Last week I stumbled across A History of New York in 50 Objects. Can I really call it stumbling if I read it on The New York Times website? Probably not.
Inspired by the BBC‘s A History of the World in 100 Objects (in partnership with the British Museum) The New York Times asked historians and museum curators to identify 50 objects that could embody the narrative of New York.
Beginning with a Mastodon Tusk (about 11,000 B.C.) and ending with a Meng Political Sign (2012), the list includes the Flushing Remonstrance (1657), a Lake Erie Keg (1825), the Bagel (early 1900s) and ‘FORD TO CITY: DROP DEAD’ Headline (1975), just to name a few. To check out all 50 objects, click here.
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- Mastodon Tusk, About 11,000 B.C. (Photo: NYT)
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- The Flushing Remonstrance, 1657 (Photo: NYT)
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- Lake Erie Keg, 1825 (Photo: NYT)
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- The Bagel, Early 1900s (Photo: NYT)
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- ‘FORD TO CITY DROP DEAD’, 1975 (Photo: NYT)
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- Meng Political Sign, 2012 (Photo: NYT)
The history project doesn’t stop there. The New York Times went on to say “…ours “can only be a history” and “not the history.” And because it is a people’s history, we are inviting participation.” They recognize this is not the end all, be all history of New York and who would be better to curate that history than New Yorkers themselves (past & present). So far, the article has generated over 600 comments.
A participation win? I think so.
Given the opportunity to do something similar in Ohio, what object(s) would you curate to tell the story of the Buckeye State?
Just from the Ohio Historical Society’s collections alone, I can think of several pretty iconic things that I’d suggest for the this list:
1. The Adena pipe
2. Conway the Mastodon
3. The flag of the Black Brigade of Cincinnati (or any one of the over 400 other Civil War battle flags in the Adjutant General’s collection)
4. Wampum belt from the Treaty of Greeneville
5. National Guard Rifle from Kent State, May 4th, 1970
6. Buttons, the last known wild passenger pigeon
7. Etch-A-Sketch made by Ohio Art
8. Seibert Underground Railroad collection
9. The set of effigy pipes found in the Tremper mounds
10. 1802 Ohio Constitution
(I tried to come up with just one, but ended up much more, so I decided to stop at 10…)
Every collecting organization in Ohio has at least one object that should be considered for a top-100 list and/or best represents the part of Ohio’s story that they are telling… I’d be interested to know what other folks have, or have seen, that they think should go on the list!
-jc
Posted by jcrabill77 | September 7, 2012, 1:59 pmThis is a great start. The museum at Fort Meigs has a piece of the Logan Elm. That should certainly be included.
Posted by Lechuga Mostaza | September 7, 2012, 3:42 pmGreat article, Jamie! And what a list, JCrabill! I don’t even know where I would start — Ohio has such a rich history and 1350+ collecting institutions that, like JCrabill said, I’m sure have at least one object each that should be on this list. I guess if I had to pick just one other than those listed above, (and being a loyal Buckeye through and through) I would have to say Jesse Owens’ 1936 Gold Medal.
Posted by Johnna McEntee | September 7, 2012, 2:49 pm