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 7 items.
Engraved woodblock of "The Warrior and his Bride"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “The Warrior and his Bride” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 15 (p.44) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0465
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0465
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Pa'ri-ats"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of an American Indian identified as “Pa’ri-ats” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 7 (p.17) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The illustration was engraved by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1126
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1126
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Bringing down the batten"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Bringing down the batten” was prepared, after a photograph, by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published as Plate XXXVIII (p.390) in an article by Dr. Washington Matthews (1843-1905) entitled “Navajo Weavers” in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian, 1881-82.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1884
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Matthews, Washington
- Powell, John Wesley
- block maker
- A. P. J. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1365
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1365
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of an "Indian Village"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of an “Indian Village” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the image was published in 1875 as Figure 43 (p.119) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). The illustration was drawn by Thomas Moran, and engraved by John Minton (fl. 1875).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- original artist
- Moran, Thomas
- graphic artist
- Minton, John
- block maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.1424
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.1424
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Light House Rock in the Canyon of Desolation"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of “Light House Rock in the Canyon of Desolation” was prepared by Henry Hobart Nichols (1838-1887) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 17 (p.49) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Nichols, H. H.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0068
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0068
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of a “Fault with thrown beds flexed upward”
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of a “Fault with thrown beds flexed upward” was prepared by the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 71 (p.184) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0101
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0101
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
Engraved woodblock of "Marble Canyon"
- Description
- This engraved woodblock of "Marble Canyon” was prepared by engraver Edward Bookhout (1844-1886) and the Government Printing Office in Washington, D.C.; the print was published in 1875 as Figure 26 (p.77) in Report of the Exploration of the Colorado River of the West and Its Tributaries. Explored in 1869, 1870, 1871, and 1872, under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by John Wesley Powell (1834-1902). Thomas Moran (1837-1926) accompanied Powell on his expedition and drew the original image.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1875
- original artist
- Moran, Thomas
- publisher
- Bureau of American Ethnology
- printer
- Government Printing Office
- author
- Powell, John Wesley
- graphic artist
- Bookhout, Edward
- block maker
- V. W. & Co.
- ID Number
- 1980.0219.0259
- catalog number
- 1980.0219.0259
- accession number
- 1980.0219
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center

