CURRENT ISSUE
November 2013
Features
![101-Objects-photo-collection-631.jpg](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/XBN15Di5Uvygg7jpbU1AVII9bJo=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-photo-collection-631.jpg)
101 Objects That Made America
Pulled from the Smithsonian collections, these items range millennia, from pre-historic dinosaurs to the very first supercomputer
![American buffalo](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/Nu7Cba0yWvlNh9NkTRaMgrK6Vxg=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Wild-America-Bison-631.jpg)
American Buffalo
Whether roaming free or stuffed, this symbol tells a thousand stories
![Audubon plate](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/ms2PL0X1xV7FRtxzmN2fNMAZJJY=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/01/8f/018f416f-1acc-47dc-8ecf-bc53794143bf/101-objects-wild-america-audubon-plate-6-963-web-resize.jpg)
Audubon Plate
An amateur naturalist’s unparalleled artworks still inspire conservationists and collectors alike
![Life preserver](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/yg_gUagUP-8fjINmfk1o4p4s5eQ=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Wild-America-Life-Preserver-631.jpg)
Life Preserver
Explorer John Wesley Powell filled in “great blank spaces” on the map
![Neil Armstrong spacesuit](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/apRnCz37kcqndRMAFJL6WDL4C0I=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Discovery-Neil-Armstrong-space-suit-631.jpg)
Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit
A wearable spacecraft let humans take one giant leap away from Earth
![Burgess Shale](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/9gHq2GCrKLV1Z9U9FEfuDs2I0Q0=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Discovery-Burgess-Shale-631.jpg)
Burgess Shale
Famed fossils are a link to some of the first complex creatures on earth
![Walt Whitman](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/OIuOX1rEu2vshKHTi447bNfzOMU=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Voice-Walt-Whitman-Photograph-631.jpg)
Walt Whitman Photograph
A haunting image captures America’s quintessential poet
![Ceasar Chavez](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/VU3kst4SqIG_1AXOXu-OTKg7LWc=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Voice-Chavez-Jacket-28-631.jpg)
Chavez’s Jacket
A farmworker’s initiative improved lives in America’s fields, and beyond
![Sandra Day O'Connor](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/9lox1PxlxSBO2veqDqzOgokwFq4=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Voice-Justice-OConnors-Robe-631.jpg)
Justice O'Connor's Robe
A traditional garment symbolizes a commitment to the rule of law
![Abraham Lincoln top hat](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/qPfNa43ouIIGDOTjfmr7NvtRiXE=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Power-Lincoln-Top-Hat-631.jpg)
Lincoln’s Top Hat
It defined the great president in life—and now links us to his final hours
![predator drone](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/KRvUg95CUrFrF9V5l5inpjslETg=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/48/ba/48ba9a79-6164-44f1-985e-6e509f968737/101-objects-power-predator-drone-41-963-web-resize.jpg)
Predator Drone
Unmanned, remote-controlled aircraft changed the character of war
![clovis points](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/LfbxkVZKKGMfEByN_xSi2S5sfC0=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Invention-Clovis-Points-631.jpg)
Clovis Points
Beautifully crafted blades point to America’s first successful culture
![singer sewing machine, Martha Stewart](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/AhwLk5aM8xMbnxOkpCR6ymrRp2g=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/e8/36/e8369e7f-78bc-4fed-b6c9-cb5f78e729d0/101-objects-invention-singer-sewing-machine-49-963-web-resize.jpg)
Singer Sewing Machine
A homemaker’s convenience clothed a nation
![Eniac computers](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/rVSTq3gdM4p6lyX5_AnFYJUtnHs=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Invention-Eniac-Computer-631.jpg)
Eniac Computer
A look back at the room-size government computer that began the digital era
![ration ticket](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/yfCPvZTg1OTTTCtiltMDkTShN-4=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Community-Ration-631.jpg)
Ration Ticket
Forced onto reservations, Indians gave up a traditional way of life
![Aids quilt](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/GLtD99BDt9NOGcDNbIacOVOC8z0=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Community-Aids-Quilt-631.jpg)
AIDS Quilt
A patchwork of talent and grief traced the course of a plague
![John Deere plow](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/0ng4BOUCMwt1SWVMVum-1U3aclg=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Community-John-Deere-Plow-631.jpg)
John Deere Plow
A steel blade turned Midwestern mud into the nation’s breadbasket
![Negro league baseball](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/HehbImd2wqyb6qNAHwfjwajaAho=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/8e/fd/8efd3075-22ed-450a-af19-eada3d1ec069/101-objects-community-negro-baseball-68-963-web-resize.jpg)
Negro League Baseball
Segregated teams opened the national pastime to African-Americans
![Barbie](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/U8c4vmAdNy1w261tbCWgYObOBYE=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Happiness-Barbie-631.jpg)
Barbie
Wildly popular with girls, a new doll irked the women’s movement
![Richard Petty car](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/QqO7BJxEqsN-y4fEU2bcnt9MRZc=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Happiness-Richard-Petty-Stockcar-631.jpg)
Richard Petty's Stock Car
The chariot of the King
![Spirit of St. Louis](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/X4Exnk25z0lzo-o113cw2owY66A=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-America-Spirit-of-StLouis-631.jpg)
Spirit of St. Louis
A daring flight shrank the world and created the first global celebrity
![Pocahontas](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/zPvX-PFuuiOs__ljH-3ESQ9rb6w=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-America-Pocahontas-631.jpg)
Pocahontas Engraving
The Indian princess saved Jamestown colony—and spawned fairy tales
![panda](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/v4M5vYPnI-clA_IUIsesvWeaq_0=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-America-Panda-631.jpg)
Giant Panda
Millions adore the furry exemplars of China’s “soft power”
![Alabama church bombing](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/i2_EFVJcuUuTfK8RpAckgoZKzVs=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Freedom-Stained-glass-91-631.jpg)
Stained Glass Shards
A church bombing killed four girls and galvanized the civil rights movement
![birth control](https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/YTwdqBvvpWb2Vgc8ZhXTGPMGb7k=/400x300/filters:no_upscale()/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/101-Objects-Freedom-pill-91-631.jpg)
The Pill
A new birth control method gave women unprecedented power and revolutionized daily life