Menarche, or the onset of menstruation, generated much advice and many attempts to manage girls' bodies in a public w
Museum Artifacts

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
9/20/2009
Mariachis, groups comprised of vocalists, trumpeters, violinists, and various bass and guitar players, are today considered Mexico's traditional musical ensemble. Originally from the state of Jalisco, mariachi music transformed itself from a regional to a national music between the 1930s and 1950

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
5/11/2012
In 1794, Eli Whitney patented a new kind of cotton gin. His invention, using rotating brushes and teeth to remove the seeds from cotton, was quickly pirated by others.
Southern plantation owners depended on slaves for labor-intensive crops such as rice, sugar, tobacco, and especially cotto

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
9/25/2009
The evolving civil rights movement of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s revolutionized the consciousness of young people across the United States. As in African American communities, a new sense of mobilization spread among Mexican Americans. Many adopted a more political identity—chicano an

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
3/5/2009
This embroidered mourning picture was embroidered in Lititz, Pennsylvania, about 1816, using silk thread, silk chenille, gold spangles, watercolor, and ink on silk fabric. In a gilded wood frame, it measured 25" x 25", and its black mat is reverse-painted on the glass. Mourning designs appear in

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
11/20/2008
WANN represents a significant moment in American cultural history-the rise of black-oriented broadcasting. Although blacks constituted 10 percent of the population, black interest in broadcasting on any scale, didn't begin until 1948. That year WDIA in Memphis became the first station to go to a

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts
Date Posted:
4/7/2016
Invention rarely stops when the inventor introduces a new device. Thomas A. Edison and his team worked to improve his electric lighting system for some years after the initial introduction in 1880. This lamp shows the changes made after six years of labor aimed at lowering costs and increasing pr

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
9/3/2020
The Quakers published this booklet titled "El Obrero y sus Derechos" in 1981. The 23-page Spanish language booklet uses cartoons to inform and instruct workers on their rights and where to go for help. It covers a wide variety of occupations (apparel, agriculture, construction, car washing, etc.) Th

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
1/24/2011
Model 1910 first-aid pouch designed to be worn on the soldier's utility belt.

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
11/14/2008
This circular slide rule describes the effects of a nuclear explosion on people. After World War II, scientists at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory prepared a report on forms of damage associated with the explosion of atomic bombs. These included physical damage, fire and heat, and nuclear ra

Grade Range:
K-12
Resource Type(s):
Artifacts, Primary Sources
Date Posted:
6/4/2009
The Battle of the Sewing Machines" was composed and arranged by F. Hyde for the piano, and was published in 1874 by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of 547 Broadway, N.Y., N.Y. The lithograph by R. Teller of 120 Wooster St., N.Y., N.Y., illustrates a "battle" of sewing machines. The Remington "army" is marc