The museums Storage Facility near washington, d. C. He showed us several artifacts from the museums collection. Right now, we are in the history ofts of the africanAmerican History and culture. This is the heart of the museum in essence because what is behind me and what we will see today are many of the objects that are going to be the sole soul of the museum. This will be an opportunity to part to preview some of the things people will see when the doors open. Things that is crucially important as you will see is that so much of the museums time and resources are theiron caring for collections. We have amazing experts who know how to preserve and make sure this material will be with us for generations. We have opened this storage unit and coming to this wonderful piece of headgear. This is a boxing headgear that was worn by mohamed ali. As we know, in many ways, he started his career as a boxer but he then transformed himself death aulture of cultural and political leader. We all know the story of his gold medal in rome in 1960 and his heavyweight championship. But he became a symbol of unrest in america when he began to claim both his blackness and his desire to campaign against the war in vietnam. This piece of equipment was crucial to his career and for us to have this allows us to interpret mohammed ali from many different lenses. Is from the fifth straight gymnasium in miami where he trained early in his career. One of the things that is so important is to realize how much goes on behind the scenes in making a museum work. In this case, because in essence we had to start from scratch, not only did we have to build the collection, find the material, and then build a system to protect it and to track it and then the systems that would allow us to exhibit it. It was a long and complicated process that takes many years to complete. What happens when you try to build a museum is the notion of getting these collections. One of the challenges is the variety of ways it you do this. Early in my career, it was pretty easy. People felt the desire to give to the museum. As times changed, these things became a commodity. You had Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe so people suddenly solve these as a way to make money. What we have is a variety of ways to build a collection. We still have people who are great donors that we court and talk to about donating material to the smithsonian. Transit collecting. Where people call and say they have something cool. Sometimes it is cool and sometimes it is a copy. We have to be careful. You create a museum you are so embraced that 30 or 40 years later, you have material you do not need. Were trying to be very careful what we collect. You also at times though out to auction or purchase things that are really rare. We try to limit that. And to only do that when there to get. Things like civil war material or slavery material. Sometimes it is hard to get fine art. We try to go out and judiciously a choir through auctions and purchase. But the goal is to have a variety of mechanisms that allow us to build this collection. One of the joys in this process is realizing just what is out there. There are many things that you want and hope to find that you are convinced he will never find them. What right here, we are looking at two artifacts that i was convinced did not exist. That are materials related to Harriet Tubman, the great abolitionist and underground railroad conductor. What you are looking at here is a shawl that was given to Harriet Tubman i Queen Victoria of england as a way to honor her resiliency and the work that she has done in terms of being a champion of freedom. What i love is that not only did we get this from a collector, but he gave us this gospel handle. This is a gospel handle that Harriet Tubman bones. What is powerful is that if you remember, when Harriet Altman would go south off into a alert the slate that it was time to go, she would sing various hens hymns. She could not read but the fact that she carried it with her for a large part of her life is a moving and powerful piece. It seems to me that this museum theto tell what was one of most painful stories in america which is the story of enslavement. There are few things as powerful as a shackle. These are the kinds of shackles that were used during the period of enslavement. Thatpeople forget is slavery is also about control. And violence. And trying to coerce people to do unpaid labor. What i think we want to do is to be able to interpret slavery both as a system that helped the country economically and as a system that was shaped by the people who lived it that also recognizing that the enslavement of people continues to shape the ways americans identify and the way they live to this day. Here is a really special artifact, much like the Harriet Tubman terrio that we could not believe. Thinks a bible that we was owned by nat turner. Nat turner was an enslaved african who led a revolt in 1831. He led what was considered the largest slave revolt. And when nat turner was eventually captured, he had a sword and this bible. And the fact that this was passed on in the family and eventually donated to us is a very powerful artifact that allows us to tell a story that is often left out which is the story of rebellion and a desire for freedom at all cost. One of the things that is really interesting about a museum is that on the one hand, you tell these grand stories it on the other hand, what you want to do is personalize them. Is a simple document, a piece of paper that is hard to read. What what it is is a bill of sale for a young woman named polly who is a 16yearold woman who was being sold from one person to another in the 19th century. What i think is so powerful about this is to recognize that on the one hand, this is a legal document. On the other hand, this is the story of a people. The story of a womans life. For us, to be able to personalize slavery through things like this means that we are going to be able to help the public not just understand that care. But care. This is one of the prized objects that we have. The story of africanamericans in the American Revolution is often rarely told and this is a powder horn that was carved by an enslaved african named prince simbo. And he lived in connecticut and american in the revolution from 1778 until about 1782. What is powerful about this is that first of all he carved it and so we know a lot of we dealt a lot about it. On the other side is us them ball. Mouthis a dove and in the of the dove is the word liberty. The notion of an enslaved african being the person that defined liberty in america is an important piece for us. This is going to be one of those rare things that people will be surprised to see. In keeping with this theme of military experience, one of the things we know is that africanamericans from the revolutionary war throughout afghanistan used the military as a way to prove their worth and prove they are worthy of citizenship. Are two ofere civil war soldiers. As you may know, by 1863, thousands of africanamericans became soldiers in the union army and so you will be able to had these have images taken to document and symbolize the pride of making the transformation of being enslaved to free or being discriminated against to being able to fight for freedom. One of the interesting things are the things that you find. Ofhave an amber type sergeant tips. Theyis powerful is that were also in formal id badges made during the civil war and this is his little badge. It talks about his name. And the fact that we have his image, the bad it allows us to personalize these stories. Because the story of the africanamerican experience is a broader story, it is a story about us all, one of the joys is artifacts like this. This is a trunk that was carried by an officer of the 55th massachusetts. Butments were segregated the officers tended to be white. This trunk was owned by George Garrison who was the son of the abolitionist William Lloyd garrison. He served as an officer in the 55th massachusetts which was the companion unit to the more famous 54th. Being able to make sure that we tell the full richness of the story from a variety of perspectives this trunk allows us to do just that. Not only is it a historically significant trunk but it is also to use a scholarly term, pretty cool. To get a sense of army life. What you put in here, you in essence put all of who you are including your belongings and your clothing. This is a great case that will allow us to help people really understand a lot about what life was like during the civil war air up. This story of the africanamerican experience is both a story of resiliency and achievement but it is also a story of struggle. One of the hard parts of exploring this history is that often the people who were at the worst, tended to be other americans which makes it hard to interpret this because americans are not used to being the bad guys. Is of the things that powerful is objects like this that convey the strong antiblack sentiment. This is a clue clucks clan kkk manner. Really began after the civil war. It goes underground. New as ait bursts result of the film the birth of the nation. Not ae clan becomes southern phenomena but a National Phenomenon in the 1920s and 1930s. This kind of banner was used to celebrate their investment and their participation in the kkk. These are the kinds of things that we have to use to tell the painful story as well. And now, i think that one of the things that is really interesting to me is to recognize that so much of what shapes a communitys work. And so we won it to make sure that we found things that would give people an understanding of the way lack america worked. And one of the most important stories, often a story that is not clearly understood, is the story of the Pullman Porters. This is a wonderful hat that in some ways we have come to a point where Pullman Porters were seen in a stereo typical way as people who only served. As people who worked on the railroad to make the travel of the elite White Community comfortable. But the Pullman Porters played a more important role. The were in some Ways Community of heart of the Africanamerican Community. They began to bring to different regions of the country and understanding of what was going on in the south and in california and they began and they became one of the earliest black unions. In there very successful early 20th century in unionizing and establishing a pattern that many africanamerican entities and buildings and businesses would follow in the future. For us, the Pullman Porter he is both a story of work, a story of the limits of what people were able to do because they were africanamerican, but it is also a story of how people transcended the limits of their job and created a way to help the entire community. And then, in some ways, the whole notion of struggling against racism, battling segregation is really at the heart of trying to understand this story. These two artifacts we are about to look at speak volumes about segregation. Have what hand, we was something that was ubiquitous throughout the 20th century, which were colored drinking fountains. Insured thatere the separation of the races were enforced. As we know, that segregation was the law of the land throughout part of the 19th century and all of the 20th century and so colored theaters, colored hotels, colored drinking fountains were part of the way america lived. What is so fascinating is that they are hard to find now. But what really moves me in addition to the colored drinking fountain is looking at the depths one went to segregate america. This was a Charity Hospital in independence, louisiana. What i love about this is that this tells you clearly that race matters. When you look at the schedule of actual hospital services. On monday, the colored could go to the gynecologist. Tuesday, that it was whites that could go for pediatrics or internal medicine. And on wednesday, whites went to their gynecologist or had dental services. So the notion that we were so rigidly segregated that hours of the day were determined based on the color of your skin. I think this is one of the most powerful objects we have collected. This was an object that was not 100 years old. This is an object that was really used from the mid1950s until medicare came in which basically then is the segregated many of the hospital facilities. What we want people to realize is that segregation, while it has long roots, was not that long ago. One of the things we want to celebrate is that one of the most interesting things i think about American History is the struggle to make america live up to its ideals. The notion of people of all es coming together to say we want to make america a different place and one of the things we have collected is from a woman named Joan Mulholland who was an early worker. During her time in the south, one of the things she did was collect these buttons and badges that speak volumes of the 1960s. You have buttons that say freedom now from the congress of racial inequality. Or buttons that say support citizens or support the students of nonviolating committee. This is thatbout this really tells you about the kind of optimism and hope. There are a lot of buttons with black and white hands together. The notion that we would be able to transcend the kind of discrimination that existed at also, if you look carefully, there is a button that is upside down in this coat. It is a white button that says never. This button was the sort of button that many ardent segregationist carried to make sure that estimate make clear that never would integration never would blacks dominate white. This is an important piece. In addition to being part of us whathe brought look like shards of glass. Our materials are that were collected at the funeral of the four black girls who were killed in september of 1963 with the Birmingham Church bombings. Joan was there and she collected glassshards from stained windows from the Baptist Church and industry there was a shotgun shell. In many ways, these shards speak about broken lives and they speak volumes about the use of violence to control and to battle racial integration. Some ways, something as simple as this speaks volumes to our audience. Part ofence is such a the way of understanding this, here is a button, and this is a button that is a celebration of the life of Martin Luther king. These buttons were produced right after king was assassinated in april of 1968. And so, in some ways, this that people the way could symbolize their commitment to racial change and as a way to remember the martyred life of Martin Luther king. And in many ways, the challenge of the 1960s is really the transformation of america and what is the vision of that transformation. Is a division of integrated world . Is it a vision of nonviolent citizens . Or were there alternative visions . One of the most important visions of the 1960s and early 1970s with the black panthers. The black panthers were a group that started in california and they called themselves the black Panther Party for selfdefense. A were created in response to perceived Police Violence and intimidation. One of the things that is wonderful is that this poster became an iconic poster that was in the rooms of myriads of high school and colleges dunes during the 1960s and early 1970s. This is huey p new, the leader of the black Panther Party. What is powerful about this is that this poster talks a lot was inhere black america 19681969. On the one hand there is a homage to africa. An african zebra rug and african materials. You have the kind of chair, aching chair. It you also have a rifle and the pike as a way to say that violence will be met with violence. Panther party, their notion was that they will do what needs to be done in order to force america to change. To be able to have this widget wonderful quotation that really does speak about the black Panther Partys commitment to their community, their desire notemand that police violently intimidate the Africanamerican Community, and the notion of the black panther being an animal that is strong and aggressive and able to defend itself. A really sent the message for many people that a nonviolent way of change was not enough to change america. When i came back to the smithsonian in 2005, shortly thereafter, katrina hit new orleans. One of the things that i as new orleansat was devastated, often the Africanamerican Community bore the brunt of much of that devastation. One of the things that i realized that was very important to us was to document that. As we thought about the things that would document that, i kept seeing the picture of people being rescued. The helicopters, the coast guard going down and having people jump in to these baskets. I had a colleague from the museum of American History who was going down. I asked him to pick up a basket for us. And so this basket was one of our earliest acquisitions. It is a basket that was actually used to rescue people during katrina. What you are seeing in many ways is a snapshot of the more than 15,000 objects this museum has collected. And that these objects really are at the heart of what the smithsonian is. Even if you have the most amazing technologies possible, it really is the artifacts that brings the public to the smithsonian. For us, the fact that we were able to find these wonderful materials give us the greatest of confidence to say that we can craft a museum that on the one hand will tell great stories, have wonderful artifacts and be in a great building, but more importantly we will be able to create an institution that will allow the public to engage candidly over the issue that has divided us more than anything else, which is rais