Natural Resources
The natural resources collections offer centuries of evidence about how Americans have used the bounty of the American continent and coastal waters. Artifacts related to flood control, dam construction, and irrigation illustrate the nation's attempts to manage the natural world. Oil-drilling, iron-mining, and steel-making artifacts show the connection between natural resources and industrial strength.
Forestry is represented by saws, axes, a smokejumper's suit, and many other objects. Hooks, nets, and other gear from New England fisheries of the late 1800s are among the fishing artifacts, as well as more recent acquisitions from the Pacific Northwest and Chesapeake Bay. Whaling artifacts include harpoons, lances, scrimshaw etchings in whalebone, and several paintings of a whaler's work at sea. The modern environmental movement has contributed buttons and other protest artifacts on issues from scenic rivers to biodiversity.
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Framed Photograph of a Blue Ash Tree
- Description
- This photograph of a blue ash tree is one of forty-nine framed black and white photographic prints bequeathed to the Smithsonian by William F. Bucher of Washington, D.C. The collection represents a labor of love for Bucher, a cabinetmaker, who framed each photograph in wood of the same species as the tree depicted in the print. Bucher explained the philosophy behind his collection in a 1931 letter to the Museum: "'Old World' trees have gathered about them so much folklore and poetry, I thought it would be interesting to show by pictures and wood, that many of our American trees have attained by their own merits, an equal right to a place in the 'hall of fame.'"
- The tree depicted in this photograph was located in Kentucky and the image was made by the United States Forest Service. The frame is solid ash. It was displayed with Bucher's other framed photographs of living trees in a special exhibition, Our Trees and their Woods at the United States National Museum in 1931. The collection stands as a romantic reminder of America's diverse forestry resources and landscapes in the early years of the 20th century.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1929
- frame maker
- Bucher, William F.
- photographer
- U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forest Service
- ID Number
- AG.115767.22
- catalog number
- AG*115767.22
- accession number
- 115767
- maker number
- 25
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Campaign speeches are useful, at that
- Description (Brief)
- This pen-and-ink comic art drawing by Rube Goldberg from 1924 features the concept of using “windy” political speeches as free energy.
- Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was an engineer before he was a comic artist. After receiving an engineering degree, he started his career designing sewers for the City of San Francisco, but then followed his other interest and took a job as a sports cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. After moving to New York in 1907 Goldberg worked for several newspapers, producing a number of short-lived strips and panels—many of which were inspired by his engineering background, including his renowned invention cartoons. In the late 1930s and 1940s he switched his focus to editorial and political cartoons and in 1945 founded the National Cartoonists Society. The Reuben, comic art’s most prestigious award, is named after him.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- date made
- 1924-10-31
- original artist
- Goldberg, Rube
- ID Number
- GA.23492
- catalog number
- 23492
- accession number
- 299186
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Framed Photograph of California Redwoods
- Description (Brief)
- This photograph of California redwoods is one of forty-nine framed black and white photographic prints bequeathed to the Smithsonian by William F. Bucher of Washington, D.C. Bucher, a cabinetmaker, framed each photograph in wood of the same species as the tree depicted in the print. The photos were displayed in a special exhibition, Our Trees and their Woods at the United States National Museum in 1931.
- The trees depicted in this photograph were located in California and the image was made by A. Gaskill, courtesy U.S. Forest Service. The frame is made of solid California redwood.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Date made
- 1929
- frame maker
- Bucher, William F.
- photographer
- U.S. Department of Agriculture. Forest Service
- ID Number
- AG.115767.38
- catalog number
- AG*115767.38
- accession number
- 115767
- maker number
- 41
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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