Collections Search Results

Nearly 40 examples of prints from three government survey expeditions to the American West: the U.S. and Mexico Boundary Survey, the U.S. Naval Astronomical Expedition to the Southern Hemisphere, and the U.S. Pacific Railroad Surveys.

From the mid-19th century, Americans have used simple instruments to assist them in doing arithmetic. Some of these did not actually add and subtract, but made it easier for users to do so. These included not only the abacus, but also devices called adders.

For most of human history arithmetic has been an act of human intelligence, aided only occasionally by devices like counters, the abacus, or the slide rule. The collections of the National Museum of American History document the development of adding machines, from stylus-operated models to increasingly compact, light and powerful key driven instruments. The corporate collections of the pioneering firms of Felt & Tarrant and Burroughs are especially well represented.

Advertising is meant to persuade, and the themes and techniques of that persuasion reveal a part of the nation's history.

From butter churns to diesel tractors, the Museum's agricultural artifacts trace the story of Americans who work the land.

By the 1700s, samplers were being worked by young women to learn basic needlework skills. Samplers are important representations of early American female education and this group features 50 of the 137 American samplers in the Textile Collection.

Antibodies are at the heart of many of the medical technologies that Americans rely on. This Object Group features over 1,000 objects related to the history of vaccines, serums, antitoxins, diagnostics, and other therapies, which all employ the power of antibodies to protect and improve health. These collections are held within the Division of Medicine and Science at the National Museum of American History.

Objects for math instruction reveal the changing role of arithmetic in American education. From the 1820s, teachers in public schools encouraged mental discipline by using textbooks and blackboards, while the teaching abacus and special geometric models utilized tactile learning. In the early 1900s, psychologists and math teachers used new educational theories to develop special flash cards, standardized tests, and educational games. During the 1950s and 1960s, more abstract approaches gained prominence. Recently, inexpensive electronic calculators have been used to teach— as well as perform —arithmetic.

The National Museum of American History is not an art museum. But works of art fill its collections and testify to the vital place of art in everyday American life.

The Art of Frank Gasparro consists of 115 drawings, plaster models, photographs, newspaper clippings and ephemera collected by, and related to, Frank Gasparro, the 10th United States Chief Engraver. Christina Hansen, Gasparro's daughter, donated the collection in 2009 to the National Numismatic Collection (NNC).

Selected objects from the Museum’s significant collection of patent medicines. Begun in 1930, the collection has grown to over 4,000 products dating from the 19th century to the present day.

Learn the story behind recombinant DNA, an early genetic engineering technique, from its conception in the lab to its commercial use to produce drugs for the pharmacist’s shelf.

During World War I, the British blockade of German ports prevented American manufacturers from importing dyes for textiles, paper, and leather. See how one American silk company made a virtue of necessity by starting a fashion for dressing in black and white.

Beginning in the 14th century, a small number of European businesses kept careful written records of receipts and expenditures. These bookkeeping methods gradually diffused throughout Europe and the United States.  With the advent of typewriters and adding machines, many large retail firms, government offices, and banks invested in custom-made, expensive bookkeeping machines. The bookkeeping machines in the collection of the National Museum of American History come from a variety of makers, including adding machine manufacturer Burroughs, cash register maker NCR, and typewriter firms Remington and Underwood.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb European Apothecary is an eclectic collection of more than 1300 pharmaceutical artifacts assembled over a period of forty years by Dr. Jo Mayer, a German Jewish pharmacist.

This group contains the calculating machine collection from the Division of Medicine & Science at the National Museum of American History. During the late 19th and early 20th century, calculating machines served as common tools of scientists, engineers, statisticians, actuaries, government officials, and payroll clerks. Around 1970, calculating machines began to be replaced by cheap electronic calculators and the devices became hefty reminders of a bygone era.

The following group of California mission postcards includes views associated with the twenty-one missions established between 1769 and 1823 by Spanish Franciscan missionaries along the California coast from San Diego to San Francisco.

As American business and cash purchases expanded in the second half of the 19th century, shopkeepers bought recorders and registers to secure their money and track transactions. This object group traces the development of the register from its invention in 1878, suggests the dominance of the market by National Cash Register Company during much of the 20th century, and shows the introduction of electronic point of sale terminals and the rise of the Universal Product Code.

This group explores the rich Civil War history in the Armed Forces History and Numismatic collections. Objects include an array of items from uniform accoutrements and firearms, documents and coins. Through the collection we can understand the perspective and experiences of the common soldier and the high-ranking officer. The collection reveals numerous stories that give intriguing insight into the nation’s Civil War narrative.