Energy & Power
The Museum's collections on energy and power illuminate the role of fire, steam, wind, water, electricity, and the atom in the nation's history. The artifacts include wood-burning stoves, water turbines, and windmills, as well as steam, gas, and diesel engines. Oil-exploration and coal-mining equipment form part of these collections, along with a computer that controlled a power plant and even bubble chambers—a tool of physicists to study protons, electrons, and other charged particles.
A special strength of the collections lies in objects related to the history of electrical power, including generators, batteries, cables, transformers, and early photovoltaic cells. A group of Thomas Edison's earliest light bulbs are a precious treasure. Hundreds of other objects represent the innumerable uses of electricity, from streetlights and railway signals to microwave ovens and satellite equipment.
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Page 1 of 13
-
Wax Taper Matches
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- ID Number
- DL.380825C
- catalog number
- 380825C
- accession number
- 156797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Wax Taper Matches
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- ID Number
- DL.380825B
- catalog number
- 380825B
- accession number
- 156797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
engine
- date made
- 1880s
- maker
- Weedon Manufacturing Co.
- ID Number
- DL.68.0513
- catalog number
- 68.0513
- accession number
- 274913
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
engine, steam
- date made
- 1880s
- maker
- Weedon Manufacturing Co.
- ID Number
- DL.68.0555
- catalog number
- 68.0555
- accession number
- 274913
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Fragments of the Star Spangled Banner
- Description
- Physical Description
- Three wool bunting fragments with raveled edges.
- Specific History
- These three fragments were cut from the flag that flew from Fort McHenry in 1814. This was the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner. In 1880 the fragments were presented to William Carter by Eben Appleton, the grandson of the commander of Fort McHenry. Carter, a local historian, carried the Star Spangled Banner in a parade during Baltimore’s Sesquicentennial Celebration on 13 October 1880. As the flag was being packed for shipment to New York, Appleton cut three pieces and gave them to Carter. Carter’s daughter gave them to the Maryland Historical Society who donated them to the Smithsonian.
- date made
- 1814
- associated date
- 1880 - 1889
- Associated Name
- Appleton, Eben
- Key, Francis Scott
- maker
- Pickersgill, Mary
- ID Number
- AF.35573
- catalog number
- 35573
- accession number
- 93535
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Packing Pail
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1890 - 1910
- patent date
- 1883-02-06
- 1883-10-30
- 1884-02-12
- 1885-06-02
- 1886-05-25
- ID Number
- 1984.0454.01
- accession number
- 1984.0454
- catalog number
- 1984.0454.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
holder, toothpick
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1880
- ID Number
- 1999.0016.01
- accession number
- 1999.0016
- catalog number
- 1999.0016.01
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
holder, toothpick
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1880
- ID Number
- 1999.0016.03
- accession number
- 1999.0016
- catalog number
- 1999.0016.03
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Major General George McClellan's Coat Worn at Antietam
- Description
- Physical Description
- Blue wool frock coat, non-regulation.
- The buttons in groups of three signal his rank as major general.
- General History
- General Robert E. Lee’s first invasion of the North culminated in the Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest single-day battle in American history. More soldiers were killed or wounded at Antietam than all the American dead in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Spanish-American War combined. On September 17, 1862, General Robert E. Lee and 30,000 Confederate troops faced Major General George McClellan and 60,000 Union troops. It should have been a clear victory for McClellan, especially since his army had captured Lee’s Special Orders No. 191, which directed Stonewall Jackson to march on Harpers Ferry. McClellan failed to use this information wisely, choosing instead to remain cautious. Jackson took Harpers Ferry and moved his 45,000 troops on to Antietam to reinforce Lee’s troops. McClellan was recalled to Washington and was relieved of his command.
- wearer
- McClellan, George B.
- ID Number
- AF.17433
- catalog number
- 17433
- accession number
- 61384
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Bernhard Dietz
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1883
- Associated Name
- Dietz, Bernhard
- ID Number
- 2001.0075.04
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
holder, toothpick
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1880
- ID Number
- 1999.0016.02
- accession number
- 1999.0016
- catalog number
- 1999.0016.02
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
overcoat
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1884
- associated date
- 1884
- maker
- Oehm & Co.
- ID Number
- ZZ.RSN81557W51
- catalog number
- 22854.01
- accession number
- 64127
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Steam Engine and Boiler, Model, 1883
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1883
- ID Number
- MC.310625
- catalog number
- 310625
- accession number
- 124510
- patent number
- 288,684
- 288684
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Carpenter's Bench
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- ca 1880
- user
- Zimmerman
- ID Number
- CL.294054.001
- accession number
- 294054
- catalog number
- 294054.001
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Wax Taper Matches
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- ID Number
- DL.380825D
- catalog number
- 380825D
- accession number
- 156797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
engine
- date made
- 1880s
- maker
- Weedon Manufacturing Co.
- ID Number
- DL.68.0511
- catalog number
- 68.0511
- accession number
- 274913
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Miller's Anodyne Cordial
- Description
- The indications or uses for this product as provided on its packaging:
- Anodyne
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1872-1883
- maker
- Davis and Miller
- ID Number
- MG.M-10426.54
- catalog number
- M-10426
- accession number
- 246707
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Wax Taper Matches
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- ID Number
- DL.380825F
- catalog number
- 380825F
- accession number
- 156797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Wax Taper Matches
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- ID Number
- DL.380825E
- catalog number
- 380825E
- accession number
- 156797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
-
Wax Taper Matches
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- ca 1880
- ID Number
- DL.380825A
- catalog number
- 380825A
- accession number
- 156797
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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