14750
accession number
94830
This colored print is an outdoor scene of a group of well-dressed people who look, hide their faces, or run from a vision that appears in the sky. The vision includes Hebrew letters followed by the inscription "God, All-knowing, all-good, all-wise.
Description
This colored print is an outdoor scene of a group of well-dressed people who look, hide their faces, or run from a vision that appears in the sky. The vision includes Hebrew letters followed by the inscription "God, All-knowing, all-good, all-wise. He judges." The inspiration for this is taken from the writings of the prophet Habakkuk 2:2 – Then the Lord answered me and said: “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.” In other words, let the teachings of Christ be so clearly described, that they may be easily understood at once.
This print was produced by the lithographic firm of Kelloggs & Comstock in Hartford, Connecticut. In 1848, John Chenevard Comstock (1818-1862) formed a partnership with E.B. and E.C. Kellogg. In 1850, Edmund Burke Kellogg (1809-1872) left the firm, leaving his brother Elijah Chapman Kellogg (1811-1881) and J.C. Comstock to run the lithography firm as Kellogg and Comstock. The short-lived partnership disbanded in 1851.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1852
distributors
Ensign, Thayer and Company
maker
Kelloggs & Comstock
ID Number
DL.60.2942
catalog number
60.2942
accession number
228146
"Evening in the City, Synagogue at Eutaw Place, Baltimore" is a color etching by Gabrielle de Veaux Clements (1858–1948). The very small image, printed predominantly in blues and browns, depicts a view across the city at twilight.
Description
"Evening in the City, Synagogue at Eutaw Place, Baltimore" is a color etching by Gabrielle de Veaux Clements (1858–1948). The very small image, printed predominantly in blues and browns, depicts a view across the city at twilight. In the foreground, very faintly rendered with delicate lines, is the roof of a building, the moldings barely visible in the shadows. Two birds are perched on the right side of the rooftop. Along the horizon is a row of buildings. The largest, presumably the synagogue, has a dome and a spire. Several tiny windows are lit with a glowing, yellow light.
Between the years of 1896 and 1927 Clements created several etchings of Baltimore, later to be known as "The Baltimore Series." The series comprised five large plates of significant Baltimore landmarks, such as the Washington Monument and Mount Vernon Place. "Evening in the City," printed in 1920, could be a study for the series.
Toward the end of their careers in 1936 Clements and her partner and fellow printmaker Ellen Day Hale exhibited jointly at the Smithsonian. By that time they had been producing prints for more than sixty years. Their work was included in the first exhibition of etchings exclusively by women at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in 1887. As a response to the Etching Revival of the late 19th century, curator Sylvester R. Koehler included more than 400 etchings by twenty-five artists in the very successful exhibition titled Women Etchers of America. In 1888 the Union League Club in New York exhibited the same works, plus about 100 more by eleven additional women. A traveling exhibition celebrating the centennial of these two ground-breaking shows, American Women of the Etching Revival, was organized by the High Museum in Atlanta, Georgia in 1988. The NMAH lent works by Hale, Clements and others, and the Museum showed the exhibition in Washington in 1989.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1920
ID Number
GA.10740
catalog number
10740
accession number
62397
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints founded the town of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1839 and finished construction of their elaborate temple in 1846.
Description
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints founded the town of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1839 and finished construction of their elaborate temple in 1846. Initially welcomed by the Illinois General Assembly, growing anti-Mormonism and the 1844 murder of leader Joseph Smith drove them to abandon the town less than three years after completing the temple.
This celestial limestone carving was one of thirty that adorned the grand temple at Nauvoo, which was destroyed by a fire (possibly due to arson) in 1848 and tornado-force winds in 1850.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1846
associated dates
1844
architect
Weeks, William
associated institution
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
associated person
Smith, Joseph
maker
Weeks, William
ID Number
1989.0453.01a
catalog number
1989.0453.01a
accession number
1989.0453
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1983.0838.0092
accession number
1983.0838
catalog number
1983.0838.92
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1987.0605.09
accession number
1987.0605
catalog number
1987.0605.09
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1904-1907
ID Number
PG.78.38.32
catalog number
78.38.32
accession number
2018.0225
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Peale, Titian Ramsay
ID Number
PG.66.22.09
accession number
263090
catalog number
66.22.09
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
PG.003636
catalog number
3636
accession number
69855
Paper Negative by Charles Negre, printed by Andre Jammes. Black and white image of a large stone church with large circular stained glass window in the center and an empty courtyard our front.Currently not on view
Description
Paper Negative by Charles Negre, printed by Andre Jammes. Black and white image of a large stone church with large circular stained glass window in the center and an empty courtyard our front.
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Negre, Charles
ID Number
PG.66.63.079
catalog number
66.63.79
accession number
265102
Daguerreotype of Unitarian Congregational Church, New York City. On the Washington Square campus of the New York University, Samuel F.B. Morse and Dr. John W. Draper operated together one of the first American photographic studios for a short time, from 1839 to the early 1840s.
Description
Daguerreotype of Unitarian Congregational Church, New York City. On the Washington Square campus of the New York University, Samuel F.B. Morse and Dr. John W. Draper operated together one of the first American photographic studios for a short time, from 1839 to the early 1840s. Collaborating on this quarter-plate daguerreotype, the partners achieved a clear photograph of the Unitarian Congregational Church of the Messiah, on the east side of Broadway across Waverly Place, New York City, from their rooftop studio in the fall of 1839 or winter of 1840. Morse quickly refocused his professional career on the perfection of a working telegraph, while Dr. Draper continued to work in scientific photography with his sons for the remainder of his academic career at the University.
Curatorial Note 10.24.2013: It may be contested that this image is taken from a rooftop because so much of the street is visible. It can be argued that the camera was at ground level. stp
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1839-1840
photographer
Draper, John William
ID Number
PG.72.72.B155
catalog number
72.72.B155
accession number
304826
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 1920s
maker
Leighton, J. Harold
ID Number
PG.003910
catalog number
3910
accession number
109721
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1880s
maker
Jackson, William Henry
ID Number
PG.006026D
accession number
224482
catalog number
6026D
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Negre, Charles
ID Number
PG.66.63.082
catalog number
66.63.82
accession number
265102
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Negre, Charles
ID Number
PG.66.63.080
catalog number
66.63.80
accession number
265102
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Negre, Charles
ID Number
PG.66.63.076
catalog number
66.63.76
accession number
265102

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