Museum Artifacts

During the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918 the best medical minds in the country were focused on the problem of discovering the cause of the flu and how to prevent it — and they failed. Sherman’s Vaccine was developed in response to the pandemic. Essentially it was a “stew” of numerous bacteria

This poster was displayed at the Chinatown (New York) Health Fair, 1973. The first Chinatown street health fair was held in 1971 by Asian American activists concerned that Chinatown residents lacked access to adequate health care. The activists, many of whom were college students and inspired by the

This allegorical print displays hopes for reconciliation through the federal program of Reconstruction. The nation and government are symbolized by an enormous canopy-like structure, upon which is emblazoned with a map of the United States. An eagle holding a crest and American flag sits atop the ma

Friedan's book was instrumental in the rise of a new wave of feminism in mid-20th century America by confronting beliefs and systems that limited women's roles in society.

"This black t-shirt, which says “Silence = Death” with a pink triangle, symbolizes the struggle against AIDS. Six activists – Avram Finklestein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Lione, and Jorge Soccaras – founded the “Silence = Death” project in New York City in 198

The individual identified in Japanese characters, here is, Michibiku Ozamoto, or, in English, T. Ozamoto. The numbers 24-4-3 stand for Block 24, Barracks 4, Apartment 3.

During the Great Depression, government photographer Dorothea Lange took this picture at a migrant farmworkers' camp near Nipomo, California. Lange's brief caption recorded her impressions of the family's plight: "Destitute pea pickers ... a 32-year-old mother of seven children." F

A poster calling attention to the break in at the Watergate.

This Y2K advertisment was from Computer Associates, a system and application software company now owned by Broadcom of California. The front features a man standing before a very large chalk board pointing to an endlessly long scientific equation. Below the image it reads: “And Now, A Simple Expla

From 1961 to 1973, the North Vietnamese and Vietcong held hundreds of Americans captive. In North Vietnam alone, more than a dozen prisons were scattered in and around the capital city of Hanoi. American POWs gave them nicknames: Alcatraz, Briarpatch, Dirty Bird, the Hanoi Hilton, the Zoo. Condit