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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Shipbuilder's Half Hull Model, Whaleship Jireh Swift
- Description
- Half hull ship models were carved by shipwrights to a shape negotiated with the future owners of the ship. Once finished, the builder lifted the curved shape of the outer hull off the model and scaled it up to the dimensions of the full-sized ship on the floor of the molding loft. Then the ship’s timbers were cut to fit the lines drawn on the floor and lifted into position in the ship’s framework.
- African American shipwright and former slave John Mashow built the whaler Jireh Swift in 1853 at Dartmouth, Mass. near New Bedford. The vessel measured 122 feet in length and 454 tons. Its first voyage was to the northern Pacific and lasted nearly four years. The ship collected 45 barrels of sperm oil, 2,719 barrels of whale oil and 14,900 lbs of whalebone. Swift’s second voyage, to the same grounds, lasted more than four years and netted much more oil and bone for her owners. Nearly three years into her third voyage, on 22 June 1865 she was captured in the Arctic by the Confederate raider Shenandoah and burned, for a loss of more than $40,000.
- Date made
- 1853
- maker
- Mashow, John
- ID Number
- TR.076323
- catalog number
- 076323
- accession number
- 015358
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Ship Model, Containership Emma Mærsk
- Description
- At launching in 2006, the Emma Mærsk was the world’s largest containership, a distinction held until her seven sister ships Estelle, Ebba, Edith, Eleonora, Elly, Evelyn, and Eugen Mærsk, were launched in 2007–08. Built at the Odense Steel Shipyard in Denmark, the ships are owned by the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group, the world’s largest global shipping company, whose beginnings date to 1904. Emma Mærsk is named for the late wife of Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller, the son of the company’s founder, who served as the CEO from 1965 to 1993 and on its board until 2003.
- Containers are standardized, reinforced steel boxes that can be packed with a wide array of products and materials and transported on ships, trains, and trucks. Loaded into the vast holds and onto the massive decks of containerships, they can be used time and again to carry goods between manufacturing centers and consumer markets around the world.
- As globalized commerce expanded in the last half of the 20th century and into the first years of the 21st, ocean carriers grew as well. The first containerships in the 1950s were adapted freighters, the largest of which could carry about 800—1,000 containers. The standard designation for containers is teus—twenty-equivalent-units—or containers measuring either 20 or 40 feet in length. Ships specially constructed in the 1970s to carry containers in cellular sections of the hold could carry between 1,000 and 2,500 teus.
- The third generation ships were built to the maximum size that could be accommodated by the Panama Canal, an important throughway on global shipping routes. Built in the 1980s, these ships, called Panamax vessels, could carry between three and four thousand teus. Subsequent generations—the Post Panamax vessels of the 1990s (4,000–5,000 teus) and the Post Panamax Plus ships built between 2000 and 2005 (5,000–8,000 teus)—are too large to travel through the Panama Canal. With the increasing volume of global shipping during this period, other ocean routes became more important, especially those connecting Asian ports with the U.S. West Coast. However, as containerships increased in size, the number of ports worldwide that could accommodate them also decreased.
- The Emma Mærsk represents the sixth generation of containership, also called the New Panamax class, because it will be able to travel through the new Panama Canal after it opens around 2014. The vessel, with a capacity of 11,000 teus, is the first to be launched in Maersk’s PS-class. The ship has a waste heat recovery system, which uses exhaust gasses to generate some of the electricity needed aboard the vessel. Its hull is also covered with silicone-based paint, which improves fuel efficiency. The Emma Mærsk entered service on the Europe to Asia route in 2006.
- date made
- 2007
- ship launched
- 2006
- late wife of founder and CEO of the company
- Maersk, Emma
- ship's namesake
- Maersk, Emma
- built the ship
- Odense Steel Shipyard
- maker
- Modelos Navales Riera, S.L.
- ID Number
- 2008.0039.01
- catalog number
- 2008.0039.01
- accession number
- 2008.0039
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by William Seybold of McKeesport, Pennsylvania that received patent number 90,963 on June 8, 1869. Seybold claimed as his invention “extending the wick-tube upwards, within the lamp-chamber, nearly to the top of the lamp” and “extending the exterior portion of the wick-tube above the top of the lamp” in order to keep lighter oils from making their way up a normal spout due to the motions of a miner’s head.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patentee
- Seybold, William
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9745
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9745
- patent number
- 90963
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick cap lamp is a patent model constructed by William C. Winfield of Hubbard, Ohio that received patent number 115,143 on May 23, 1871. Winfield’s claim in the patent filing is a miner's lamp with “a new article of manufacture, viz., a miner's lamp, provided with a screw-cap constructed, arranged, and operating with relation to the body of the lamp.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1871-05-23
- patentee
- Winfield, William C.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9737
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9737
- patent number
- 115143
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by James C. Smythe of Plymouth, Pennsylvania that received patent number 204,628 on June 4, 1878. In his patent filing, Smythe claimed as his invention “a miner's lamp divided into an upper and a lower chamber, the latter forming the oil-reservoir, and provided with a small wick to convey the oil to the upper chamber and to a large wick passing from said upper chamber through the neck or tube of the lamp.” The dual chamber allowed use of the lighter oils in miners' lamps, by preventing excessive flow of oil to the spout.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patentee
- Smythe, James C.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9743
- accession number
- 88881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9743
- patent number
- 204628
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick cap lamp is a patent model constructed by John H. Gable of Shamokin, Pennsylvania that received patent number 217,791 on July 22, 1879. Gable’s claim in the patent filing is a miner's lamp “having a rear attachment-hook, a transversely-flattened spout-burner that extends upward from the front of the body, having a small diameter in the plane of the hook, and spreading laterally to form a flame thin at the sides and broad in front.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patentee
- Gable, John H.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9736
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9736
- patent number
- 217791
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by John Fleming of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania that received patent number 219,352 on July 24, 1879. Fleming claimed as his invention “a miner's lamp provided with a hard-metal bottom having a flange that supports the lower edge of the body of the lamp, and the flange bearing against the inner wall of the body.” Miner’s would strike the bottom of their lamps against a hard surface to raise and lower the wick, and this extra bottom prevented damage to the lamp’s body.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1879-09-09
- patentee
- Fleming, John
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9747
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9747
- patent number
- 219352
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by William Eynon and Richard C. Cook of Hyde Park, Pennsylvania that received patent number 167,323 on August 31, 1875. Eynon and Cook had three parts to the patent. The first claim was “around the font is a cup which strengthens the tube or spout, and catches the oil that drops out between the spout and wick.” The second is “on the rear side of the reservoir is secured a curved cap-piece which prevents the lamp swinging on the miner's head.” The third is “an ordinary lid or cover for the reservoir, and in the center of this cover is inserted a spout which allows of the lamp being used for oiling machinery or other places when desired.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patentee
- Eynon, William
- Cook, Richard C.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9751
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9751
- accession number
- 88881
- patent number
- 167323
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by John O. Davies, John O. Jones, and Timothy Thomas of Plymouth, Pennsylvania that received patent number 220,582 on October 14, 1879. The patent claims as its invention “a miner's lamp consisting of an outer shell or cup, having a wick-tube and main wick combined with an oil-reservoir adapted to fit within said outer shell or cup, and having a perforated screw-cap in its bottom through which a supplemental feeding-wick passes.” The lamp kept the oil in a separate interior container to help prevent combustion.
- patentee
- Davies, John O.
- Jones, John O.
- Thomas, Timothy
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9752
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9752
- accession number
- 88881
- patent number
- 220582
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by William C. Winfield of Hubbard, Ohio that received patent number 126,606 on May 7, 1872. The patent claims as its invention “securing the lid or cap of the ordinary ‘miners' lamp’ to its body through the medium of screw-threads in the cap and on the neck of the lamp, the cap being furnished with an elastic packing-disk, air-chamber, and openings for the ingress of air.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1872-05-07
- patentee
- Winfield, William C.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9753
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9753
- accession number
- 088881
- patent number
- 126606
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by George W. Trimble of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania that received patent number 75,603 on March 17, 1868. The patent claims as its invention “providing the tube or spout of the lamp with a simple and novel device for feeding the wick to the flame, instead of pushing it out of the tube by striking the bottom of the lamp on something.” The invention can be seen in the spout of lamp.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patentee
- Trimble, George W.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9754
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9754
- accession number
- 88881
- patent number
- 075603
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by John B. Deeds and William Mack of Terre Haute, Indiana that received patent number 281,846 on July 24, 1883. Deeds and Mack developed a lamp with an “oil tight lid.” The invention is described as “having its top or opening made slightly flaring, in combination with the hinged lid and the supplemental lid or disk with a packing of cork between them, and having holes therein opposite to each other, which communicate with a corresponding opening in the cork for the purpose of ventilation.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1883-07-04
- patentee
- Deeds, John B.
- Mack, William
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9748
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9748
- accession number
- 88881
- patent number
- 281846
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Safety Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This safety lamp is a patent model constructed by John Harding of Warrington, Lancaster, Great Britain that received patent number 72,196 on December 17, 1867. Harding’s claim in the patent application is the “employment, and use of a soft-metal or other rivet, or other compressible plug, as a fastening for safety-lamps, instead of locks, screws, or other mechanical contrivances now employed.” The locking device can be seen on the base of this Davy-style lamp.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Associated Date
- 12-17-1867
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MT-308736
- accession number
- 089797
- catalog number
- MHI-MT-308736
- patent number
- 72196
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by James C. Moore of Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, that received patent number 180,258 on July 25, 1876. Moore claimed as his invention “a miner's lamp, with a spring lid-holding device.” The device kept the font’s lid closed during the miner’s workday agitations.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1876-07-25
- patentee
- Moore, James C.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9750
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9750
- patent number
- 180258
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner’s Safety Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This safety lamp is a patent model constructed by Nicolas Louis Beaufils and Jacques Rexroth of Paris, France that received patent number 95,184 on September 28, 1869. The inventors claim in the patent filing that whenever an operation is to be performed on the lamp such as filling fuel, trimming the wick, or any action that would expose the flame to the air, the lamp will be forcibly extinguished.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9739
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9739
- accession number
- 88881
- patent number
- 095184
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Miner’s Safety Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This safety lamp is a patent model constructed by Joseph Defossez of Paris, France that received patent number 36,341 on September 2, 1862. In his patent filing, Defossez claimed as his invention “the pneumatic locking device in combination with the oil reservoir, top plate, and chimney” constructed to avoid the risk of mining explosions.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 09-02-1862
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9741
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9741
- accession number
- 088881
- patent number
- 036341
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by Henry F. Pearce of Hyde Park, Pennsylvania that received patent number 258,803 on May 30, 1882. Pearce claimed as his invention “a cap for a miner's lamp having a lining arranged to form a space and having the annularly-located perforations, whereby none of the perforations in the lining directly communicate with the vent in the cap” to prevent the escape of the oil through the vent and the closing of the vent by the gumming of oil or sediment.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1882-05-30
- patentee
- Pearce, Henry F.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9746
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9746
- patent number
- 258802
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by W. G. Dowd of Scranton, Pennsylvania that received patent number 90,434, on May 25, 1869. The patent filing is for the wick raiser on this lamp seen on the outside of the spout. Dowd claimed as his invention “a wire bent over the outer edge of the wicktube with its outer portion sliding in the guide, and its inner portion bent to form an eye to which are hung the fork,” so as to raise the wick by the sliding of the wire.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1869-05-25
- patentee
- Dowd, W. G.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9744
- accession number
- 88881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9744
- patent number
- 090434
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by Edward Gough, of Allentown, Pennsylvania that received patent number 229,117 on June 22, 1880. In his patent filing, Gough claimed as his invention “an improvement in lamps with the combination of a cast-metal body or can with a neck, provided with studs, of the cast metal cover, having notches and interior annular groove” constructed to secure the top to the lamp. The chain is usually attached to the top so it wouldn’t get separated from its lamp.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1880-06-22
- patentee
- Gough, Edward
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9742
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9742
- patent number
- 229117
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
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Oil-Wick Miner’s Lamp Patent Model
- Description (Brief)
- This oil-wick lamp is a patent model constructed by Josiah J. Weinel of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, that received patent number 188,703 on March 20, 1877. Weinel claimed as his invention “a miner's lamp with an inner spout that has a thread for securing itself in the spout, with perforations for supplying air to the burner and returning oil to the font.”
- Location
- Currently not on view
- patent date
- 1877-03-20
- patentee
- Weinel, Josiah J.
- ID Number
- AG.MHI-MN-9749
- accession number
- 088881
- catalog number
- MHI-MN-9749
- patent number
- 188705
- Data Source
- National Museum of American History
