O Say Can You See?

Athletes score the Medal of Freedom

On February 15, President Obama honored 15 individuals with the Medal of Freedom. The award is the nation’s highest civilian honor, bestowed on those who have made an exceptional contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors. Among those awarded medals were two professional athletes, St. Louis Cardinal first baseman Stan “The Man” Musial, and Boston Celtic center Bill Russell.

Stan Musial trading card

Stan Musial (b. 1920) played for the Cardinals from 1941 to 1963, finishing his career with an amazing .331 batting average. He won three MVP trophies and led the Cards to three world championships. The National Museum of American History has the bat with which Musial collected his 3,000th hit (on May 13, 1958). The extraordinarily consistent batter retired with 3,630 hits, fourth most in baseball history. Musial, considered one of the sport’s most courteous and generous stars, has maintained close ties to the St. Louis community and has been involved in numerous philanthropic and goodwill efforts. President Obama said of Musial, “Stan remains to this day, an icon, untarnished, a beloved pillar of the community, a gentleman you’d want your kids to emulate.”

Stan Musial’s 3,000th hit bat

Bill Russell (b. 1934) led the Boston Celtics to an unprecedented 11 titles during his 13-year career (1957-1969). An exceptional shot blocker and rebounder, the 6"9’ center won five MVP awards and is considered one of the sport’s all-time great defensive players. The Smithsonian, which awarded Russell its Smithson Medal in 2005, has in its collections the ball in which he collected his 10,000th rebound. The tenacious athlete finished with 21,260 boards, second most in NBA history. Russell, whose playing days were often plagued by racism, was an active voice during the nation’s civil rights movement. President Obama remarked, “He (Russell) endured insults and vandalism, but he kept on focusing on making the teammates who he loved better players, and made possible the success of so many who would follow.”

Bill Russel’s 10,000th rebound basketball

What other professional athletes do you think have made an exceptional impact on America?

Eric W. Jentsch is the Deputy Chair for the Division of Culture & the Arts at the National Museum of American History

 

"The Wonderful World of William Steinway"

William Steinway, 1882. Photograph by Carl Borntraeger, Wiesbaden, Germany. Courtesy of Henry Z. Steinway Archive.

Editor’s note: In December 2010, Anna Karvellas and her team launched the William Steinway Diary Web site, the first online edition of all 2,500 pages of Steinway’s diary written during one of the most dynamic periods in American history. The related exhibition, A Gateway to the 19th Century: The William Steinway Diary: 1861–1896, is on view in the museum’s Albert H. Small Documents Gallery through April 8, 2011.

“Dear Ms. Karvellas—Welcome to the wonderful world of William Steinway,” the letter began . . .

I was a few weeks into my position as Managing Editor of the William Steinway Diary Project, for which I had left my rent-stabilized apartment, something that any New Yorker knows signified the seriousness of my intent. 30-83 29th Street, third floor—where it began, when I moved to Astoria in 1997 and first began to think about its past.

“No matter how long you have been here, you are a New Yorker the first time you say, That used to be Munsey’s, or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge,” Colson Whitehead wrote in The Colossus of New York (2003). “You are a New Yorker when what was there before is more real and solid than what is here now.”

Map of Steinway & Sons holdings in Astoria (at that time part of Long Island City), circa 1874. From J. M. Kelsey’s History of Long Island City, N.Y., 1896. Courtesy of Henry Z. Steinway Archive.

Those who have spent time in New York will recognize the wisdom of Whitehead’s words, as I did, as I walked—literally walked—each block of Astoria, past St. George’s old stones, down 12th Street, along Welling Court, towards the Riker place. Astoria vibrated: in the dignity of the wood and granite houses that stood amid newer construction, in the robust wisteria climbing up the Steinway Mansion’s worn columns, in the competing whirlpools of still-treacherous Hell Gate as it moved towards the Long Island Sound. Astoria resonated, especially to me, to those listening for the pulse of William Steinway’s factory, his carefully graded streets, and his brick housing continuing to shelter lives new to this country. Its beat kept time so completely with my heart that it now feels inevitable that I would soon begin researching Astoria and William Steinway’s lasting imprint upon it.

Astoria, NY. (Left) Steinway Mansion exterior, 2000. Photograph by Anna Karvellas. (Right) William Steinway and his family at the Steinway Mansion, 1881. Photographer unknown. Courtesy of Henry Z. Steinway Archive.

“You realize the irony: You are leaving Astoria to write about it,” said my friend Christine, as I packed for the move. Sometimes, though, things feel meant to be, as I would later tell the author of the “World of William Steinway” letter: William’s grandson and Diary donor Henry Ziegler Steinway. He, too, had great affection for Astoria, as I quickly learned, and his vivid stories remain highlights of my 3½ years with the Diary Project. My question about Steinway & Sons’ relationship with the nearby Sohmer Piano firm, for example, produced an anecdote about regular commutes from Manhattan to Astoria with the elderly Sohmer. Besides learning just how narrow the Queensboro Bridge trolleys really were, the story provided a lasting image of the Steinway and Sohmer scions parting ways on the far side of the East River, each continuing on to his respective family piano factory.

It’s impossible to fully convey just how thrilling it was to experience Steinway Hall and the Steinway archives with Henry, to hear his straight-talk on things historic and otherwise, including how one mustered the courage to ride the Parachute Jump at the 1939 World’s Fair. His archives were remarkable (in the middle of the parachute story, he turned, leaned to pull open a metal file cabinet, and produced the ticket). On that trip alone, Dena Adams, Hugh Talman, Cynthia Adams Hoover, and I were able to scan more than 200 images, including rare family photographs, maps, and advertising materials such as the Illustrated Pamphlet on the Founding and Development of Steinway, N. Y. that conflated the development of the Steinway part of Astoria with the greater story of Steinway & Sons.

There are some people in life who leave you forever better for having encountered them, no matter how brief or long the time shared; people who enrich your outlook, metaphorically speak your language, and share with you an enthusiasm or mission. Henry Ziegler Steinway was such a person in my life—one of several who came to me through Astoria and the “Wonderful World of William Steinway.”

Anna Karvellas and Henry Ziegler Steinway at Steinway Hall, 2008. Photograph by Hugh Talman.

I invite visitors to the Web site and exhibition to find their own reverberations in the Steinway story. Do you have a connection to the Astoria section of Queens or the Steinway & Sons piano factory? Which aspects of Astoria history most resonate with you?

Anna Karvellas is the Managing Editor of the William Steinway Diary Project at the National Museum of American History.

Joe Wilder: Celebrating a jazz legend's 89th birthday

Today, the National Museum of American History and Smithsonian Jazz celebrate trumpeter Joe Wilder’s 89th birthday. Born in 1922 in Colwyn, Pennsylvania, Wilder’s passion for music began when, as a young boy, he saw his father play the tuba. Primarily known as a jazz musician, Wilder has performed in diverse entertainment settings such as in touring jazz bands, classical orchestras, and on popular television and radio programs. Today, the National Museum of American History honors Joe Wilder, a pioneer on and off the stage.

Joe Wilder performing with SJMO. Photograph by Hugh Talman

As a student at the Mastbaum School in Philadelphia, Joe Wilder played first-chair trumpet for the school’s symphonic orchestra. While he enjoyed jazz music from a young age, his instructors discouraged the playing of jazz. Years later, Wilder’s symphonic conductor at the Manhattan School of Music similarly detested jazz.

Left: Joe Wilder in United States Marine Corps Dress Blues Right: Joe Wilder at Montford Point Camp, LeJune, NC in 1945. Photos courtesy of Joe Wilder.

In 1943, the 21-year-old Wilder was drafted into service during World War II, and joined the Marines:

They did give me a choice of Army, Navy, or Marine Corps…they had just begun recruiting black Marines. They never had black Marines before…They weren’t accepting musicians…So I said, well, if that’s the case, I might as well go into the Marine Corps.

Jazz Career Highlights

Prior to military service, Wilder embarked on his first professional tour with Les Hite’s band in 1941. After the war, he continued on a long, prosperous career in which he recorded and toured with the likes of Count Basie, Lionel Hampton and Jimmie Lunceford, among others.

LISTEN:

• Wilder on Lionel Hampton's Band
• Lionel Hampton - The Hawk's Nest
• Lionel Hampton - Old Lady Be Good
• Wilder on Jimmie Lunceford's leadership
• Jimmie Lunceford - The Organ Grinder's Swing

In 1962, Wilder toured the Soviet Union with Benny Goodman’s band on behalf of the State Department. In 1985, he recorded on Benny Carter’s A Gentleman and His Music to the delight of his father:

I remember, when I was a kid, my father used to point at him. He said “Listen, you want to be a musician? You want to listen to people like Benny Carter”…He admired Benny… [When I] told him that I was going to do a recording with Benny Carter, he said “You really are somebody.”

In addition to his contributions to other bandleaders, Wilder has recorded a number of albums under his own name, most recently Among Friends in 2003. In 2008, Wilder received the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters Fellowship.

On the Biggest Stages

Wilder’s musicianship took him to Broadway and network television in the 1950s. He performed on the initial three-year Broadway run of Guys and Dolls. Afterward, he became the first black musician to play a key chair on Broadway in Cole Porter’s Silk Stockings. Wilder contributed trumpet to numerous ABC programs, including ABC Dance Party and radio broadcasts of The Merv Griffin Show. After 17 years at ABC, he moved to NBC and worked on shows such as Kraft Music Hall and The Dick Cavett Show. During this time, he subbed on the CBS programs The Jackie Gleason Show and The Ed Sullivan Show.

The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra

Since 1990, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra has promoted jazz’s historical legacy through performance. In its 20th anniversary, we are proud to recognize Joe Wilder’s contributions as a charter member and a continuing presence with the orchestra.

LISTEN:

• Billy Ver Plank - Senor Blues

Often, Wilder had been a featured soloist in SJMO concerts honoring some of his former bandleaders.

LISTEN:

• Count Basie - Lil' Darlin
• Count Basie - Shiny Stockings
• Jimmie Lunceford - Uptown Blues

Jazz Appreciation Month 2011

In April, the Smithsonian kicks off its 10th annual Jazz Appreciation Month. This year’s official poster honors pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams. In anticipation, I would like to end this piece with another noteworthy Smithsonain Jazz Masterworks Orchestra performance featuring Joe Wilder:

LISTEN:

• Mary Lou Williams - Roll 'Em

To learn more about Joe Wilder, contact the National Museum of American History Archives Center. To hear more audio excerpts from his oral history interview go to the Smithsonian Jazz Oral Histories page.

Matt Lodato is an intern with Smithsonian Jazz at the National Museum of American History.

Brother Washington’s apron: A Masonic mystery (part 1 of 3)

Many of us have the Antiques Roadshow fantasy. You know the one. Some object or work of art, inherited or bought on the cheap (then relegated for years to the back of your attic or bottom of the closet) is revealed to have a connection to someone famous (wow) or worth thousands of dollars (WOW). That pencil sketch on a napkin that you found cleaning out Aunt Edna’s apartment after she died? A genuine Picasso. The pocket knife you bought at a yard sale for a dollar? Turns out it belonged to Buffalo Bill Cody. But there is a flipside to this phenomenon. Your family has a treasured relic that has passed from generation to generation, a piece of history that has become the focus of family pride, of local lore and legend. But what if the story is too good to be true?

Curators here at the National Museum of American History are regularly offered objects associated with famous celebrities or historical figures from America’s past. There is an obligation on our part to do what we can to confirm the connections to important persons before we consider acquiring such donations. From the standpoint of American history, they don’t come much bigger than George Washington and recently the Museum was offered the chance to acquire a true rarity – a Masonic apron that was said to belong to the First President. The first question –- was this fact or fiction?

Could this Masonic apron have belonged to George Washington?

It is well established that George Washington was a member of the Freemasons, a fraternal society that had reached America from Great Britain by the 1720’s. He became a member of Fredericksburg Lodge No. 4 in 1753 at the age of 20, and would serve as the master of Alexandria Lodge No. 22 in 1788. Five years later, while serving as President, he led the Masonic ceremony to lay the cornerstone of the new United States Capitol. As a Mason, he would have owned at least one apron, perhaps more. These aprons are worn at Masonic meetings, called lodges, as well as at public ceremonies and serve to identify the wearer as a member of the fraternity, a link to the leather work aprons worn by stone masons of the Middle Ages.

 
Washington depicted as a Freemason in this 1870 lithograph by Strobridge Company of Cincinnati, part of the Harry T. Peters “America on Stone” Lithography Collection

The apron itself had no documentation to support the claim, only the donor’s family traditions. But this was no mere family legend that could be shrugged off as wishful thinking. The donor was a descendant of Thomas Hammond, a veteran of the Revolution and had married Washington’s niece, Mildred. This raised a real possibility that apron could well be Washington’s own.

When Martha Washington died in 1802, a sale of family possessions was held at Mount Vernon for the beneficiaries of her husband’s will (Washington had died in 1799). Two Masonic aprons were listed in an inventory of Washington’s possessions, and records of the 1802 sale show Thomas Hammond bought one of them. The second apron was purchased by another extended family member, Burdett Ashton. Ashton’s apron would eventually come into the possession of the Alexandria-Washington Lodge No. 22, the same lodge where Washington had once served as master. This apron had been a gift to General Washington soon after the victory at Yorktown, and is well documented in Washington’s own correspondence, leaving little doubt of its authenticity.

The fate of Hammond’s apron is more contentious. The Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania claims to own it, as does the Mount Nebo Lodge No. 91 of Shepherdstown, West Virginia. But perhaps both organizations are mistaken. What if the donor’s family tradition was true? Had this piece of history escaped public notice for two centuries and, instead, passed down through generations of the Hammond family? It would take the input and efforts of curators from across the Museum to try to solve that mystery…

Editor’s Note: Stay tuned for part 2 in the coming weeks.

Tim Winkle is an associate curator with the Division of Home and Community Life at the National Museum of American History.

"Race to the Museum": moving day

Last month we asked you to vote on which historic car you’d most like to see on temporary display, and after 24,000 votes, the 1929 Miller race car and 1948 Tucker sedan proved to be your two favorites. This is the first time the National Museum of American History has asked the public to help us choose artifacts to display, and many of my colleagues have worked very hard to make the “Race to the Museum” a reality. As you voted, another group at the museum was busy planning how to turn a mouse click into a safe, 7 mile journey.

If there is a place that calls to mind the iconic last image from from Raiders of the Lost Ark of a warehouse packed with unimaginable treasures, my vote would be for the Paul E. Garber Facility. You’ll catch a glimpse of just one of the storage buildings in the video below, but I can sum up what it feels like to walk around the mountains of history with the following conversation:

“What’s under that cover?”

“Evel Knievel’s motorcycle.”

“Whoa.”

“Yep.”

While I’ve spent wonderful hours at Garber in countless “Whoa” moments, until now, I’d never been able to watch the process that brings those artifacts to the National Mall. In the case of the Race to the Museum, those artifacts aren’t tiny. You can banish any romantic notions of putting on a set of vintage driving goggles and taking the Miller out for a morning drive on the roads of suburban Washington. Banish may be too strong of a word, because that does sound like a lot of fun (at least in a daydream), but let’s say that the Smithsonian takes a rather more cautious approach: one that involves highly skilled technicians, curators, carpenters, exhibit designers, support staff, and one very large truck.

Can’t see the video above? You can find it on YouTube.

I hope you can visit the museum before the Miller and Tucker go back into storage. If you do, please take a moment while you’re enjoying the beauty and ingenuity of these iconic cars to think about the dozens of people who made it all possible.

The display has been extended through April 10, 2011!

If you’d like more information on all the Race to the Museum contestants you should read curator Roger White’s blog posts. I’ve also put up a few photos on the museum’s Flickr page.

What’s the future for our audience participation project? Well, why don’t you tell us?

Dave McOwen is the Internet Specialist for the National Museum of American History.