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: 1920s

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

The Mosque of Oman

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1920-1927
maker
Petrocelli, Joseph
ID Number
PG.006024.30
accession number
224379
catalog number
6024.30

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

Flight into Egypt

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.006
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.006

Head of Christ

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.007
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.007

On the Way to Calvary

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.011
catalog number
2016.0084.011
accession number
2016.0084

Ascension of Christ

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1918
associated date
1910 - 1920
maker
Gosar, Ivan
ID Number
DL.304142.20A
accession number
304142
catalog number
304142.20A

Susanna and the Elders

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.016
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.016

The Prodigal Son

Woodcut on Japanese mitsumata paper.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
Woodcut on Japanese mitsumata paper.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.001
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.001

Carreta con Muerto

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1850 - 1920
maker
Ortega, Jose?
ID Number
CL.280129.13
accession number
280129
catalog number
280129.13

March of the Klansmen, The

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1925
associated institution
Ku Klux Klan
publisher
Windle, Harry F.
lyricist; composer
Tillery, Noah F.
ID Number
1986.0309.09
accession number
1986.0309
catalog number
1986.0309.09

On the Way to Calvary (variant)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.012
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.012

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1927
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.055
catalog number
2016.0084.055
accession number
2016.0084

Madonna

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.025
catalog number
2016.0084.025
accession number
2016.0084

My Son

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1928
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.066
catalog number
2016.0084.066
accession number
2016.0084

Whip (Disciplina)

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1875 - 1925
ID Number
CL.280129.10
accession number
280129
catalog number
280129.10

Samson Brooding

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.015
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.015

The Church Vestibule

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1920s
maker
Keighley, Alexander
ID Number
PG.004887
accession number
198282
catalog number
4887

Christ Walking on Water

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.004
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.004

Pieta

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.013
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.013

The Prophet

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1924
Artist
Miller, Benjamin
Associated Name
Bernard, Allen W.
maker
Miller, Benjamin
ID Number
2016.0084.014
accession number
2016.0084
catalog number
2016.0084.014

Chaplain's Chalice

Physical DescriptionBrass chalice with gold inlay.General HistoryChalices are used during the celebration of the Roman Catholic Mass. They bear the wine which represents the blood of Christ.
Description
Physical Description
Brass chalice with gold inlay.
General History
Chalices are used during the celebration of the Roman Catholic Mass. They bear the wine which represents the blood of Christ. Chaplains often celebrated Mass in the field for Catholic soldiers during active campaigns and before battles.
associated date
1941-1945
date obtained by donor
1946
ID Number
1981.0151.02
accession number
1981.0151
catalog number
1981.0151.02

Fan-style mechanical trade card advertisement for Abie's Irish Rose

This fan-style mechanical trade card advertises the original Broadway production of the comedic play Abie’s Irish Rose, one of the most successful and important plays of the 20th century.
Description (Brief)
This fan-style mechanical trade card advertises the original Broadway production of the comedic play Abie’s Irish Rose, one of the most successful and important plays of the 20th century. The card is comprised of three leaf-shaped die cut cardboard sections joined with a metal grommet at the bottom, allowing the user to fan out each of the three pieces. The card is printed in green and pink ink on the front with images of a rose and the title of the play, as well as the name of its author, Anne Nichols. The back is printed with information about the production: “Now Playing at / Republic Theatre / NEW YORK / West 42nd St. / Evenings 8:30 – Mats. Wed. and Sat. 2:30 / THIRD YEAR”.
Abie’s Irish Rose was an enormously popular mixed marriage farce that spoke to contemporary cultural anxieties about immigration, assimilation, and ethnic identity. Written by Anne Nichols, the play tells the story of a couple comprised of a Jewish man and Irish woman navigating familial and societal prejudice while marrying and raising a family in contemporary New York City. The lead characters’ audacious and escalating lies to hide their relationship from their bigoted fathers culminates in an absurd climax of multiple marriages and religious reconciliation. The show premiered May 23, 1922 at the Fulton Theatre and ran for 2,327 performances before closing at The Republic in 1927, making it the longest running play in Broadway history until surpassed by Hello, Dolly in the 1960s. The sentimental comedy was seen by an estimated 11 million audience members in its Broadway and national touring productions.
Abie’s Irish Rose was adapted for film in 1928 and again in 1946, a weekly radio show in the 1940s, and revived on Broadway in 1937 and 1954. Nichols sued Universal Studios for plagiarism for making the 1926 film The Cohens and Kellys, a film with a similar plot premise. In the landmark 1930 US Court of Appeals case Nichols v. Universal Pictures Corp., Judge Learned Hand wrote the opinion for the court, holding that copyright protection cannot be extended to stock characters in a story in the case of non-literal copying of a dramatic work.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1925
ID Number
2023.0082.01
accession number
2023.0082
catalog number
2023.0082.01

The Procession

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1927
maker
Bairstow, Herbert
ID Number
PG.003946.02
accession number
115163
catalog number
3946.02

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