Ready, Set, Curate!

The Object of History - New from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History

Send your middle and high school students behind the scenes with the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History curators to explore 6 objects from the Museum's collection and then create their own online exhibition.

Students get to explore objects in QuickTime VR and listen to historians and curators discuss the objects before designing an exhibition of their own.

Objects include

• the desk on which Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence
• the gold nugget that sparked the gold rush
• a dress sewn by African American seamstress Elizabeth Keckley for Mary Todd Lincoln
• an 1898 Standard Voting Machine
• the lunch counter where 4 African American Students sparked the sit-in movement
• a short handled hoe used by immigrant farm laborers

The materials on the site are designed to improve student's knowledge of standard topics in U.S. History and to improve their ability to understand material culture objects as types of historical evidence. Resources include:

• a guide to doing history with objects
• a two minute introductory movie
• a virtual lunch counter to examine
• curator interview clips
• a large collection of associated primary sources to explore
• brief and extended thematic tours
• links to related web resources
• opportunities to create virtual exhibits
• introductory material on how to use this site in the classroom
• activities designed to teach about each object's role in American history

Don't wait – curate today with The Object of History!