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 10 items.
Waylon Jennings
- Description
- Waylon Jennings's first single, the Cajun song "Jole Blon," was produced by Buddy Holly in 1958. Jennings (1937-2002) moved to a more hardcore country sound by the 1970s. Rejecting slick commercial conventions of the time and demanding more control of his music, Jennings's professional and personal lifestyle personified what became known as the Outlaw Country movement.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1975
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.029
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.029
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Johnson Mountain Boys
- Description
- The Johnson Mountain Boys was a traditional bluegrass band formed in the Washington, D.C. suburbs in the 1970s. Its members were vocalist, banjoist, and guitarist Dudley Connell, David McLauglin, fiddler Eddie Stubbs, and bassist Larry Robbins. Connell worked for Smithsonian Folkways for a time and Stubbs went on to host the Grand Ole Opry.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1981
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.030
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.030
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Holy Modal Rounders
- Description
- The Holy Modal Rounders, a folk/country band, was formed in 1961 by guitarist Steve Weber (right) and banjoist and fiddler Peter Stampfel in New York City's Greenwich Villiage. The popular music label, Rounder Records, owes its name to this innovative and controversial band.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1972
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.032
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.032
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Jeannie C. Riley
- Description
- Best known for her crossover hit, "Harper Valley PTA," Jeannie C. Riley (b. 1945) is pictured her on her tour bus.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1973
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.033
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.033
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tex Ritter and Fans
- Description
- Henry Horenstein's photograph of this multigenerational crowd shows that fans of country music are not defined by age, but rather by choice of performers and styles of country music. Although Tex Ritter (Woodward Maurice Ritter, 1905-1975) attained most of his fame as a Hollywood singing cowboy in the 1930s and 1940s, he still performed into the 1970s. Ritter won an Academy Award in 1953 for the best theme song, "High Noon," for the movie of the same name.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1978
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.063
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.063
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tex Ritter and Fans
- Description
- A Tex Ritter fan holds a 45 RPM record as Ritter signs a photograph.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1973
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.064
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.064
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tex Ritter and Fans
- Description
- Fans stand in line waiting for Tex Ritter's autograph.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1973
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.065
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.065
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Tex Ritter and Fans
- Description
- A man sells Tex Ritter photographs to fans waiting for his autograph.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1973
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.066
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.066
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Patron
- Description
- A man listens to music at the Hillbilly Ranch bar.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1972
- 2003
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.067
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.067
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Photograph of Joe Val
- Description
- In the 1970s and 1980s, photographer Henry Horenstein documented the lives and performances of country and bluegrass musicians. The time marked the end of an era of less commercialism and closer relationships between fans and musicians. It was a time when the casual atmosphere of outdoor venues was popular, and the music fans could often meet their favorite musicians in the parking lots or other areas of the grounds. In this image, taken in 1972 at Indian Ranch in Webster, Massachusetts, bluegrass musician and singer Joe Val (1926-1985) plays a Gibson mandolin in a picnic area. He is accompanied by other guitarists and is being watched by fans. Val (born Joseph Valiante) was an accomplished mandolinist and guitarist who played both traditional and progressive bluegrass in his band, the New England Bluegrass Boys.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- negative
- 1972
- 2003
- negative
- 1972
- maker
- Horenstein, Henry
- ID Number
- 2003.0169.072
- accession number
- 2003.0169
- catalog number
- 2003.0169.072
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center