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 893 items.
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St. Raymond Nonnatus
- Description
- San Ramón Nonato is associated with secrets and silence. He is the patron saint of both victims of gossip and women in labor. Born in Catalonia in the early 13th century, his mother died in labor and he was surgically removed from her womb. He was an ardent and persecuted Christian missionary in North Africa. To stop him from converting others to Christianity, his lips were pierced with a hot iron and clamped shut with a lock.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- n.d.
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0403
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0403
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Our Lady of Solitude (?)
- Description
- This figure is probably the Virgen de la Soledad. The title of Our Lady of Solitude is attributed to her faith-filled vigil on Holy Saturday, as she awaited the resurrection of her son, Jesus Christ.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 20th century
- late 19th - 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0459
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0459
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Marímbula
- Description
- The marímbula, (also marímbola), is an African-derived folk instrument found across the Caribbean. Large enough for its player to sit on, this instrument consists of a large, resonating box with metal strips that are plucked to provide a simple bass accompaniment. Its affordability, ease of construction, and portability (it can be strapped to its player like a marching drum), made it adaptable to many styles of folk music, from the roving aguinaldo of the Christmas season to a street-corner plena.
- Location
- Currently on loan
- Date made
- 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0512
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0512
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria
- Description
- This wooden figure of La Virgen de la Candelaria was made by Genaro Rivera in the town of Morovis in the early 1900s. This saint is especially popular in Puerto Rican cultural traditions and folk religion. Many of the first settlers to Puerto Rico came originally from the Canary Islands, bringing with them their patron saint, the Virgen de la Candelaria, the Virgin of Candlemas.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1861-12-10-1941-12-14
- maker
- Rivera Aviles, Genaro
- Rivera Aviles, Genaro
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0544
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0544
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
San José
- Description
- This figure of Saint Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus Christ, was carved by Genaro Rivera in the town of Morovis at the turn of the 20th century. Several of the milagros attached to this saint are in the shape of legs.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1861-12-10-1941-12-14
- maker
- Rivera Aviles, Genaro
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0619
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0619
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
San Antonio de Padua
- Description
- St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most venerated saints in Puerto Rico. According to Catholic tradition, he was miraculously visited by the Infant Jesus, and is commonly referred to as the "finder of lost articles." This figure is an early example of a santo from the 18th century.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 18th century
- depicted
- Saint Anthony of Padua
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0635
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0635
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Santiago Matamoros
- Description
- This wooden santo represents Santiago Matamoros, or St. James the Moor Slayer. It was made by the Ramos family from the town of Aguada. Santiago Matamoros is the patron saint of Spain and provided spiritual inspiration for the Christian re-conquest of Iberia and the subsequent expulsion of Jews and Muslims. The legacy of this conflict between Christians and Muslims in Spain was transplanted to the Americas.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1850-1904
- maker
- Ramos, Pepe
- Ramos, Justina
- Ramos, Jose
- Ramos, Justina Torres de
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0650
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0650
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
San Sebastián
- Description
- Saint Sebastian was an early Christian martyr who, according to legend, was tied to a tree, shot with arrows, and left for dead. He not only recovered, but returned to preaching Christianity. For this, the Roman emperor Diocletian ordered him beaten to death. He is almost always represented tied to a post and shot with arrows, thus making him instantly recognizable.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- late 19th-early 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0696
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0696
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
The Three Maries
- Description
- Las Tres Marías, the Three Maries, are the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and Mary of Cleofas. They are often depicted at the crucifixion of Jesus Christ or at his tomb. But, a popular Puerto Rican story relates that the Three Kings were suitors of the Three Marys, whom they accompanied to local festivities. This radical departure from scripture is an example of the distinctive religious traditions developed over the centuries by rural Puerto Ricans.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 19th-20th century
- maker
- Garcia, Ramon
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0731
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0731
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Barber's Tools
- Description
- This barber's kit included a pair of scissors, a manual clipper, straight razors, and a brush. Barbering has long been an independent, respectable way to earn a living. These tools belonged to an itinerant barber in Puerto Rico. In the 1930s and 1940s, la zafra, the sugar harvest, brought younger men, women, and families from the rural highlands and the urban coastal regions together. Itinerant barbers followed the sugar harvest, earning a significant part of their income.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- early 20th century
- ID Number
- 1997.0097.0835.001
- accession number
- 1997.0097
- catalog number
- 1997.0097.0835.001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center