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Museum Artifacts

A listing of selected Museum artifacts that can be used to teach American history using object-based learning techniques. The selected artifacts represent a variety of historical eras and the list will grow over time. Want to suggest a new artifact? Click here to contact us.

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$100,000 U.S. Gold Certificate

$100,000 U.S. Gold Certificate Image

During the early 1930s, the United States and the rest of the industrialized world experienced an economic depression. In 1934, the United States continued its movement toward removing its currency from the gold standard. It even became illegal to possess...

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AbioCor Total Artificial Heart

AbioCor Total Artificial Heart Image

AbioCor Total Artificial Heart is the first electro-hydraulic heart implanted in a human. Approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for clinical trails, the AbioCor was implanted in Robert Tools by cardiac surgeons Laman Gray and Robert...

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Abraham Lincoln's Patent Model: Improvement for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals

Abraham Lincoln's Patent Model: Improvement for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals Image

Abraham Lincoln's interest in canal building, river commerce, and internal improvements not only drew him to the Whig and later Republican Party, but also led him to try his hand at designing a device for raising boats off sand bars. Undertaken while...

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Apple "Classic" Macintosh Personal Computer

Apple

The Apple Macintosh introduced a graphic user interface (GUI) to the Apple line of computers....

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Astrolabe

Astrolabe Image

The astrolabe is an astronomical calculating device used from ancient times into the eighteenth century. Measuring the height of a star using the back of the instrument, and knowing the latitude, one could find the time of night and the position of other...

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B.F. Skinner's Nose Cone of a Pigeon-Guided Missile

B.F. Skinner's Nose Cone of a Pigeon-Guided Missile Image

During World War II, the U.S. military needed to find accurate ways to guide missiles to their targets. Harvard University psychologist B. F. Skinner suggested that a missile nose cone be supplied with three compartments, each with a window. A...

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Baseball Catcher's Mask

Baseball Catcher's Mask Image

Steve Richard Nicosia (b. 1955) played for eight seasons on four different teams, ending his career in 1985. As a rookie, Nicosia used this catcher's mask when he caught during Game Seven of the 1979 World Series. Later in his career, he set a San Francisco...

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Blackberry Model R900M

Blackberry Model R900M Image

The Blackberry is a handheld wireless Personal Data Assistant (PDA) and communication device. It has a thumb keyboard and a wheel for navigation, as opposed to using a stylus like its competitors. This unit was owned by a law firm partner who arrived...

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Buffalo Soldier Uniform Coat

Buffalo Soldier Uniform Coat Image

African American soldiers were allowed to enlist in the regular peacetime army of the United States for the first time at the end of the Civil War. Many of the new regulars had fought as United States Colored Troops during the war. By 1869, four African...

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CARE Package

CARE Package Image

This cardboard CARE package, contains seven smaller boxes and bags of macaroni, cornmeal, Carnation instant chocolate flavored drink mix, and nonfat dried milk. It has a paper insert reading "August 6, 1962. Greetings from the men of the U.S.S. Lake...

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  • Results 1-10 of 65
  • Page 1 of 7

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