Touching history: Objects that represent our history and culture

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Touching history: Objects that represent our history and culture"

Madlyn Benson
6 years ago
Views:

1 of 5 1/3/2014 10:10 AM Touching history: Objects that represent our history and culture Article by: GLENN C.

at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., exclaimed, This stuff makes the hair stand up on the back on my neck. It s the past speaking directly to us in a way we haven t heard before.

1 1 of 5 1/3/ :10 AM Touching history: Objects that represent our history and culture Article by: GLENN C. ALTSCHULER Special to the Star Tribune December 21, :35 PM In 2011, as she listened to an 1880s recording of Alexander Graham Bell reciting Mary Had a Little Lamb, Carlene Stephens, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., exclaimed, This stuff makes the hair stand up on the back on my neck. It s the past speaking directly to us in a way we haven t heard before., The Smithsonian Institution has a whole lot of this stuff. And much of it does, indeed, allow the past to speak directly to us. In this beautifully illustrated book, Richard Kurin, undersecretary for art, history and culture at the Smithsonian, uses 101 objects from the institution s vast collections to illuminate four thematic strands that recur throughout American history: America the beautiful and bountiful; life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; discovery, innovation and creativity, and diversity in our nation of nations. And Kurin provides an engaging way to enhance our knowledge of and emotional connection to our nation s past. Kurin does not stray far from conventional wisdom. Many of his objects (such as A Portrait, Said to Christopher Columbus, a shawl given by Queen Victoria to Harriet Tubman at the end of her life, and the furniture at Appomattox courthouse on the day Robert E. Lee surrendered) are little more than artifacts associated with an individual or an event that provide an occasion for a narrative about it. A few objects, however, allow readers to sense what it was like for preceding generations of Americans. A pair of shackles, found on a compound off the coast of Dakar, in West Africa, Kurin reveals, were so small that the slave trapped in it walked around with the flesh of his or her legs raw and bloody because the metal rubbed against them. Passengers in Conestoga Wagons, Kurin points out, rarely rode inside them. They walked alongside the wagons, often traveling 10 or 15 miles a day. And the shorthandled hoe, he indicates, enabled farm laborers to work efficiently, but forced them to bend and suffer chronic back pain and spasms. The Smithsonian's History of America in 101 Objects by Richard Kurin Several objects evoke emotional responses. To see the flag that flew over Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner, visitors to the Smithsonian walk down a darkened hallway, pass charred remains of James Madison s

2 of 5 1/3/2014 10:10 AM presidential mansion, burned during the War of 1812, and a rocket and bomb from the British attack.

Kurin s response is quite typical, no doubt, even, I suspect, among some people for whom America has been less than beautiful or bountiful. Glenn C.

2 2 of 5 1/3/ :10 AM presidential mansion, burned during the War of 1812, and a rocket and bomb from the British attack. Then they turn a corner, feel the light simulating dawn, and get their first glimpse of the now threadbare flag. Every time Kurin sees it he gets chills. Kurin s response is quite typical, no doubt, even, I suspect, among some people for whom America has been less than beautiful or bountiful. Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University Star Tribune Richard Kurin. Photo by Hugh Talman. Brass trumpet owned by Louis Armstrong, signed "Henri Selmer Paris DŽposŽ Grands Prix GenŽve 1927 Liege 1930 H. Selmer 4 Place Dancourt PARIS Made in France" "Louis Armstrong" Mouthpiece engraved: "Mt. Vernon N.Y. 7E VINCE"; Object Number Trumpet TR ; mouthpiece TR

3 of 5 1/3/2014 10:10 AM Objects from the Smithsonian Collections that represent the history of the United States include (clockwise, from left): Neil Armstrong s Apollo spacesuit,

3 3 of 5 1/3/ :10 AM Objects from the Smithsonian Collections that represent the history of the United States include (clockwise, from left): Neil Armstrong s Apollo spacesuit, President Lincoln s stovepipe hat, an American Indian copper piece from Georgia, Louis Armstrong s trumpet, a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and the Hope Diamond. Smithsonian Institution,

4 4 of 5 1/3/ :10 AM Baseball, autographed by Babe Ruth Smithsonian Collections. Hope Diamond Copper Repousse, winged dancer, Rogan Plate, Etowah site, Bartow County, Georgia, A091117

5 of 5 1/3/2014 10:10 AM Smithsonian Collections. Lincoln's hat. THE SMITHSONIAN S HISTORY OF AMERICA IN 101 OBJECTS By: Richard Kurin. Publisher: The Penguin Press, 762 pages, $50.

5 5 of 5 1/3/ :10 AM Smithsonian Collections. Lincoln's hat. THE SMITHSONIAN S HISTORY OF AMERICA IN 101 OBJECTS By: Richard Kurin. Publisher: The Penguin Press, 762 pages, $50. Review: This beautifully illustrated book testifies to the rich and varied holdings of the institution and to the capacity of material objects to help enhance our knowledge of and connection to our nation s past.

LEQ: What country did the United States fight in the War of 1812?

LEQ: What country did the United States fight in the War of 1812? The painting shows British frigate Macedonian, her masts and sails destroyed, being fired upon by the U.S. frigate United States during