Work

The tools, rules, and relationships of the workplace illustrate some of the enduring collaborations and conflicts in the everyday life of the nation. The Museum has more than 5,000 traditional American tools, chests, and simple machines for working wood, stone, metal, and leather. Materials on welding, riveting, and iron and steel construction tell a more industrial version of the story. Computers, industrial robots, and other artifacts represent work in the Information Age.

But work is more than just tools. The collections include a factory gate, the motion-study photographs of Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, and more than 3,000 work incentive posters. The rise of the factory system is measured, in part, by time clocks in the collections. More than 9,000 items bring in the story of labor unions, strikes, and demonstrations over trade and economic issues.

The Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History houses an extensive series of prints by archeologist and artist Jean Charlot (1898–1979), and prominent Los Angeles printer Lynton Kistler (1897–1993).
Description
The Graphic Arts Collection of the National Museum of American History houses an extensive series of prints by archeologist and artist Jean Charlot (1898–1979), and prominent Los Angeles printer Lynton Kistler (1897–1993). Charlot, the French-born artist of this print, spent his early career during the 1920s in Mexico City. As an assistant to the socialist painter Diego Rivera, he studied muralism, a Mexican artistic movement that was revived throughout Latino communities in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. This lithograph, titled Work and Rest contrasts the labor of an indigenous woman, grinding corn on a metate, with the slumber of her baby. Printed by Lynton Kistler in Los Angeles in 1956, it presents an image of a Mexican woman living outside the industrial age. This notion of "Old Mexico" unblemished by modernity appealed to many artists concerned in the early 20th century with the mechanization and materialism of American culture. It was also a vision that was packaged as an exotic getaway for many American tourists. It is worth contrasting the quaint appeal of an indigenous woman laboring over her tortillas with the actual industrialization of the tortilla industry. By 1956, this woman would likely have bought her tortillas in small stacks from the local tortillería, saving about six hours of processing, grinding, and cooking tortilla flour.
Description (Spanish)
La Colección de Artes Gráficas del Museo Nacional de Historia Americana alberga una extensa serie de grabados del arqueólogo y artista Jean Charlot (1898-1979), y del prominente grabador de Los Ángeles Lynton Kistler (1897-1993). Nacido en Francia, Chralot, autor original de esta ilustración, pasó los comienzos de su carrera durante la década de 1920, en la ciudad de México. Como asistente del pintor socialista Diego Rivera, estudió muralismo, un movimiento artístico mexicano que resurgió en las comunidades latinas de los Estados Unidos en las décadas de los '60 y '70. Esta litografía, titulada Trabajo y Descanso contrasta la labor de una mujer indígena moliendo maíz con un metate, con el letargo de su bebé. Impreso por Lynton Kistler en Los Ángeles en 1956, simboliza la imagen de una mujer mexicana con una vida al margen de la era industrial. Esta noción del "Viejo México" impoluto por la modernidad resultaba atractiva para los artistas de principios del siglo XX, preocupados por la mecanización y el materialismo de la cultura americana. También constituía una visión que se envasaba como un escape exótico para muchos turistas americanos. Vale la pena contrastar el pintoresco atractivo de una mujer indígena trabajando para hacer tortillas con la industrialización actual de la fabricación de tortillas. Ya hacia el año 1956 esta mujer probablemente hubiera comprado sus tortillas en pequeñas cantidades en la tortillería del barrio, ahorrándose las 6 horas de trabajo aproximadas que le hubiera llevado procesar, moler y cocinar la harina de maíz ella misma.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1956
graphic artist
Charlot, Jean
printer
Kistler, Lynton R.
ID Number
GA.23355.05
catalog number
23355.05
accession number
299563
The French-born artist Jean Charlot spent his early career during the 1920s in Mexico City. His 1948 lithograph depicts a scene from the domestic life of a Mexican indigenous woman, a favorite theme of the artist.
Description
The French-born artist Jean Charlot spent his early career during the 1920s in Mexico City. His 1948 lithograph depicts a scene from the domestic life of a Mexican indigenous woman, a favorite theme of the artist. Household work—without the aid of most, if any, electrical appliances—was a full-time job for many working-class and poor Mexican women, north and south of the border, well into the 20th century. Food preparation was especially labor-intensive. Corn had to be processed, wood gathered, and water fetched, in the midst of child rearing and other household duties. This was the daily fare of most women, who rarely worked outside the home after marriage. Mexican American women who found work in cities like El Paso in the early 20th century were either single or widowed. Many worked as domestic servants, others in industrial laundries or textile mills. Like today, some women turned to their kitchens to earn a living, making meager profits selling prepared food on the street to Mexican American workers and Mexican migrants.
Description (Spanish)
El artista francés Jean Charlot pasó los años 1920, a comienzos de su carrera, en la ciudad de México. Esta litografía suya de 1948 representa una escena de la vida doméstica de una mujer indígena, un tema favorito del artista. Las tareas domésticas—sin la ayuda de la mayor parte de los aparatos electrodomésticos—constituían un trabajo de todo el día para muchas mujeres pobres de la clase trabajadora de México, al norte y sur de la frontera, hasta bien entrado el siglo XX. La preparación de la comida era especialmente trabajosa. Debía procesarse el maíz, juntarse leña y acarrear el agua, sumados a la crianza de los hijos y otras obligaciones domésticas. Así era la vida diaria para la mayoría de las mujeres, quienes raramente trabajaban fuera del hogar una vez casadas. A principios del siglo XX, las mujeres mexicoamericanas que trabajaban, en ciudades como El Paso, eran solteras o viudas. Muchas se empleaban en el servicio doméstico, otras en lavanderías industriales o fábricas textiles. Al igual que en la actualidad, algunas mujeres convertían su cocina en un medio para ganarse la vida, obteniendo exiguas ganancias a través de la venta de comidas preparadas en la calle para trabajadores mexicoamericanos e inmigrantes mexicanos.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1948
graphic artist
Charlot, Jean
ID Number
GA.23377
catalog number
23377
accession number
299563
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Telemundo Network Group, LLC
ID Number
2017.0175.26
catalog number
2017.0175.26
accession number
2017.0175
Square mic cube/microphone flag that went over news reporter's microphone. "Canal 51" is printed on each face in blue and red; a white star is in the center of the "1". The top and bottom of the cube is painted black.
Description (Brief)
Square mic cube/microphone flag that went over news reporter's microphone. "Canal 51" is printed on each face in blue and red; a white star is in the center of the "1". The top and bottom of the cube is painted black. There is a hole in the center with foam where the microphone would go through. Mic cube was used by Marilys Llanos, Senior Reporter for WSCV Telemundo 51 in Miami. Inscription by her photographer at the time Claude Castellanos.
"9/2/88" "To the best reporter" "Marilys Llanos" "Claudi"
ID Number
2017.0175.05
catalog number
2017.0175.05
accession number
2017.0175
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date issued
1991-06-13
date made
1991
maker
Telemundo Network Group, LLC
ID Number
2017.0175.24
catalog number
2017.0175.24
accession number
2017.0175
One (1) documenttype written "tonge twisters" document"Tongue Twisters" used by Gilda Miros to practice her Spanish diction.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
One (1) document
type written "tonge twisters" document
"Tongue Twisters" used by Gilda Miros to practice her Spanish diction.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2022.0251.7
accession number
2022.0251
catalog number
2022.0251.7
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date issued
1985-01-07
date made
1985
maker
Telemundo Network Group, LLC
ID Number
2017.0175.23
catalog number
2017.0175.23
accession number
2017.0175
ID Number
2017.0175.12
catalog number
2017.0175.12
accession number
2017.0175
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
2017.0175.21
catalog number
2017.0175.21
accession number
2017.0175
One (1) contractGilda Miros' contract on type written paperCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
One (1) contract
Gilda Miros' contract on type written paper
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963
July 24, 1963
07-24-1963
ID Number
2022.0251.6
accession number
2022.0251
catalog number
2022.0251.6
One (1) resume, 1970Resume belonging to Gilda Miros, 1970Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
One (1) resume, 1970
Resume belonging to Gilda Miros, 1970
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1970
ID Number
2022.0251.5
accession number
2022.0251
catalog number
2022.0251.5
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date issued
1985-01-07
date made
1985
maker
Telemundo Network Group, LLC
ID Number
2017.0175.22
catalog number
2017.0175.22
accession number
2017.0175
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date issued
1984-08
maker
Telemundo Network Group, LLC
ID Number
2017.0175.25
catalog number
2017.0175.25
accession number
2017.0175
ID Number
2017.0175.08
catalog number
2017.0175.08
accession number
2017.0175
One (1) NBC Universal Telemundo II intern badgeBlue badge with white with Telemundo "T" logo in blue on a white backgroundLori Montenegro's intern badge
Description (Brief)
One (1) NBC Universal Telemundo II intern badge
Blue badge with white with Telemundo "T" logo in blue on a white background
Lori Montenegro's intern badge
ID Number
2022.0267.01
accession number
2022.0267
catalog number
2022.0267.01
Cesar Estrada Chavez, the founder of the United Farm Workers of America, is one of the most recognized Latino civil rights leaders in the United States. A Mexican American born in Yuma, Arizona, his family lost their small farm in the Great Depression (1930s).
Description
Cesar Estrada Chavez, the founder of the United Farm Workers of America, is one of the most recognized Latino civil rights leaders in the United States. A Mexican American born in Yuma, Arizona, his family lost their small farm in the Great Depression (1930s). Like many Americans, they joined the migration to California and worked for low wages in its great agricultural fields. The agricultural industry in the West was a modern, market-driven phenomenon. In 1965, the United Farm Workers of America, led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, began its five-year Delano grape strike against area grape growers for equal wages for foreign workers. Filipino and Mexican Americans who labored in California vineyards were suddenly visible in the eyes of American consumers. The movement to boycott table grapes mobilized students and educated consumers across America. The text on this poster, printed around 1970, describes Chavez's vision of political and economic emancipation for farm workers. La Causa, or The Cause, as it was known among Mexican Americans, was the political and artistic touchstone of the Chicano movement.
Description (Spanish)
César Estrada Chávez, fundador del Sindicato de los Trabajadores Agrícolas de América (UFW, por sus siglas en inglés) es uno de los líderes más reconocidos de los derechos civiles de los latinos en Estados Unidos. Mexicoamericano, nacido en Yuma, Arizona, la familia perdió su pequeña granja durante la Gran Depresión (década de 1930). Al igual que muchos americanos, emigró hacia California para trabajar en los grandes campos agrícolas por un sueldo mínimo. La industria agrícola en el oeste era un fenómeno moderno, regido por el mercado. En 1965, el Sindicato de Trabajadores Agrícolas, conducido por César Chávez y Dolores Huerta, inició la huelga de la uva de Delano, la cual se prolongó durante cinco años, contra los productores de uva en pro de los derechos de paga de los trabajadores migratorios. Como consecuencia, los filipinos y mexicanoamericanos que trabajaban en los viñedos de California adquirieron una repentina presencia ante los ojos de los consumidores americanos. El movimiento de boicot a la producción de uva fresca movilizó a estudiantes y consumidores en toda América. El texto que se observa en este póster, impreso alrededor de 1970, describe la visión política de Chávez acerca de la emancipación política y económica de los trabajadores agrícolas. La Causa, como se la conocía entre los mexicoamericanos, era el pedernal político y artístico del movimiento chicano.
Location
Currently not on view
depicted (sitter)
Chavez, Cesar
associated; direct
United Farm Workers
maker
Lithographers and Photoengravers International Union
ID Number
PL.296849.35
catalog number
296849.35
accession number
296849
One (1) press badgeWhite badge with red accents and black writingPRENSA PRESS PRENSA PRESS / CBS TELENOTICIAS / No. 111024 / CBS TELENOTICIAS 2470 West 8th. Ave. Hialeah, Fl. 33010 USA / Lori Montenegro / July 2007 /Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
One (1) press badge
White badge with red accents and black writing
PRENSA PRESS PRENSA PRESS / CBS TELENOTICIAS / No. 111024 / CBS TELENOTICIAS 2470 West 8th. Ave. Hialeah, Fl. 33010 USA / Lori Montenegro / July 2007 /
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2007
ID Number
2022.0267.09
accession number
2022.0267
catalog number
2022.0267.09
One (1) press badgeWhite badge with black writing and a red, orange, yellow, green and blue logo. White lanyard.CENTRO DE PRENSA INTERNACIONAL / CUBA / PRENSA EXTRANJERA / LORI MONTENEGROCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
One (1) press badge
White badge with black writing and a red, orange, yellow, green and blue logo. White lanyard.
CENTRO DE PRENSA INTERNACIONAL / CUBA / PRENSA EXTRANJERA / LORI MONTENEGRO
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2016
ID Number
2022.0267.11
accession number
2022.0267
catalog number
2022.0267.11
One (1) press badgeRed badge with white and yellow writingPRESS/ PRENSA / LORI MONTENEGRO REPORTER / EXPIRES: 12-31-13 / NBC UNIVERSAL / TELEMUNDO
Description (Brief)
One (1) press badge
Red badge with white and yellow writing
PRESS/ PRENSA / LORI MONTENEGRO REPORTER / EXPIRES: 12-31-13 / NBC UNIVERSAL / TELEMUNDO
date made
2013
ID Number
2022.0267.10
accession number
2022.0267
catalog number
2022.0267.10
One (1) press badgeCuban and American flags in the background with black writing in the foreground.PRESS / Opening Ceremony of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba / Washington, DC / Monday, 20 July 2015 / PRESSCurrently not on view
Description (Brief)
One (1) press badge
Cuban and American flags in the background with black writing in the foreground.
PRESS / Opening Ceremony of the Embassy of the Republic of Cuba / Washington, DC / Monday, 20 July 2015 / PRESS
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2015
ID Number
2022.0267.12
accession number
2022.0267
catalog number
2022.0267.12
Emilio Nicolas, Sr. received this award in 2007 from the government of Mexico for sharing Mexican culture in the United States.
Description
Emilio Nicolas, Sr. received this award in 2007 from the government of Mexico for sharing Mexican culture in the United States. Among the many awards he received over the course of his career, this one demonstrated his commitment to sharing Mexican culture in the United States through television. The medal uses the symbol of a traveler to honor the spread of Mexican arts and culture. Nicolas, Sr. played an instrumental role in building the earliest Spanish language television network in the United States, the Spanish International Network or SIN.
In the 1950s, consumers made television the centerpiece of the home, fueling competition among broadcasters to create new products, new programming, new stations, and even new networks. Innovators, such as those behind the creation of independent Spanish-language stations and eventually the Spanish International Network (SIN), challenged established broadcasting companies by creating new programming in Spanish and catering to underserved audiences. Established in the early 1960s, SIN knit together independents and created new stations to serve a national audience. With a complex business and legal history, SIN eventually became Univision in the 1980s. In the decades after 1980, Spanish-language programing options grew with recognition of Latinx communities as powerful consumer groups and the advent of new broadcasting technologies such as cable and digital TV.
Description (Spanish)
El Sr. Emilio Nicolas recibió este premio en 2007 por parte del gobierno de México por difundir la cultura mexicana en los Estados Unidos. Entre los muchos premios que recibió a lo largo de su carrera, este representa su compromiso con el desarrollo de la cultura mexicana en los Estados Unidos a través de la televisión. La medalla incorpora el símbolo de un viajero azteca para honrar la difusión de las artes y la cultura mexicanas en el exterior. El Sr. Nicolas desempeñó un papel fundamental en la creación de la primera cadena de televisión en español en los Estados Unidos, el Spanish International Network o SIN.
En la década de 1950, los consumidores hicieron de la televisión un componente central de sus hogares, fomentando la competencia entre las difusoras para crear nuevos productos, nueva programación, nuevas estaciones, e incluso nuevas redes. Los innovadores, como los creadores de los canales independientes de habla hispana y el Spanish International Network (SIN), desafiaron a las emisoras establecidas creando nuevos programas en español centradas en audiencias históricamente ignoradas. Establecido a principios de los sesenta, SIN unió a difusoras independentes y creó nuevas estaciones para responder a una audiencia nacional. Tras una compleja trayectoria empresarial y legal, SIN se convertiría en Univisión en la década de 1980. Durante las próximas décadas, las opciones de programación en español crecieron gracias al reconocimiento de la comunidad Latinx, como poderoso grupo de consumidores, y a la introducción de nuevas tecnologías de difusión, como el cable y la televisión digital.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2007
maker
United Mexican States
ID Number
2017.0213.02
catalog number
2017.0213.02
accession number
2017.0213
Eduardo Kachskovsky had a long career at KMEX-TV (Univision) starting in 1980 and serving the Latino community. He worked from 1989 to 2004 in various roles from producer/director to creative director of live news and events.
Description
Eduardo Kachskovsky had a long career at KMEX-TV (Univision) starting in 1980 and serving the Latino community. He worked from 1989 to 2004 in various roles from producer/director to creative director of live news and events. Such events ranged from award shows and political debates to the annual Rose Parade. Spanish-language TV stations were committed to co-sponsoring and televising events that promoted education, health, and civic understanding among communities of viewers. In addition, they invested in the needed staff, reporters, and technology to go on location and connect audiences to live events.
If there was an event in LA, “Kach” was probably there. His collection includes not only press badges and a KMEX jacket, but also photographs and an oral history.
In the 1950s, consumers made television the centerpiece of the home, fueling competition among broadcasters to create new products, new programming, new stations, and even new networks. Innovators, such as those behind the creation of independent Spanish-language stations and eventually the Spanish International Network (SIN), challenged established broadcasting companies by creating new programming in Spanish and catering to underserved audiences. Established in the early 1960s, SIN knit together independents and created new stations to serve a national audience. With a complex business and legal history, SIN eventually became Univision in the 1980s. In the decades after 1980, Spanish-language programing options grew with recognition of Latinx communities as powerful consumer groups and the advent of new broadcasting technologies such as cable and digital TV.
Description (Spanish)
En la década de 1950, los consumidores hicieron de la televisión un componente central de sus hogares, fomentando la competencia entre las difusoras para crear nuevos productos, nueva programación, nuevas estaciones, e incluso nuevas redes. Los innovadores, como los creadores de los canales independientes de habla hispana y el Spanish International Network (SIN), desafiaron a las emisoras establecidas creando nuevos programas en español centradas en audiencias históricamente ignoradas. Establecido a principios de los sesenta, SIN unió a difusoras independentes y creó nuevas estaciones para responder a una audiencia nacional. Tras una compleja trayectoria empresarial y legal, SIN se convertiría en Univisión en la década de 1980. Durante las próximas décadas, las opciones de programación en español crecieron gracias al reconocimiento de la comunidad Latinx, como poderoso grupo de consumidores, y a la introducción de nuevas tecnologías de difusión, como el cable y la televisión digital.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2008-06
Associated Name
Roybal, Ed
ID Number
2018.0007.06
catalog number
2018.0007.06
accession number
2018.0007
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
2015-09
Associated Date
2015-09-22 through 2015-09-27
wearer
Diaz-Balart, Jose
referenced
Pope Francis
ID Number
2016.0336.23d
accession number
2016.0336
catalog number
2016.0336.23d
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1980s circa
related
Spanish International Network
ID Number
2019.3059.04
catalog number
2019.3059.04
nonaccession number
2019.3059

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