Cultures & Communities - Overview
Furniture, cooking wares, clothing, works of art, and many other kinds of artifacts are part of what knit people into communities and cultures. The Museum’s collections feature artifacts from European Americans, Latinos, Arab Americans, Asian Pacific Americans, African Americans, Gypsies, Jews, and Christians, both Catholics and Protestants. The objects range from ceramic face jugs made by enslaved African Americans in South Carolina to graduation robes and wedding gowns. The holdings also include artifacts associated with education, such as teaching equipment, textbooks, and two complete schoolrooms. Uniforms, insignia, and other objects represent a wide variety of civic and voluntary organizations, including youth and fraternal groups, scouting, police forces, and firefighters.
"Cultures & Communities - Overview" showing 2 items.
Hurricane Evacuation Route Road Sign
- Description
- As Hurricane Katrina approached in August 2005, over 80 percent of the residents of New Orleans fled the city during the mandatory evacuation. Thousands of residents, however, could not or would not leave.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Associated Date
- 2005
- fabricator
- New Orleans Department of Public Works
- ID Number
- 2005.0284.01
- accession number
- 2005.0284
- catalog number
- 2005.0284.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
- No Image Available
Hurricane Clean-up Sign
- Description
- No sooner had Katrina departed New Orleans in August 2005 than waves of hurricane clean-up signs went up in neighborhoods hard-hit by the storm, offering house-gutting services, mold removal, drywall replacement, and even building removal. The work was hazardous, involving the mucking out of homes and the handling of mountains of demolition debris and sodden household belongings. Many homeowners undertook their own clean-up, but much was performed by immigrant laborers attracted to the region by the promise of hard work and good wages.
- The scrubbing away of the tell-tale oily high-water mark was one of the most visible challenges of the clean-up effort. Some property owners regarded this mark as a badge of survival and protect it as evidence of what they endured in 2005. Most, however, opted for the cleansing away of this stain, a bitter reminder of the terrible tide that rose in New Orleans when the levees fell.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Associated Date
- 2005
- ID Number
- 2006.3059.10
- catalog number
- 2006.3059.10
- nonaccession number
- 2006.3059
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center