Thanksgiving Historical Perspectives Past Exhibit … A Harvest Celebration During the autumn of 1621, at least 90 Wampanoag joined 52 English people at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, to mark a successful harvest. It is remembered today as the “First Thanksgiving,” although no one back then used that term. In fact, much of the so-called First Thanksgiving story was created decades and centuries later. As a result, many assumptions about the festival at Plymouth and its connection to Thanksgiving …

All American The Power of Sports Past Exhibit … All American: The Power of Sports The power of sports has many applications. Sports unite people, teach values, and inspire hope and pride. In the United States, sports have powered efforts to bring citizens together, shape them, and project a vision of what it means to be American. But sports convey power to athletes too—power to break social barriers and protest injustice. All American explores the power of sports both to embody our national ideals and …

Vicecapades 150th Anniversary of the 1873 Comstock Act Past Exhibit … An Act for the Suppression of, trade in, and circulation of obscene literature and articles of immoral use known as the Comstock Act Anthony Comstock (1844–1915), a self-appointed guardian of public morality, successfully lobbied Congress for stricter obscenity laws and secured an appointment as a special agent to the United States Postal Service with broad powers to police the mails. The law did not define obscenity—Comstock did. In …

Celebrating Anna May Wong Past Exhibit … “I want to be an actress, not a freak.” Anna May Wong Film legend Anna May Wong’s talent could not be contained by the racist casting of early Hollywood movies. Born Wong Liu Tsong in Los Angeles in 1905, Wong ditched school to sneak onto film sets. She appeared in her first film at age 14 and quickly became a star. Although frustrated by the Asian stereotypes she was forced to play, she appeared in over 60 films and became the first Chinese American international …

Mr Santa Claus Romance of the Postal Service Past Exhibit … This holiday featured film is one of a series of silent movies produced by the Post Office Department in 1921. The mini melodrama shows how the postal service helps make a happy Christmas for a boy and his sister when their “Dere Sandy Claws” letter is answered by a young married couple. Mr. Santa Clause, 1921. Records of the Post Office Department. NAID: …

Bring Them Home Uncle Sam Ongoing Exhibit … Soldiers arrive home aboard the S.S. Haverford as the transport ship pulls into Philadelphia, 1918. Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs More than two million American service members were overseas with the American Expeditionary Forces when the guns fell silent on November 11, 1918, ending World War I. Americans would continue to serve in Germany as part of the Allied Occupation until 1923, but many were quickly demobilized. The service …

250th Anniversary of the Boston Tea Party Past Exhibit … The Destruction of the Tea It wouldn’t be known as the “Boston Tea Party” for another 50 years, but the destruction of the tea in 1773 marked a critical turning point in the brewing American Revolution. Boston was not alone in resisting British imperial policies considered oppressive by American colonists. Ports along the eastern seaboard prevented East India Company tea from landing in defiance of the 1773 Tea Act, which imposed no new tax on tea …

Courting Confrontation The Arrest of Susan B Anthony Past Exhibit … On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women attempted to vote in Rochester, New York, challenging section one of the 14th Amendment, which states, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Allowed by election officials to successfully register and cast their ballots in the 1872 election, they were later arrested and charged for “knowingly, …