Museum Artifacts

Braceros, with some in a crowd and others in line, wait at the Monterrey Processing Center, Mexico.

Leotard worn by gymnast Dominique Dawes (b. 1976) at the 1996 Summer Olympic games, held in Atlanta, Georgia. At the games she won gold as part of the first place U.S. team. The Maryland native also took home an individual bronze for her performance in the floor exercise, becoming the first African

The U.S.D.A. Forest Service introduced Woodsy Owl in 1971 as an anti-litter and anti-pollution symbol to promote wise use of the environment. The campaign, which continues today, is primarily aimed at school-age children and uses slogans such as “Give a Hoot! Don’t Pollute” and “Lend a Ha

This is a miniature version of the barril de bomba, the kind of drum used in performances of the Afro-Puerto Rican musical tradition known as bomba. While bomba can be used as the generic name for a number of rhythms, its real meaning is about the encounter and creative relationship between dance

The Creek War began on August 30, 1813, when a faction of Creek known as the Red Sticks attacked a contingent of 553 American settlers at Lake Tensaw, Alabama, north of Mobile. The British were believed to be a main ally of the Indians. In response to the Alabama attack, Jackson led 5,000 militia

The halberd was a versatile pole arm developed as an infantry weapon in the 13th century. It has an ax-like blade and a steel spike mounted on the end of a long shaft. By the time of the Seven Years War it was carried by sergeants as a symbol of rank and authority.

The John Deere Model D tractor was introduced in 1923 and became the first tractor built, marketed, and named John Deere. It replaced the Waterloo Boy in the company's product line.

As early as 1650, the colony of Massachusetts Bay was a commercial success. But an inadequate supply of money put its future development in jeopardy. England was not inclined to send gold and silver coins to the colonies, for they were in short supply in the mother country. Taking

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

Virginia Lee Mead wore this salmon-pink silk satin dress when she was a young woman living in New York City's Chinatown, where her father, Lee B. Lok, a first-generation immigrant, ran a general store. The full-length dress is a traditional style that younger second-generation Chinese women wore