National Museum of American History

On April 12 the Fellows traveled to the National Museum of American History (NMAH) for a very special afternoon. As has been our good fortune for the last 20 years, Harry Rubenstein, Curator, Division of Political History, was our guide for the afternoon, this year centered around the exhibit, “American Democracy: A Great Leap of Faith”.   The exhibit traces the history of moving from rule by monarchy to self-government and the thorny issues of participation, discourse and compromise that have marked what continues to be an ongoing process. This is where the afternoon began, with Harry providing an introduction, and asking the group to take note of several objects in particular as they  explored on their own.

After viewing the exhibit, the group gathered for a discussion about the questions raised throughout: who should vote? who is a citizen? how are ideas communicated? how have our political processes evolved? what are the continuing challenges we are faced with as a nation?  Harry talked about the several objects he had asked the Fellows to note, discussing each one’s role in the democratic story of the country.

The Fellows were also treated to seeing several objects from the collection not currently on display. Harry spoke about the process of acquiring, authenticating, examining and preserving objects that are an important part of our history. In some cases, Fellows were taken on a journey of discovery as Harry talked about the kinds of questions an object can raise, how the staff researches and tries to answer those questions , and the kinds of unexpected discoveries that often occur in the process-highlighted by sharing several objects and the surprise discoveries they had yielded.

The afternoon ended on a bittersweet note, as this was the last time our group would have the privilege of having Harry work with Montgomery College Smithsonian Faculty Fellows as he is set to retire. He has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Fellowship, always giving generously of his time and knowledge and it is an understatement to say he will be missed.