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.

In this lesson, students will carefully examine an authentic Massachusetts thirty-shilling note (1775) from the Museum's collection and hypothesize the meaning of its visual elements. Students will use primary and secondary sources to refine the hypothesis and in the process, discover the role th

This object-based learning activity revolves around a dress that connects the lives of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley, a popular African-American dressmaker who lived in Washington, D.C at the time of the Civil War. Students will learn how one object can tell many different stories.

This activity challenges students to think about the 1898 Standard Voting Machine and the democratization of the voting process in the United States. It includes a preliminary activity intended to introduce students to doing history with objects and three lesson plans focused on th

In this lesson, students will learn the story of September 11 and the process for building a collection at the Museum by listening to curators discuss collecting objects to represent the September 11 terrorist attacks, interviewing family or community members who remember the events of that day,

This teacher's resource challenges students to think about the short-handled hoe and its connection to agriculture and the organizing of Latino farm workers after World War II. It includes a preliminary activity intended to introduce students to doing history with objects and 3 les

In this lesson, students will examine primary sources to understand John Brown’s actions in Harpers Ferry and will develop a creative project on his legacy. This resource was produced to accompany the exhibition The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, by the Smithsonian’s Nat

This website uses images, artifacts, oral histories and interactive resources to tell the story of the polio epidemics in the United States and the struggle to find a vaccination to prevent them. The exhibition is divided into four parts covering the effects of polio on communities, families and

The Haymarket Riot, or Haymarket Incident, occured on May 4, 1886 near Chicago's Haymarket Square. What began as a protest against the killing and wounding of several workers during a strike at the McCormick Reaper Works, turned into a violent riot as an unidentified person threw a bomb at the polic

Students can read the stories of immigrants from Mexico, Cuba, and other Latin American countries, and view objects related to the journey to America. Students can also learn about the experiences of workers in the in the mid-twentieth century Bracero guest worker program. This reference page is