Tips for Experiencing Latino History @The Museum of American History

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most visited and treasured places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry either about the Smithsonian or that 1st appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

Looking to discover Latino history during your museum visit this Hispanic Heritage Month? Christine Miranda, who interned with our Program in Latino History and Culture, has the inside scoop. 

Our museum endeavors to "understand the past in order to make sense of the present and shape a more humane future," and diverse Latino stories are a critical part of that. Here's how to find them across three floors, plenty of exhibitions, and fascinating collections.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Oh Say Can You See, click here.

Oh, Say Do You See What They See?

DC's Smithsonian museums (there are 17 of them here in the city) are among America's most treasured and visited places. But the Smithsonian also publishes a series of some of the most interesting, fact-filled blogs appearing anywhere on the internet. Each Sunday, The Prices Do DC re-posts an entry about the Smithsonian, many of which appeared in 1 of the institution's blogs. Hope you enjoy and maybe we'll see you soon at the Smithsonian.

As national treasures go, it was a bargain: $405.90, paid to Mary Pickersgill of Baltimore, who fashioned it from red, blue and undyed wool, plus cotton for the 15 stars, to fly at the fortress guarding the city’s harbor. 

An enormous flag, 30 by 42 feet, it was intended as a bold statement to the British warships that were certain to come. And when, in September 1814, the young United States turned back the invaders in a spectacular battle witnessed by Francis Scott Key, he put his joy into a verse published first as “Defence of Fort M’Henry” and then, set to the tune of a British drinking song, immortalized as “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The flag itself, enshrined since 2008 in a special chamber at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History following a $7 million restoration—and due to be celebrated yesterday with a nationwide singalong —remains a bold statement.

 But what is it saying now, 200 years later? We asked leading painters, musicians, poets and other artists to consider that question. You might be inspired by their responses, or provoked. But their artworks give proof that the anthem and the icon are as powerful as ever, symbols of an ever-expanding diversity of ideas about what it means to be an American.

To continue reading this post, which 1st appeared in Smithsonian.Com, click here.

Helping The Grandkids Do DC

DC is a great city for hosting your grandkids. So much to do and so much of it for free. Of course, there is the National Zoo. But on the most recent visit from our 6-year-old granddaughter Audrey and our our 4-year-old grandson Owen, we headed for the National Mall. Here is what we did.

Kids love riding trains and subways. So. of course, we traveled by Metro.

Our 1st stop was the Smithsonian Castle. Both our grandkids love Legos, so the Lego model of the castle was a big hit. Then, we used one of the scale models of the National Mall area to talk about where we were going and what we were going to do and see. We usually pick one place and then let them choose one place on the mall per day.

Their choice was the National Museum of Natural History. Our 1st stop there was the new Q?rious science education center . Then it was on to the natural fossil hall for a last look at the dinosaurs displayed the way they are now. The hall will close on April 28 and won't reopen until 2019. Owen also got to preview the T-Rex coming to the museum in April.

Our choice for the kids was the National Museum of American History where we took in a special show from a one-eyed puppet master that was part of the ongoing Puppetry in America exhibition, which is on view until April 13.  Then is was upstairs for a look at Miss Piggy in the American Stories exhibit, Audrey loves Miss Piggy and we had just seen the new Muppet movie the night before.

And no matter how many times we visit the history museum, Audrey wants to see Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz.

The National Mall also has whole series of walls that are just perfect for climbing. Here Audrey and Owen wave goodbye to the mall until their next trip to DC.

Puppetry Now at the Smithsonian

Puppetry is one of the oldest types of performance art in America. Now, at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, a new exhibition traces the history of the subject from colonial times to the TV shows of today.

Early American hand puppets

The earliest traditions of puppetry were established by immigrants from Great Britain, France, and Italy who traveled from town to town putting on street and park performances. In the early 20th Century, puppets and their puppet masters became an integral part of vaudeville stage performances across the country.

In the 1930s, Edgar Bergen and his sidekick Charlie McCarthy brought the idea of puppetry to the new media of radio. In 1969, Jim Henson and his staff brought the Muppets to the children's show Sesame Street. With Kermit, Oscar, and the beloved duo of Bert and Ernie, puppet popularity encountered an explosion which continues to today. In fact, it was the donation of 21 of Henson's most beloved creations to the museum in October of last year which paved the way for the current exhibition.

The California Raisin made sure they were heard through the grapevine in 1986

The exhibit, which delights youngsters of all ages, examines puppets from the beginnings of America until today. Included are examples of:

• Asian shadow puppets
• hand puppets
• marionnettes 
• paper puppets
• ventriloquist's puppets
• finger puppets 
• stop-motion puppets and
• Muppets

But no matter what the type of puppet is used, the art of puppetry really depends on 3 factors: a puppet, the imagination of a manipulator, and an audience willing to suspend belief and accept the puppet as "real."

Youngsters who get excited about the exhibit, can indulge their puppetry fantasies at the special gift shop

The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden

Streets often get presidential names. Washington is also first here

Since it is the nation's capital and the home of the White House, there are many appropriate places to spend President's Day. One of the more informative is The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Here you view artifacts related to all 44 of America's president from George Washington to Barack Obama.

As the title of the exhibit suggests, both the positive and negative aspects of the position are explored. In 1964, then-president Lyndon B. Johnson captured that duality when he said, "The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was: and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands."

Presidents Bush 2, Clinton, Bush 1, and Carter: 

The exhibit is divided into 7 sections. Here is a quick look at those sections and a highlighted item from the dozens in each.

Celebrating Inaugurations

• the oversized overcoat worn by Grover Cleveland at his 1885 swearing-in

Presidential Roles

• the chaps worn by Teddy Roosevelt when he visited his Dakota Territory ranch

The White House as Symbol and Home

• a colorful chessboard used by John Quincy Adams

Limits of Presidential Power

• a file cabinet damaged when the Plumbers, authorized by President Richard Nixon, broke into the psychiatrist's office of Pentagon Papers leaker Daniel Ellsberg

Assassination and Mourning

• a wooden black sign with stark white letters reading: "Closed ... Sun. Mon. Tues. ... Due to the Death of President Kennedy

The Presidency in Popular Imagination

• a video compilation showing how various presidents have been represented in Hollywood films over the years

Life After the Presidency

• George Washington's favorite red chair which he used at his Mount Vernon home after he retired as the first president in American history

One final note: Currently, the most viewed item in the exhibition is not on display in the presidential gallery. That item is President Abraham Lincoln's top hat.

However, the historic hat is viewable at the history museum's exhibit titled Changing America: The Emancipation, 1863 and the March on Washington, 1963.

The Story of The Star Spangled Banner

On this date 199 years ago, Washington DC attorney Frances Scott Key was being held aboard a British ship in Baltimore harbor. For 25 hours, he witnessed a fierce barrage of cannon shot pummel Fort McHenry, a stone fort being held by an American garrison determined not to allow a British victory like the one in Washington a month earlier. By the dawn's early light of Sept. 14th, Key viewed an astonishing sight - the fort had withstood the red glare of the rockets and the bursting of the bombs.  And there, high above the fort, still waved a giant American flag.

"There in that hour of deliverance and joyful triumph, my heart spoke," Key later said.

Inspired by what he had seen, Key, an amateur poet, used the back of a letter to begin composing the 4 stanzas of what would become America's national anthem - "The Star Spangled Banner". On September 20, both the Baltimore Patriot and The American printed the lyrics, with the note to be song to "Tune: Anacreon in Heaven".

The song spread across the young country. Its popularity increased in the North during the Civil War, and, by the 1900s, it was a fixture at public ceremonies and celebrations. In 1931, Congress made Key's tribute to the victory of Fort McHenry the official national anthem of the United States.

But what of the 30-by-42-foot flag that served as Key's inspiration? It was constructed by a Baltimore flag maker, Mary Pickergill, in the summer of 1813. She was assisted by her daughter, 2 nieces, and an African-American indentured servant. Pickford was paid $405.90 for her work, which was more than most Baltimore residents earned in a year.

For almost 100 years after the battle, the flag remained with the family of George Armistead, who had been the commander of Fort McHenry at the time of the British attack. The family would periodically display the famous flag and did give out a few snippets for treasured keepsakes. The flag was first photographed in the Boston Navy yard in 1873, and that photo greatly increased interest in the historic banner.

In 1907, Armistead's grandson donated the flag to the Smithsonian. Visitors flocked to see the historical item, prompting a journalist to report that the display "aroused enthusiasm and veneration as has no other object in the institution." Today, the flag remains under dark light in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, where it is seen by more than a million visitors annually.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
"The Star Spangled Banner" is sung countless times Every single day. Here one music critic selects what he believes are the 10 best versions ever performed by major stars in public.