National Museum of American History - D.C.

One of my favorite Smithsonian museums to visit in D.C. is the National Museum of American History. I was gobsmacked at the wonderful and informative exhibits and artifacts the museum housed, including a large statue of George Washington in a Roman robe (that was once located under the Capital's Rotunda). The museum showcases the evolution of our nation's history (including economic growth, presidents & political discourse, and military/foreign affairs) and melting-pot culture. Below are several photographs of exhibits from the museum that I found particularly interesting. Enjoy!

Washington D.C. was an enjoyable trip - I am definitely going to visit our nation's capitol in the future! I am pictured outside the Cannon House Office Building on the U.S. Capital grounds. Author's collections.

The museum had a superb exhibit on boats/sea vessels throughout American history. I was fascinated at the model of the RMS Titanic and a steamboat named J.M. White (pictured above). Steamboats were an important mode of travel in the early days of the nineteenth century - during the first Industrial Revolution in America, steamboats carried foods, manufactured goods, and people (enslaved Africans) up-and-down the Mississippi River. Steamboats would later be replaced by the railroads. Author's collections.

The museum also had a wonderful exhibit on Julia Child, an American cook and television personality in the 1960s and 1970s. Child's television programs inspired many citizens to cook "fancy" yet simple and tasty international meals in their own kitchens -- these were the days before the popular Food Network programs. Julia Child received the Legion of Honor, the highest civilian decoration given by the French government, in 2000 for introducing French cuisine to millions of Americans via her cooking shows and books. Author's collections.

Since its inception in the early 1950s, fast food has evolved into one of America's multi-million dollar industries. Pictured here are McDonald's food boxes from the latter decades of the twentieth century. At first, fast food establishments were walk-up facilities, where patrons would "walk up" to a counter and receive their greasy food. By the 1970s, since commuters and fast food fans wanted to save time, fast food facilities began installing drive-thru windows -- then, Americans could order and receive their food within minutes without needing to leave the car. The drive-thru craze took the nation by storm... by 2014, one study estimated that 20% of all meals in the United States were eaten in a car. Author's collections.

Pictured is a fascinating exhibit the museum had on the history of supermarkets - local grocery stores and vegetable markets in American small towns have existed since this country was established in the 1600s, yet the first grocery store chain in America was Kroger, created by Ohio businessman Barney Kroger in 1883. Since then, grocery stores have increased in size and number of products. Author's collections.

Lady Bird Johnson, wife of President LBJ, is one of my favorite First Ladies to read about. She was a tough cookie who pursued her own political agenda in the White House while supporting her husband. Lady Bird raised environmental awareness by promoting visitation to America's national parks, lobbying Congress to regulate highway billboards, and encouraging teenagers to partake in local conservation projects. She once described her "beautification" program in the 1960s as "the whole effort to bring the natural world into harmony, to bring order, usefulness, and delight to our whole environment." She was particularly invested to the preservation of the Giant Redwoods in California. Pictured is one of Lady Bird's dinner dresses. Author's collections.

Every First Lady since Abigail Adams has decorated the White House with lavish furniture items and gorgeous silverware (Martha Washington and her husband never lived in the executive mansion). Pictured are the plates, pitcher, and wine glasses purchased by Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of our 16th president. The luxurious silverware was produced by the American firm E.V. Haughwout. The Lincoln White House also used crystalized table pieces manufactured by the Dorflinger Glass Company. Author's collections. 

Pictured is George Washington's portable writing case. Washington wrote many letters to politicians, military generals, and civilians during his tenure as commander of the Continental Army (with assistance from Alexander Hamilton, Washington's private secretary during the American Revolution). Washington was later elected the first president of these United States. Author's collections.

A colorful pennant from Herbert Hoover's inauguration, spring 1929. Hoover, the successful commerce secretary for most of the 1920s, served only one term as an underperforming president. He is best known for overseeing the government and economy during the early days of the Great Depression. Like his predecessors, Hoover did not believe in federal hand-outs and did not endorse economic relief. Unemployment soared after the October 1929 Stock Market crash and many were evicted from their homes - people's make-shift houses made out of tin and cardboard were suitably named "Hoovervilles". Historians and scholars usually consider Hoover to be one of our worst presidents. Author's collections.

The military uniform worn by Dwight D. Eisenhower during World War II. Eisenhower, born in Denison, enjoyed a distinguished military career and quickly rose through the ranks. Prior to the June 1944 D-Day invasion of France, Eisenhower was named the supreme commander of all Allied armies in Europe. After the war, Eisenhower continued military service and was elected president in 1952, serving two terms and guiding the nation through the early days of the Cold War. Author's collections.

I recently finished teaching about FDR and the Great Depression in my standard U.S. History classes so this artifact is quite familiar. When Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected president in 1932, he reversed his predecessor's "laissez-faire" policies and gave hope to the starving, unemployed American public via the radio. FDR's first "fireside chat" on banking reform was delivered on March 12, 1933. It was a resounding success - people began to deposit their savings back into the banks a week later. Pictured is a CBS News microphone that was used by FDR during one of his chats. Author's collections.

I thoroughly enjoy wandering around museums and examining various artifacts - one of my favorite (& strange) artifacts in the National Museum of American History was a cast of Abraham Lincoln's hands, created on May 20, 1860, two days after the Illinois lawyer received the Republican Party's presidential nomination. The cast was produced by Leonard Volk. Lincoln's hands were swollen from shaking hands with many congratulating supporters. Author's collections.

National African American History Museum - D.C.

One of the most interesting museums my wife and I visited in Washington D.C. during our March 2022 trip was the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The facility is operated by the Smithsonian and is the newest museum on the National Mall. Opened by President Obama in 2016, the African American history museum showcases a variety of fantastic exhibits on the history of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Civil War, segregation and the Civil Rights Movement, black veterans and politicians, and African American schools. Since this was the only Smithsonian museum that I had not been to in the past (I visited our nation's capital with my family in 2007), the African American history museum was on my to-go list. I thoroughly enjoyed walking the floors and absorbing historical and cultural content that I can weave into my future lesson plans -- as a dedicated U.S. history teacher I am constantly looking for new ways to "beef up" my diverse curriculum. I enjoy discussing African American history with my students since blacks greatly contributed to the creation of the United States we know of today. Below, I have posted some of the museum artifacts I found to be fascinating. I would highly recommend visiting this marvelous treasure trove of black history and culture!!

One of the biggest exhibits at the museum was one on Barrack Obama, the first African American president. I distinctly remember when Obama was elected president in November 2008 -- this was a big moment for African Americans, who had faced much racial discrimination in the South fifty years prior. Also, Obama provided a fresh, charismatic (and brave) approach in the American government when the country slumped into one of the most disastrous economic recessions. The exhibit included international newspapers on Obama's historic election, Obama campaign buttons, Michelle Obama's inauguration dress, and many posters and photographs. Author's collections.

After the Civil War, the South employed Jim Crow Laws, which segregated public facilities and transportation. Pictured is a Southern Railway Company car -- I had the opportunity to walk through this vehicle. Large compartments with luxury seats and spacious bathrooms and water coolers for white passengers were at the front of the railway car, while smaller compartments and shared toilets for black passengers were located at the rear. African Americans were not permitted to ride in the white section of the train. Author's collections.

The outfit of a Pullman Train porter. African Americans had few job opportunities in the 1920s & 1930s -- one was a porter/attendant on the Pullman Trains, which crisscrossed the nation. Although the pay was inadequate, many blacks were blessed to be employed. When laborers began unionizing and demanding better working conditions (Knights of Labor, etc.), African Americans mobilized and created Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first black union in the United States (1925). Author's collections.

Pictured is a block that was frequently used at slave auctions in the South during the first-half of the nineteenth century. After traveling the "Middle Passage" in chains, enslaved Africans would be showcased to plantation owners and potential buyers from this block. The tired and sick slaves would experience fear, humiliation, and uncertainty -- enslaved Africans were usually separated from loved ones and family for life. These blocks were found in public squares, hotels, courthouses, and at the docks. Author's collections.

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson's initial draft included discussions of slavery, however, the drafting committee omitted the subject since slavery would have contradicted the idea that America was a land filled with independent people. Thus, the Founding Fathers passed the issue of slavery on to the second generation of politicians (Henry Clay & Daniel Webster), who sought methods of compromise to resolve the burdens of slavery. Eventually, it would be during the time of the third generation of politicians (Abe Lincoln & Jefferson Davis) when a civil war, brother against brother, erupted to finally rid the sin of slavery from the United States. Author's collections. 

The museum also highlighted the numerous athletic accomplishments of African Americans. Pictured is a statue of two African American Olympians (200m runners Tommie Smith and John Carlos) who silently saluted Human Rights with a raised black-glove fist at the 1968 summer Olympics. This was a powerful moment and the demonstration is widely considered one of the most overtly political statements in the history of the modern Olympics. I am quite familiar with the history of John Carlos since he ran track at East Texas State College for one year prior to transferring to a college in California. Author's collections.

Pictured is a jacket of an Alpha Kappa Alpha member. AKA was the first collegiate black sorority in the United States, established in January 1908. Today, there are more than 300,000 active members. Did you know? -- Hillary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt were both honorary AKA members. Author's collections.

The museum had a wonderful collection of artifacts from black schoolhouses and colleges. Pictured here are student desks and a classroom warmer from Hope School, a 19th-century black academy in the South. Schools in the South remained segregated until the 1970s. Black schools and colleges frequently received less funding from state and local governments than white schools and colleges. Author's collections.

This may look like an ordinary church pew, but this object has an illustrated history. The pew was part of the original furnishings of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Boston's Beacon Neighborhood. The facility was led by Reverend Leonard Grimes, a staunch abolitionist, who welcomed fugitive slaves into the black congregation. The museum also had a Bible that belonged to Hattie McDaniel, the first African American receive an Oscar -- for her role in Gone with the Wind (1939). Author's collections.

A list of African American-friendly establishments in the South. During the Jim Crow Era, African Americans travelers usually looked at published "Green Books" to find restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and other public facilities in the South that were safe and accommodating to blacks. Author's collections.

A Spanish edition of Uncle Tom's Cabin, the immensely-popular, anti-slavery book by Harriet Beecher Stowe that was used as an abolitionist propaganda tool prior to the Civil War. Author's collections.

Goodbye 2022, Hello 2023!

2022 was a fantastic year! Here is a sum of what happened: Professionally, I had three online articles published (in French Quarter Magazine, North Texas e-News & Texas Escapes Magazine), partook in two podcast interviews, presented research on the City of Coppell at a history conference, and my ebook on a photographic history of A&M-Commerce was published. In 2023, I plan to write a scholarly article on a history of Coppell ISD (the school district I currently work in - I am incredibly blessed to have a great job and surrounded by incredible veteran educators!). Personally, I proudly watched my wife graduate with her PhD in statistics from Rice University, we purchased our first house (and paid too much for it owing to the messy housing market in the 2022 summer, but we love it), and I officiated my best friends' wedding in Rockwall. Since I am a hard-working individual, I intend to continue giving back to my community and giving advice/inspiration to future generations of leaders in 2023. After a much-needed winter break (I did not work much on my laptop, to much surprise), I am ready to roll into the new year with an unlimited amount of enthusiasm for teaching, eagerness to learn from peers and scholars, and continue to fuel my passion for history!! It was a fun year (with minor challenges) and am tremendously excited for the next year!

Happy New Year! (I will continue to post on this blog regularly in 2023)

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from the Chanin family (plus our cute pets)!! (author's collections)

I officiated my best friends' wedding in the 2022 fall in Rockwall. I have been an ordained minister since 2017. It was a windy day (and I had to shorten my speech) but I thoroughly enjoyed the event! Best wishes to Tyler & Maria - the happy couple!! (author's collections)

Besides traveling to Washington D.C. and Boston with my wife, one of my 2022 highlights was meeting Bill Brooke Webb, grandson of Sallie Brooke Capps. Mr. Webb praised the research I had done on Capps, a pioneer in women's education in Texas. It was great chatting to him about his family ancestry! I plan to write more Texas history in 2023. (author's collections)  

I am an avid fan of the British Royal Family and watched most of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee festivities on the TV in summer 2022. The Queen, my idol and an icon in British culture, celebrated 70 years on the throne- a feat no other British monarch has achieved. Unfortunately, she peacefully passed away in September. Despite her death, her eldest son, King Charles III (pictured here on her left) has done a bang-up job reuniting the country through a tough political transition. God save the King! (author's collections)