Celebrating and Reflecting Upon America’s 250th With Iconic Smithsonian Objects that Commemorate the Country’s Story

A newly released 12-page guide, the Smithsonian’s latest collaboration with USA Today, invites readers to consider the ideals of 1776 and how they relate to our lives today with iconic objects and the impactful stories they hold

For 180 years, the Smithsonian has been the caretaker of the nation’s treasures. Its objects spark curiosity, invite us to look closely, and ask questions. In the latest insert in USA Today titled, Celebrate America’s 250 with the Smithsonian, we invite readers to reflect on the objects that commemorate the country’s story.  Smithsonian curators and educators explore both familiar and lesser-told stories of people and moments that have shaped the United States. The objects featured represent distinctly American experiences and ideals, put into context, and offering readers the chance to reflect and relate the objects to their own lives. We see America’s path as winding and ever evolving, but we also see its promise in the pursuit of liberty, democracy, fairness, freedom, new horizons, progress, and hope.

An object that reflects the work of establishing the new nation through a process of on-going dialogue, compromise, and consensus is Thomas Jefferson’s portable writing desk, which he used to draft the Declaration of Independence. Designed by his own hand, it “folds like a book and opens like a possibility,” as Dr. Anthea Hartig, Elizabeth MacMillian Director of the National Museum of American History describes in her article about the desk in the guide. As she goes on to say, the desk is our “quiet reminder: world changing ideals can begin in the smallest of spaces, and the work of independence is always unfolding.”

As you think about the objects in the Smithsonian’s collection, what makes an everyday object extraordinary? Objects hold personal histories and memories of experiences and relationships. They spark curiosity and elicit emotional responses. They bring the past to life. The Smithsonian shapes our future by preserving our heritage. It invites us to discover new knowledge through its vast collection and trusted resources.  

Every object tells a story. In this guide, we see everyday objects that become extraordinary because of the context surrounding them. A table in the parlor of a New York home drew a group of women around it who found inspiration in the style and structure of the Declaration of Independence to draft the Declaration of Sentiments that declared “all men and women are created equal.” Harriet Tubman’s personal hymnbook serves as a symbol of her faith, spirituality, and vision for freedom for all enslaved people. A lightbulb embodies the engines of innovation that have roared through the efforts of American’s labor and ingenuity. We see examples of Americans again and again pursuing their dreams, no matter the circumstances. Daniel Inouye’s Medal of Honor recognizes his heroism in World War II, when he kept fighting after sustaining multiple severe wounds in combat and then continued to fight to change attitudes about Japanese Americans in the military when he became a U.S. Senator.

 

The stories surrounding recognizable names like Thomas Jefferson, Harriet Tubman, Thomas Edison, and Sally Ride appear, but the guide also shares the stories of individuals we may not know like James Mifflin, an African American Civil War hero, and Mary Ann M’Clintock, upon whose table the Declaration of Sentiments was written. We are reminded that celebrating America isn’t just about remembering famous individuals and events. It’s also about capturing and preserving the stories of everyday people. One way to do that is through oral histories. It asks if there’s someone they’ve been wanting to sit down with and ask them about their lives and links to a resource from the National Museum of African American History and Culture for a guide to conducting your own oral history.

The guide invites readers to reflect, write, draw, and think about how the ideas illustrated in throughout the publication relate to their own lives. There’s space to sketch their own desk designed to fit their own needs. As viewers look closely at Albert Bierstadt’s painting Among the Sierra Nevada, California (1868), they are asked to reflect on questions like: Where do your eyes go first? Then where do they move? Why would an artist want to paint the American West? How does art play a role in history? Then they are invited to write their own seven word story from the perspective of a settler who has moved to the west; an indigenous community member from this area; and, a tourist visiting the place for the first time—getting the chance to step into someone else’s shoes and consider how different perspectives change the meaning of the painting.

The guide ends with hope. We see how Americans have become symbols of strength during times of national, global, and personal hardship. Heroes like baseball legend Roberto Clemente inspire us to look for the big and small ways to lend help and support in times of need. But the guide also reminds us that small acts of kindness can make a big difference and ends with a call to action to list 10 things you can do to help your family and your community.

Secretary Bunch writes that we recognize “that America is perennially unfinished, a nation of aspirations ever inching towards John Winthrop’s city on a hill, Abe Lincoln’s more perfect Union, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream, and the grand ambitions of visionaries whose names we do not yet know.” Americans have been driven by their desire, hope, and ambition to achieve something great for themselves, for their families, and for their nation. As you spend time with the USA Today guide and as we mark the nation’s 250th year, think about the aspirations laid out in the Declaration of Independence and consider what role we all can play in realizing the inalienable rights promised in 1776: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Anne Taylor Brittingham | Read More

Anne Taylor Brittingham is the director of the Office of Educational Technology (OET). In this role, she leads an SI-wide educational technology program that embraces and addresses the needs of more than 300 Smithsonian educators and external stakeholders across the nation. Anne oversees the strategic direction for the Office of Educational Technology, aligning OET’s goals, objectives, budget, and staff performance to the Smithsonian strategic goals and objectives. She works with educational institutions, professional and private associations, and foundations to make Smithsonian resources integral to the education process and ensure Smithsonian digital education resources are available to schools across the nation. She is reimagining the Smithsonian’s Learning Lab, an interactive education platform that brings Smithsonian objects and resources into the classroom and connects PK12 teachers and students to the Smithsonian in relevant and culturally responsive ways. She works as a partner with education-focused non-profits, federal agencies, and other relevant organizations on grant funding and partnership opportunities that raise the profile of the Smithsonian as a key asset in solving national education challenges. Anne believes in collaboration in developing a strategic vision for how to best integrate cutting-edge digital tools, foster partnerships, and support learning access for audiences across the nation.