Religion

Page from the Koran

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.

Place: United States

1922 Clarkesville Reformed Church Embroidered Counterpane

This redwork embroidered counterpane was most likely made as a fund raiser for the Clarksville Reformed Church. It is dedicated to “Rev. Boyce Pastor.
Description
This redwork embroidered counterpane was most likely made as a fund raiser for the Clarksville Reformed Church. It is dedicated to “Rev. Boyce Pastor. Peggy His wife, Rex Their dog.” According to further inscriptions on the quilt, the occasion was the “Clarksville Reformed Church Fair Dec. 8th 1922.”
A twelve-petal daisy is the motif of the forty-eight blocks, the petals providing spaces for over 500 embroidered names. First, the names were written in pencil, and then embroidered with red cotton. In a few instances, a different name is embroidered over the original penciled name. One block utilized the spaces for advertising: “Priced / Lowest / The / Transportation / Economical / Motor Cars / Chevrolet / Wright / Gardner / Automobile / Equipped / Fully.” Presumably a small donation, maybe ten or twenty-five cents, assured one’s name embroidered on the counterpane. Further funds may have been secured by a raffle at the December fair. Or it may have been given to Pastor Boyce as a token of appreciation. Quilts or counterpanes such as this are still used, as they have been for more than 150 years, to raise funds for worthy causes.
The Clarksville Reformed Church was established in 1853, when a building was erected to serve the congregation. Sadly, this church was destroyed by fire on a cold February Sunday in 1912. The congregation rallied to rebuild and less then a year later, in January 1913, they were able to hold services in a new church. Clarksville in the 1920s, when this counterpane was made, was a small village in Albany County, New York. Reverend Boyce was the pastor for the Clarksville Reformed Church from 1919 to 1926 and also the Reformed Church in Westerlo, New York. In the 1950s Clarksville was still a small village and it became increasingly difficult to support the church. Another church in Clarksville, the Methodist Episcopal Church, also faced similar problems, and the solution was to merge the two. By the mid-1960s, a new church was dedicated whose sign incorporates the two bells from the older churches, symbolizing the origins of the new Clarksville Community Church.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1922
maker
unknown
ID Number
1995.0011.02
accession number
1995.0011
catalog number
1995.0011.02

Saint Michael and the Devil

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1965
maker
Lopez, George T.
Lopez, George T.
ID Number
CL.276185.1-6
accession number
276185
catalog number
276185.01-06
276185.01

KRSCANSKO DEVISTVO

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1894
ID Number
CL.298628.01
accession number
298628
catalog number
298628.01

A Street Altar

"A Street Altar No. 50" handwritten on recto;Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
"A Street Altar No. 50" handwritten on recto;
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1800s
ID Number
2012.3033.0116
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.0116

Jewish Military Bible

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1918
ID Number
CL.302600
catalog number
302600
accession number
62178

Ruins of Texas Mission

two men at left in slacks, white shirts, vests and hats; stone building with steeple at center topped with a cross; carving over main entryway is crumbly but once very intricate and ornateCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
two men at left in slacks, white shirts, vests and hats; stone building with steeple at center topped with a cross; carving over main entryway is crumbly but once very intricate and ornate
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1850s-1860s
ID Number
2012.3033.0045
nonaccession number
2012.3033
catalog number
2012.3033.0045

Map of the Pilgrim's Progress

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
c. 1850
date made
ca 1800
graphic artist
Melish, John
ID Number
1985.0303.05
accession number
1985.0303
catalog number
1985.0303.05

Estey Reed Organ

This reed organ was made by Estey Organ Company, in Brattleboro, Vermont, around 1935-1940. It is a portable or “Chaplain’s” reed organ, serial number 491204. There is a printed label inside the lid:ESTEY ORGAN COMPANYManufacturersBRATTLEBORO, VERMONT, U.S.A.No.
Description

This reed organ was made by Estey Organ Company, in Brattleboro, Vermont, around 1935-1940. It is a portable or “Chaplain’s” reed organ, serial number 491204. There is a printed label inside the lid:

ESTEY ORGAN COMPANY
Manufacturers
BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT, U.S.A.
No. 491204
1782

(decal on music desk):

Location
Currently not on view
date made
1935 -1940
maker
Estey Organ Company
ID Number
1998.0031.01
catalog number
1998.0031.01
accession number
1998.0031
serial number
491204

bank check, imitation

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1974
ID Number
CL.316429.22
accession number
316429
catalog number
316429.22

Go Down Moses; Balm in Gilead

Paul Robeson. side 1: Go Down Moses; side 2: Balm in Gilead (Columbia 17379-D), from the album, Spirituals (Columbia M-610).78 rpm. Recorded on December 28 and 29, 1945. Released in 1946.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Paul Robeson. side 1: Go Down Moses; side 2: Balm in Gilead (Columbia 17379-D), from the album, Spirituals (Columbia M-610).
78 rpm. Recorded on December 28 and 29, 1945. Released in 1946.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1945
release date
1946
recording artist
Robeson, Paul
manufacturer
Columbia
ID Number
1980.0284.35
accession number
1980.0284
maker number
17379-D
M-610
catalog number
1980.0284.35

Jewish Bible (Tanakh)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1971
publisher
Jewish Publication Society of America
ID Number
1996.0051.05
accession number
1996.0051
catalog number
1996.0051.05

Hilltopper, The

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1945-11-19
publisher
St. Mary's High School
maker
St. Mary's High School
ID Number
1981.0144.11
catalog number
1981.0144.11
accession number
1981.0144

Hand Fan

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
ID Number
CL.306787.41C
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.41C

TEMPLE REBUILT AND DEDICATED, THE

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1917
associated date
1885 - 1920
maker
Providence Lithograph Co.
ID Number
CL.306787.75
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.75

St. Paul's Eastchester Episcopal Church

date made
1940s
maker
United States. Office of War Information
Federal Works Agency
ID Number
2013.0327.0559
catalog number
2013.0327.0559
accession number
2013.0327

Annunciation

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1918
maker
Gosar, Ivan
ID Number
CL.304142.10
catalog number
304142.10
accession number
304142

Proper Lessons for Sundays and other Holy-Days

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date published
1850 - 1865
ID Number
DL.033668B
catalog number
033668B
accession number
70138

Roadside America Pennant

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1990.0251.12
catalog number
1990.0251.12
accession number
1990.0251
catalog number
.12

SIDUR TIFERETH JEHUDAH

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
publisher
Hebrew Publishing Company
ID Number
1993.0102.017
catalog number
1993.0102.017
accession number
1993.0102

Virgin of Guadalupe?

Collected at Rio Grande, N.M., probably near Santa Fe. Sewn leather pieces worked into a relief head, and cord like arms, and hands. The figure is painted in a dark blue at top as well as red with three white (negative) stirpes.
Description
Collected at Rio Grande, N.M., probably near Santa Fe. Sewn leather pieces worked into a relief head, and cord like arms, and hands. The figure is painted in a dark blue at top as well as red with three white (negative) stirpes. A halo or aura in yellow surrounds the figure.
This figure appears to be a Virgin Mary figure.
Missionary priests who proselytized among Indians in what is now New Mexico frequently instructed local craftsman to render images of figures important to Catholic teachings. The mission where this painting was created was miles from the Gulf of Mexico, where imported canvases would have been prohibitively expensive and in short supply. Missionary priests worked out a compromise with their Indian laborers, increasingly relying on their skill in rendering animal skins into a workable substitute for scarce European canvases.
According to Mrs. E. Boyd, former curator of the Museum of New Mexico, who examined this piece for possible transfer to the National Museum of History and Technology (now American History): "By the time the Franciscan missionaries were being withdrawn from New Mexico and replaced by Mexican secular clergy, the visiting bishops from Durango, Mexico, the seat of the diocese, repeatedly ordered the removal of sacred images painted on animal skins as not suitable." Following passage of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which transferred New Mexico to the United States, canvas was more readily available and buffalo herds were dwindling. By the close of 19th century, the buffalo was becoming the unofficial emblem of the United States, as prominent as the eagle in American symbolic imagery.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1700 - 1820
user
Rio Grande Pueblo Mission Church
depicted
Our Lady of Guadalupe
ID Number
CL.176403
accession number
31785
catalog number
176403

Ezekial Saw de Wheel; Joshua Fit de Battle of Jericho

The Southernaires. side 1: Ezekial Saw De Wheel; side 2: Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho (Decca 2858), from the album, The Southernaires in a Recital of Spirituals (Decca 83).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description
The Southernaires. side 1: Ezekial Saw De Wheel; side 2: Joshua Fit De Battle of Jericho (Decca 2858), from the album, The Southernaires in a Recital of Spirituals (Decca 83).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
recording date
1939
recording artist
Southernaires
manufacturer
Decca
ID Number
1996.0320.05288
maker number
2858
83
accession number
1996.0320
catalog number
1996.0320.05288

birth and baptismal certificate

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1807
associated date
1807 10 30
associated user
unknown
unknown
graphic artist
Krebs, Johann Jacob Friedrich
ID Number
1987.0006.03
accession number
1987.0006
catalog number
1987.0006.03

Then Came Jesus; Balm in Gilead

George Beverly Shea. side 1: Then Came Jesus; side 2: Balm in Gilead (Singspiration 53017), from the album, Under His Wings (Singspiration 15).78 rpm.Currently not on view
Description
George Beverly Shea. side 1: Then Came Jesus; side 2: Balm in Gilead (Singspiration 53017), from the album, Under His Wings (Singspiration 15).
78 rpm.
Location
Currently not on view
release date
1947
recording artist
Shea, George Beverly
manufacturer
Singspiration
ID Number
1996.0320.05264
maker number
53017
15
accession number
1996.0320
catalog number
1996.0320.05264

shield

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
18th century
ID Number
CL.151899
accession number
24142
catalog number
151899

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