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.

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1971
ID Number
1996.0111.41
accession number
1996.0111
catalog number
1996.0111.41
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1973
publisher
Chick Publications
ID Number
1993.0552.170
catalog number
1993.0552.170
accession number
1993.0552
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1950s-1970s
ID Number
2013.0327.1310
accession number
2013.0327
catalog number
2013.0327.1310
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1979
associated date
January 12-15, 1979
maker
ERAmerica
ID Number
1982.0680.19
accession number
1982.0680
catalog number
1982.0680.19
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1973
ID Number
PL.306512.07
accession number
306512
catalog number
306512.07
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
ID Number
CL.306787.62C
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.62C
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
maker
Scheer, A.
ID Number
CL.306787.46
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.46
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
ID Number
CL.306787.61G
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.61G
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
ID Number
CL.306787.61H
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.61H
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970s
maker
Scheer, A.
ID Number
CL.306787.43I
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.43I
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
ID Number
CL.306787.61B
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.61B
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
ID Number
CL.306787.61C
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.61C
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970s
maker
Scheer, A.
ID Number
CL.306787.43D
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.43D
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1971
ID Number
CL.306787.30
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.30
This fan from Knoxville, Tennessee, is dated to the 1970s. It depicts an image of Martin Luther King Jr., John Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy on one side, titled "Freedom Fighters," and an advertisement for Reed’s Mortuary on the other.
Description
This fan from Knoxville, Tennessee, is dated to the 1970s. It depicts an image of Martin Luther King Jr., John Kennedy, and Robert Kennedy on one side, titled "Freedom Fighters," and an advertisement for Reed’s Mortuary on the other. Handheld fans were often used in churches across America, particularly southern Protestant congregations. Church fans often included depictions of religious or famous figures of the past and present on the front, and information from local businesses on the back. They were at once devotional objects, connections between churches and social movements such and civil rights, and an effective advertising medium. The fans were usually made with paper, cardboard, wood, and ink.
Date made
1970
depicted
Kennedy, Robert F.
King, Jr., Martin Luther
Kennedy, John F.
ID Number
CL.306787.33B
catalog number
306787.33B
accession number
306787
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1971
associated date
1971
ID Number
CL.306787.65F
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.65F
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1971
associated date
1971
ID Number
CL.306787.65E
catalog number
306787.65E
accession number
306787
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1972
ID Number
CL.306787.26
accession number
30678
catalog number
306787.26
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1973
associated date
1973
maker
Jamerson
ID Number
CL.306787.13
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.13
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1972
ID Number
CL.306787.29
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.29
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970s
maker
Scheer, A.
ID Number
CL.306787.43F
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.43F
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
ca 1970
maker
U. O. Colson Co.
ID Number
CL.306787.44
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.44
patent number
2052180
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970s
maker
Scheer, A.
ID Number
CL.306787.43J
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.43J
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1970s
maker
Scheer, A.
ID Number
CL.306787.43B
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.43B

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