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.

Telegraph message, printed in Morse code, transcribed and signed by Samuel F. B. Morse.
Description
Telegraph message, printed in Morse code, transcribed and signed by Samuel F. B. Morse. This message was transmitted from Baltimore, Maryland, to Washington, D.C., over the nation's first long-distance telegraph line.
In 1843, Congress allocated $30,000 for Morse (1791-1872) to build an electric telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore. Morse and his partner, Alfred Vail (1807-1859), completed the forty-mile line in May 1844. For the first transmissions, they used a quotation from the Bible, Numbers 23:23: "What hath God wrought," suggested by Annie G. Ellsworth (1826-1900), daughter of Patent Commissioner Henry L. Ellsworth (1791-1858) who was present at the event on 24 May. Morse, in the Capitol, sent the message to Vail at the B&O Railroad's Pratt Street Station in Baltimore. Vail then sent a return message confirming the message he had received.
The original message transmitted by Morse from Washington to Baltimore, dated 24 May 1844, is in the collections of the Library of Congress. The original confirmation message from Vail to Morse is in the collections of the Connecticut Historical Society.
This tape, dated 25 May, is a personal souvenir transmitted by Vail in Baltimore to Morse in Washington the day following the inaugural transmissions. The handwriting on the tape is that of Morse himself. Found in Morse’s papers after his death the tape was donated to the Smithsonian in 1900 by his son Edward, where it has been displayed in many exhibitions.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1844-05-25
1844-05-24
associated date
1844-05-24
donated
1900-04-18
associated person
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
maker
Morse, Samuel Finley Breese
ID Number
EM.001028
catalog number
001028
accession number
65555
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1906
Associated Date
1946-08-28
ID Number
2018.0166.0039
accession number
2018.0166
catalog number
2018.0166.0039
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
1905
ID Number
NU.69.127.115
catalog number
69.127.115
accession number
286471
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1902
date of publishing
1902
ID Number
GA.09447
catalog number
09447
This bass was made by an unknown maker in New England, United States, early 19th century.
Description (Brief)

This bass was made by an unknown maker in New England, United States, early 19th century. It is an American church bass with a cherry colored stained wood body, neck of black stained wood, cherry colored stained wood pegbox and scroll with 4 friction pegs.

The modern term for this instrument is church bass. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, this instrument was also known as the American bass viol, New England bass viol, or Yankee bass viol. These church basses were used in churches and meeting houses to provide a bass line for maintaining a consistent key by New England congregational singers. The church bass was also used by popular singing groups such as the Hutchinson Family singers.

Location
Currently not on view
date made
early 19th century
ID Number
2014.0181.02
catalog number
2014.0181.02
accession number
2014.0181
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1900
ID Number
NU.68.263.1450
catalog number
68.263.1450
accession number
281689
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
1906
maker
Eickemeyer, Jr., Rudolf
ID Number
PG.004135.B013.29
catalog number
4135.B13.29
accession number
128483
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.
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
Charcoal sketch on paper. A large cross is surrounded by several smaller crosses, some bearing wreaths or ribbons, in the foreground. A group of soldiers is resting among the crosses. Some men appear to be eating.
Description
Charcoal sketch on paper. A large cross is surrounded by several smaller crosses, some bearing wreaths or ribbons, in the foreground. A group of soldiers is resting among the crosses. Some men appear to be eating. A group of soldiers, on foot and on horseback, ascend a small hill in the background. At the end of this procession is a large piece of artillery. On the right of the sketch is a crater; some soldiers are walking up and out of the depression while others are at work inside the crater.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1918-09
associated date
1917-1918
associated person
War Department
maker
Morgan, Wallace
ID Number
AF.25783
catalog number
25783
accession number
64592
Paul Rajon’s print of Le Serment de Vargas is made after a watercolor of the subject by Louis Gallait (1810–1887), not from the oil painting that is now in the Wallace Collection in London.
Description
Paul Rajon’s print of Le Serment de Vargas is made after a watercolor of the subject by Louis Gallait (1810–1887), not from the oil painting that is now in the Wallace Collection in London. Juan de Vargas is swearing an oath before the Duke of Alva, who was a governor of the Netherlands in the 16th century during the long struggle by the Dutch for independence from Spain, achieved at last in 1648. He pursued a bloody campaign against the Dutch Protestants. Louis Gallait was a Belgian painter of history, portraits, and genre.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
original artist
Gallait, Louis
graphic artist
Rajon, Paul-Adolphe
printer
Salmon, A.
publisher
Gazette des Beaux-Arts
ID Number
GA.14912
catalog number
14912
accession number
94830
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1900-1901
associated date
1900
original
17th century
publisher
Duc de Loubat
printer
Hazell, Watson, & Viney
ID Number
GA.09445
catalog number
09445
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
ID Number
CL.317694
accession number
68111
catalog number
317694
The civilizations of pre-Hispanic Mexico recorded their histories, religious beliefs, and scientific knowledge in books called codices. Codices are folded pieces of hide or bark that depict both mundane and spiritual scenes with images, symbols, and numbers.
Description
The civilizations of pre-Hispanic Mexico recorded their histories, religious beliefs, and scientific knowledge in books called codices. Codices are folded pieces of hide or bark that depict both mundane and spiritual scenes with images, symbols, and numbers. Scribes and painters busily recorded daily affairs, filling libraries and temples with books throughout Mexico and Central America. The majority of these illustrated books did not survive the Spanish conquest. But indigenous scribes trained by Spanish missionaries continued writing. While these colonial-era texts were still filled with pictures, over time they referenced the visual language of older Mexican and Maya books less and less. These new books about community histories (including land titles) and secret religious traditions were sometimes bilingual, combining Spanish with either Náhautl (the common language of central Mexico) or a Mayan language, both of which were now written with the Latin alphabet. This image is from an Italian reproduction of the Codex Telleriano-Remensis, a manuscript co-written by Spanish friar Pedro de los Ríos about 1550. It documents the religious beliefs, calendar system, traditions, and history of the Tolteca-Chichimeca culture of Central Mexico. Joseph Florimond, Duc de Loubat, (1837–1921) was an American philanthropist who published a series of reproductions of pre-Hispanic and colonial-era Mexican manuscripts, including the Codex Telleriano-Remensis. The Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History houses several reproductions of Mesoamerican codices published for study by French, German, and Italian scholars at the turn of the 20th century.
Description (Spanish)
Las civilizaciones del México prehispano registraron sus historias, creencias religiosas y conocimientos científicos en libros denominados códices. Los códices son piezas plegadas de cuero o corteza que describen tanto escenas mundanas como espirituales mediante imágenes, símbolos y números. Escribas y pintores registraron afanosamente asuntos de la vida diaria, llenando bibliotecas y templos con libros en todo México y América Central. La mayoría de estos libros ilustrados no sobrevivieron a la conquista española. Pero los escribas indígenas adiestrados por misioneros españoles continuaron escribiendo. Mientras que estos textos de la época colonial aún se observan plenos de imágenes, con el tiempo fueron dejando de hacer referencia al lenguaje visual de los antiguos libros mexicanos y mayas. Estos nuevos libros sobre historias de la comunidad (incluyendo títulos territoriales) y sobre tradiciones religiosas secretas a menudo eran bilingües, combinando español con náhuatl (la lengua común a la región de México central) o con una lengua maya, ambas ya escritas con el alfabeto latino. Esta imagen pertenece a una reproducción italiana del Codex Telleriano-Remensis, manuscrito con cuya escritura colaboró el fraile español Pedro de los Ríos alrededor de 1550. Se documentan en él las creencias religiosas, el sistema calendario, las tradiciones y la historia de la cultura Tolteca-Chichimeca de México Central. Joseph Florimond, Duc de Loubat, (1837-1921) fue un filántropo norteamericano que publicó una serie de reproducciones de manuscritos de la época prehispánica y colonial de México, incluyendo el Codex Telleriano-Remensis. La Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana alberga varias reproducciones de los códices mesoamericanos publicados para su estudio por eruditos franceses, alemanes e italianos a principios del siglo XX.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1900
Associated Date
1900
publisher
Duc de Loubat
ID Number
2006.0226.37
catalog number
09449
2006.0226.37
accession number
2006.0226
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1909
ID Number
NU.68.263.1749
catalog number
68.263.1749
accession number
281689
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
18th century
associated date
1850 - 1900
ID Number
NU.68.263.761
catalog number
68.263.761
accession number
281689
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1907
ID Number
1986.3048.0713
nonaccession number
1986.3048
catalog number
1986.3048.713
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.
Description
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
publishing date
1903
composer
Wilson, G. D.
publisher
Armstrong Music Publishing Company
ID Number
1982.0439.30
accession number
1982.0439
catalog number
1982.0439.30
This black and white print depicts Jesus Christ with four little children, three men and three women. All of the figures are wearing stylized flowing robes. Christ is shown placing his right hand on a boy’s head in blessing, while his left arm is gently around a young girl.
Description
This black and white print depicts Jesus Christ with four little children, three men and three women. All of the figures are wearing stylized flowing robes. Christ is shown placing his right hand on a boy’s head in blessing, while his left arm is gently around a young girl. Two of the mothers are kneeling and looking reverently at the figure of Christ. The apostle Matthew recounts an occasion when families brought their children to Jesus for his blessing, only to be rebuked by his disciples. In response, Christ said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these" (Chapter 19:13-14).
The print is titled in pencil script below the image as “Christ Blessing Little Children.” The image is of an 1866 Currier & Ives print entitled Jesus Blessing Little Children. This print could be a proof before letters print or a copy of the Currier & Ives print, but it is unsigned with no indication of the original artist, lithographer, or publisher.
Nathaniel Currier (1813-1888) was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and after serving an apprenticeship in Boston, he moved to New York City in 1834. In New York, he briefly partnered with Adam Stodart, but their firm dissolved within a year, and Currier went into business on his own until 1857. James M. Ives (1824-1895) was a native New York lithographer who was hired as a bookkeeper by Currier in 1852. In 1857, the two men partnered, forming the famous lithography firm of Currier and Ives, which continued under their sons until 1907.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1866-1900
depicted
Jesus Christ
artist attribution
Currier & Ives
ID Number
DL.60.2963
catalog number
60.2963
accession number
228146
Drypoint with aquatint by Gene Kloss (1903-1996). Born Alice Geneva Glasier, Kloss changed her first name to a masculine variation of her middle name after her marriage to the writer Phillips Kloss.
Description
Drypoint with aquatint by Gene Kloss (1903-1996). Born Alice Geneva Glasier, Kloss changed her first name to a masculine variation of her middle name after her marriage to the writer Phillips Kloss. She hoped the change would benefit her artistic career by eliminating prejudiced views of her work as a woman.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
c. 1930s
Associated Date
1957/8
graphic artist
Kloss, Gene
ID Number
GA.17578
catalog number
17578
accession number
159237
This etching by Léopold Flameng is known as either Un Rabbin or Un Vieux (An Old Man). The painting by Rembrandt hangs in the Musée Bonat, Bayonne, France.
Description
This etching by Léopold Flameng is known as either Un Rabbin or Un Vieux (An Old Man). The painting by Rembrandt hangs in the Musée Bonat, Bayonne, France. The print was etched for the Gazette des Beaux-Arts, a publication started in Paris by Charles Blanc in 1859, which ceased only recently. Flameng had met Blanc in the studio of a well-known engraver, Luigi Calamatta, and became one of two graphic artists on the new publication. He etched no fewer than 100 plates for the Gazette and some forty plates for Blanc’s book on Rembrandt’s work, published in 1859. Flameng’s etchings after Rembrandt were highly regarded by collectors in this period.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
19th century
original artist
Rembrandt van Rijn
graphic artist
Flameng, Léopold
publisher
Gazette des Beaux-Arts
ID Number
GA.14958
catalog number
14958
accession number
94830
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 19th century
1855 - 1885
ID Number
DL.022467.0001A
catalog number
22467.0001A
accession number
22467
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
real photo postcard; papermaker - Azoman holding basket with three children inside; possible orphanageTitle written with some letters backwards in negative.Handwritten on verso: PhilipCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
real photo postcard; papermaker - Azo
man holding basket with three children inside; possible orphanage
Title written with some letters backwards in negative.
Handwritten on verso: Philip
Location
Currently not on view
date made
after 1907
ID Number
1986.3048.1884
nonaccession number
1986.3048
catalog number
1986.3048.1884

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