O Say Can You See?

Rubbing elbows with history

At one of the museum’s reopening events, I perused the new Star-Spangled Banner Gallery for the first time. I was especially excited to see the new interactive flag. I had heard a lot about this feature: it is a large table with a very hi-res image of the flag projected on to it and tidbits of information easily available for visitors. It was a lot of fun to play with, and I was really enjoying it when a woman came up to me and asked me to explain what it was.

This detail photo shows the "A" that was reportedly sewn onto the flag by Louisa Armistead, widow of the 1814 commander of Fort McHenry.

I talked about it, modeled how to use it, and also mentioned that I’ve been working on several lesson plans about the flag for the new Web site. Then we spoke some more, and she casually mentioned that she is a descendant of the Armistead family.

Lieutenant Colonel Armistead commissioned Mary Pickersgill to sew the Star-Spangled Banner, and his descendants ultimately gave the flag to the Smithsonian Institution. Louisa Armistead, widow of the commander of Ft. McHenry, sewed an “A” for “Armistead” into the flag, and I got chills up my spine as I helped this Armistead descendant find the “A” that stood for her family!

Jenny Wei is an education specialist at the National Museum of American History. She’s very excited to have visitors (famous and yet-unknown) returning to the building.

A picture within a picture

Yesterday, to the delight of many visitors, a portrait of Stephen Colbert went on display amongst other entertainment artifacts on the third floor of the museum. “In describing his on-screen persona of a blustery, conservative news commentator,” the new information label reads, Colbert said, “My character is self-important, poorly informed, well-intentioned but an idiot.”

This afternoon I snapped a quick photo of the image on canvas, designed to resemble a formal oil portrait, and overheard a keen-eyed visitor say, “He’s wearing different ties.” I took a closer look and it was true—each of the three Colberts pictured is wearing a differently colored tie. The closest Colbert to the viewer is wearing a blue tie. That Colbert’s reflection in a mirror is wearing a red tie—and the second Colbert’s reflected image (the third Colbert!) is wearing a striped tie.

Why are there three Stephens wearing three different ties? Die-hard fans of the show already know but I needed to do a little digging to find the answer. It turns out that Colbert commissions a new portrait of himself to be “painted” as a way to celebrate each anniversary of the show. As he explained in the October 2006 unveiling of the portrait now in the museum’s collections: “If all goes according to plan, we’ll be adding a new me every year. That way, generations hence, the length of the show’s run will be easy to calculate for scientists in the field of Cobert-ology.”

When I came back to my office to upload the photo, I did another double-take. If you look closely at the image from my camera phone you’ll notice a continuation of the “picture within a picture” theme. I captured within my frame—completely serendipitously, I might add—two other onlookers taking photos of the portrait themselves, each using their own camera phones. So what you’re seeing is a photo by me of two visitors taking photos of a portrait within a portrait within a portrait.

“So what?” you might ask. Well, this experience reminds me of some things I’ve learned about observing objects of history: (1) Don’t forget to look closely at the artifacts, and (2) keep your ears open—you never know what you (or that visitor next to you) might discover! With this advice in mind, I invite you to come and check out the portrait now on view at the museum along with many other fascinating national treasures. Let us know what unexpected things you see or hear during your visit!

Dana Allen-Greil is the new media project manager at the National Museum of American History.

A historic transaction

A national museum opens to great fanfare after being closed for 2 years. People clamor to get in, to see the Star-Spangled Banner in its new state-of-the-art chamber, to marvel at the newly renovated public spaces . . . and to shop?

Who makes a bee-line to a store when there is so much history to see? Believe it or not, there were some regular visitors in the store at 10:01 a.m. But the very first customer was Jim Gardner, our Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs. That makes sense, as he is more than a little familiar with the exhibits, but the store was all new to him. Turns out Jim is writing an article about memorials and the book Letters on the Wall was just what he needed for his research.

That’s what I love about our stores. There are souvenirs, toys, T shirts and jewelry, but also a wonderfully rich and diverse selection of books, reproductions of historical documents, maps, and memorabilia. Whether you are a history buff, a teacher or just a shopper looking for the perfect gift, our stores are bound have something you just can’t resist. (Plus, all income from sales supports the educational activities of the Smithsonian Institution.)

Kathy Sklar is the business program manager at the National Museum of American History.

A living museum

It is such a joy to come to work in a living, breathing museum again. The building is buzzing with life—from young children helping a costumed Mary Pickersgill assemble a flag the actual size of the Star-Spangled Banner to families clamoring around an interactive kiosk in the Gettysburg Address exhibition to hear actor Liam Neeson’s reading of the famous speech.  After an amazing three-day reopening festival, we’ve been able to put together a short montage of scenes from inside the museum. In the video below you’ll get a look at some of the festivities—from ribbon-cutting to banjo-strumming—and see a glimpse of the new exhibitions and spaces that await your next visit.

Dana Allen-Greil is the new media project manager at that National Museum of American History.

By the numbers

I am a new employee at the National Museum of American History. In fact, at the time of this writing, I have been working here for 9 weeks, 3 days, and 16 hours. Each morning I ride the elevator up 5 floors, walk past 36 doors, and work for approximately 8 hours. The numbers alone may not say it, but I work at a great place! Every day for the last 9 weeks, 3 days, and 14 hours, I have come to work and learned something new about the museum, the collections, and American history. At home “did you know?” has become a catch phrase for me.

For example, did you know that in 1914, during the first major conservation effort for the Star-Spangled Banner, 11 needlewomen attached a linen backing to the giant flag with approximately 1.7 million hand sewn stitches? And did you know that in 2001, during the second major conservation effort, conservators painstakingly removed those 1.7 million stitches in order to detach that same linen backing? Now, I’m not a numbers person—I studied history because I love stories—but sometimes numbers tell an incredible story: 1.7 million stitches, twice!

For the reopening of the museum we have gathered a few facts and numbers. If you take a few minutes to look over these numbers, I think you will find they tell a story about hard work, long hours, and dedication to the museum—and to creating a memorable experience for all of our visitors.

• 2 feet: approximate size of the stars on the Star-Spangled Banner 
• 6 digital screens with visitor information in the new Welcome Center
• 10 degrees from horizontal: orientation of the Star-Spangled Banner in its new gallery
• 13 stars surrounding dark green inset marble in central atrium
• 23 vehicles on display in the America on the Move exhibition
• 30 by 34 feet: size of the Star-Spangled Banner
• 34 treads in the new Grand Staircase 
• 40 feet of original 1932 pavement from Route 66 in America on the Move
• 45 pounds: weight of the Star-Spangled Banner 
• 50 by 52 feet: dimensions of the Star-Spangled Banner chamber
• 70 degrees +/- 2 degrees; 50% relative humidity +/- 2%; temperature and humidity in the Star-Spangled Banner chamber
• 80 by 70 feet: dimensions of the Star-Spangled Banner gallery
• 275 linear feet of Artifact Walls
• 530 pieces of marble installed in east-west hallways, reusing the museum’s original marble 
• 900 objects in Julia Child’s kitchen
• 960 pixels of mirrored polycarbonate make up the Abstract Flag
• 4,784 objects on display in the museum
• Approximately 10,000 lbs: weight of the table that the Star-Spangled Banner rests on
• 300,000 square feet of exhibition, programming, and public space in the museum
• 3,000,000 objects in the museum’s collection
• 3,000,000 annual visitors

Elizabeth Johnson is a special assistant for public programs at the National Museum of American History.