Food - Overview
Part of a nation's history lies in what people eat. Artifacts at the Museum document the history of food in the United States from farm machinery to diet fads.
More than 1,300 pieces of stoneware and earthenware show how Americans have stored, prepared, and served food for centuries. Ovens, cookie cutters, kettles, aprons, and ice-cream-making machines are part of the collections, along with home canning jars and winemaking equipment. More than 1,000 objects recently came to the Museum when author and cooking show host Julia Child donated her entire kitchen, from appliances to cookbooks.
Advertising and business records of several food companies—such as Hills Brothers Coffee, Pepsi Cola, and Campbell's Soup—represent the commercial side of the subject
"Food - Overview" showing 1 items.
Cesar Chavez's Union Jacket
- Description
- Cesar Chavez inspired a nation to seek justice for the poorest of America's laborers. A migrant worker since childhood, Cesar Chavez pledged his life to improving the lives of his fellow workers, rather than escape the stark conditions of farm labor. Inspired by the tireless conviction of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Chavez dedicated himself to the principles of self-sacrifice and nonviolent resistance.
- For decades the attempts of reformers and labor leaders to organize farm workers in America had met with failure. It was not until Cesar Chavez began organizing the predominately Latino-Californian migrant farm workers in 1962 that the first effective union was established. As founder and president of the United Farm Workers, he brought the plight of farm laborers to national consciousness. Through community organizing, strikes, marches, boycotts, and fasts, this small, dedicated union began to win better working conditions for the most downtrodden of American workers. The union continues to fight an uphill battle to provide farm workers with the benefits most Americans believe working people are entitled: a safe work place and a decent wage.
- Shortly after his death in 1993, his wife, Helen Chavez, donated his black nylon union jacket to the National Museum of American History.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- used by
- Chavez, Cesar
- ID Number
- 1993.0409.01
- accession number
- 1993.0409
- catalog number
- 1993.0409.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center