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.

Date: 1890s

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

Crown

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1899
ID Number
CL.201487b
accession number
35201
catalog number
201487b

Old stone walls of Avignon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
ID Number
2012.0203.0091
accession number
2012.0203
catalog number
2012.0203.0091

The Holy Bible

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1880 - 1890
ID Number
ZZ.RSN82667U02

bible study device

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1896
ID Number
1994.0164.02
catalog number
1994.0164.02
accession number
1994.0164

Avignon from across the river

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
ID Number
2012.0203.0090
accession number
2012.0203
catalog number
2012.0203.0090

Pentecostal Hymns

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1894
associated date
1894
maker
Hope Publishing Co.
ID Number
CL.306787.91
accession number
306787
catalog number
306787.91

Hapisgoh (The Summit)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1852-1853
1890
ID Number
GA.285049.02.01
accession number
285049
catalog number
285049.02.01

scroll, bible study device

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1896
ID Number
1994.0164.01
catalog number
1994.0164.01
accession number
1994.0164

The Vesper Bell

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
1898
maker
Eickemeyer, Jr., Rudolf
ID Number
PG.003920.A43
catalog number
3920.A43
accession number
106456

“The Lord Is My Shepherd (23rd Psalm)”

This sheet music for the song "The Lord Is My Shepherd (23rd Psalm)" was written and composed by John B. Marsh and published by the William. A. Pond and Co. of New York, New York in 1898.
Description
This sheet music for the song "The Lord Is My Shepherd (23rd Psalm)" was written and composed by John B. Marsh and published by the William. A. Pond and Co. of New York, New York in 1898. This cover is plain paper with black text, but the phrase “The Lord” is underlined by the image of a shepherd’s staff. The contralto solo was written with affectionate regard to Mr. Warren Pond.
Location
Currently not on view
publishing date
1898
composer
Marsh, John B.
publisher
William A. Pond & Co.
ID Number
1982.0439.35
accession number
1982.0439
catalog number
1982.0439.35

The New Testament

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

Eve and the Serpent

Color woodcut on parchment-like paper. Naked woman and serpent in lush setting with twining vegetation. Printed by Frank Morley Fletcher from five wood blocks designed by John D. Batten, 1895. Edition: no. 58. Annotated in pencil in lower margin: "No. 58 John D. Batten. 1895.
Description
Color woodcut on parchment-like paper. Naked woman and serpent in lush setting with twining vegetation. Printed by Frank Morley Fletcher from five wood blocks designed by John D. Batten, 1895. Edition: no. 58. Annotated in pencil in lower margin: "No. 58 John D. Batten. 1895. First finished example made in Japanese style in England. Printed by F. Morley Fletcher."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1895
original artist
Batten, John Dickson
ID Number
GA.05623
catalog number
05623
accession number
32331

“At a Georgia Camp Meeting”

This sheet music for the song "At a Georgia Camp Meeting," was written and composed by Kerry Mills and published by F.A. Mills in New York, New York in 1897.
Description
This sheet music for the song "At a Georgia Camp Meeting," was written and composed by Kerry Mills and published by F.A. Mills in New York, New York in 1897. The cover proclaims the song “a characteristic march which can be used effectively as a two-step, polka, or cake walk,” and shows images of blacks having a dignified party. The cake walk was often the last song at a dance and the best dancing couple was awarded a cake (the origin of the phrase “taking the cake”).
Location
Currently not on view
publishing date
1897
composer
Mills, Kerry
user
Woodside, Lura
publisher
F. A. Mills
ID Number
1979.1154.18
accession number
1979.1154
catalog number
1979.1154.18

View of Villeneuve les Avignon

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1890
ID Number
2012.0203.0092
accession number
2012.0203
catalog number
2012.0203.0092

Mormon Ceremonial Apron

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1800 - 1890
ID Number
CL.151442
catalog number
151442
accession number
023481

Manuscrit Mexicain (Codex Telleriano-Remensis)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1899
published repro
1899
original
16th century
ID Number
GA.09446
catalog number
09446

church pew

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890s
Associated Name
Robeson, Paul
ID Number
1999.0127.01
accession number
1999.0172
catalog number
1999.0172.01

1890 - 1893 Presbyterian Ladies Society Autograph Banner

This banner is one of two made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Ladies Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, as a fundraising project.
Description
This banner is one of two made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by the Ladies Society of the First Presbyterian Church, New York City, as a fundraising project. The donor, Emilie Noakes Manley, referred to them as “Autograph Quilts” as they contain many signatures of prominent political personages of the period.
The banners belonged to her husband’s grandmother, Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley, and were donated in her memory. According to family information, this banner was raffled as a fund raiser, possibly for an 1893 addition to the church by the firm McKim, Mead & White. Although Margaret Bradley did not win the raffle, the banner was presented to her because of “her efforts for the projects.”
This banner has a black satin ground with an appliquéd American flag made of red and white satin with a blue and white printed field of stars. Inked signatures of Benjamin Harrison (president 1889-1893) and his cabinet are on the flag. Near the flag are the embroidered words, "Liberty Union E pluribus Unum." In the center of the banner is an appliquéd blue circle embroidered with white stars surrounded by 44 red and white rays representing the number of states in the early 1890s. The rays are embroidered, following the lines of the original signatures, with the names of state governors, including those of Idaho and Wyoming both of which joined the Union in 1890.
The patriotic center is enhanced with appliquéd and embroidered flags of 48 nations. The embroidered insignia of 86 G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) posts or units are on a 10-inch black satin border. Between two of the G.A.R. insignia is an embroidered Brooklyn Bridge, completed in 1883, and the inscription “BROOKLYN BRIDGE.” Across the top are 42 thin metal rings, an indication that it was meant to be hung. It is lined with light blue-green silk.
The Grand Army of the Republic was founded in Decatur, Illinois on April 6, 1866 by Benjamin F. Stephenson. Membership was limited to honorably discharged veterans of the Union Army, Navy, or Marine Corps who had served between April 12, 1861, and April 9, 1865. Its peak membership was at more than 400,000 in 1890, about the time this banner was made. It lobbied Congress to establish veterans' pensions, supported voting rights for black veterans, and supported Republican political candidates. The organization ended in 1956 with the death of the last member to have served in the Civil War.
The donor recalled in a letter that she remembered hearing that the banner was “a money-making project, and all the ladies of the church participated in the assembling of the ‘Autograph-Swatches’ and the stitching and embroidery. The signatures on the flags were probably members and friends of the congregation (and possibly charged a small fee for the privilege) and when the quilts were completed they were raffled off.”
Margaret J. Clarke was born December 1858 to John and Matilda McKinney Clarke in New York City. Her parents were born in Ireland. She married Edward F. Goodall on September 18, 1877. He was killed by a train in 1880 and she married Samuel Bradley on February 25, 1885. She died November 21, 1929, in New York.
Margaret's daughter Louise, from her first marriage, married John Gordon Noakes. Their son, Donald Gordon Noakes, married Emilie, the donor. He died in 1948 and Emilie later married John Manley. In 1979 she gave the quilts to the National Museum in honor of the family and Margaret Clarke Goodall Bradley. Another granddaughter, Marjorie Blampied, wrote that the quilts “. . . most certainly are where they belong . . . where they will be treasured and appreciated.”
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1890-1893
maker
unknown
ID Number
1979.1019.01
catalog number
1979.1019.01
accession number
1979.1019

Memoirs of the Life of Catherine Phillips

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1798
Associated Date
1817-03-30
1898
ID Number
DL.61.0382
catalog number
61.0382
accession number
232677

Jesus Our Love

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1893-01-28
ID Number
1990.0181.099
catalog number
1990.0181.099
accession number
1990.0181

pin, stick

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1898
ID Number
CL.158464
catalog number
158464
accession number
34414

1850 - 1890 Mary Matthews Album Quilt

Album quilt made by friends and family for Mary Matthews to take with her on her sojourn as a missionary and teacher in Macedonia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The quilt consists of 25 blocks (approx.
Description
Album quilt made by friends and family for Mary Matthews to take with her on her sojourn as a missionary and teacher in Macedonia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The quilt consists of 25 blocks (approx. 12” x 13”) with pink sashing (2 ¾” wide) and pink and white border (1”, 1”, and 1 ¼” wide). The pieced and appliqued blocks, filling, and lining are all cotton. The blocks are mainly variations on patterns found on many album quilts of the period. The quilt was assembled for Mary Louisa Matthews who in 1888 went to Monastir (Bitola) Macedonia as a missionary, teaching at American School for Girls. Each block is inscribed with the name of a family member or friend. A few have religious inscriptions or poetry. One particular block is unusual, an appliqued Pythagorean Theorem.
date made
1850 - 1890
maker
unknown
ID Number
2019.0246.01
accession number
2019.0246
catalog number
2019.0246.01

Whistle

This whistle was made by an unknown maker in Italy, about 1875-1890. It is one of a pair of whistles made from chestnut.
Description
This whistle was made by an unknown maker in Italy, about 1875-1890. It is one of a pair of whistles made from chestnut. This accession includes 2 bark whistles and this reed pipe which used by people on their annual pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Virgin of San Fruttuoso in Genoa.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1875 - 1890
ID Number
MI.095321.02
catalog number
95321.02
accession number
26410

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