Curio Cabinet

Here's a sneak peek to delight any history buff. The Smithsonian has opened a new exhibit focusing on the history of Latin Americans in the U.S., which serves as a preview of things to come. Back in 2020, Congress approved the creation of the National Museum of the American Latino, but it will take about a decade for it to be built. So, for now, the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is home to the new exhibit, titled ¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States, which opened on June 18. One of the topics tackled by the exhibit is the history of immigration, but ¡Presente! emphasizes that there is no singular Latino experience, and that the varied histories of Latin American peoples are inherently intertwined with the history of the U.S.
 
Among other things, the exhibit seeks to teach guests about the history of the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. took much of northern Mexico as its own. ¡Presente! also features the stories of various cultural and political figures that shaped the U.S., like the Mexican-American union leader César Chávez and Cuban American salsa star Celia Cruz. The exhibit also takes a deep dive centuries into the past, following the history of indigenous cultures, European colonization, slavery in the Americas, and the impact of Afro Latinos on Black history. According to the gallery’s curator Ranald Woodaman, designing the exhibit to adequately cover the diverse array of topics was a challenge. In a statement, he explained, “You have this massive range of different experiences and identities and agendas; and we’re trying to stitch these all together and graft them into this history.” The exhibit will last for two and a half years while the Smithsonian searches for a suitable site near the National Mall in Washington D.C. to serve as the permanent home of the National Museum of the American Latino. Making history takes time!

 
[Image description: An aerial photo of the National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.] Credit & copyright: Carol M. Highsmith, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

Before Hamilton, there was 1776. This Fourth of July, consider a viewing of the Tony-Award-winning musical that told the story of America’s founding on Broadway for the first time. Originally the brainchild of songwriter Sherman Edwards, the musical focuses on the days leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence through the perspective of the musical’s main protagonist, John Adams. Later on, with the involvement of producer Stuart Ostrow and writer Peter Stone, the show would become a first-of-its-kind production featuring a portrayal of the Founding Fathers as goofy, raucous, and even a little bit raunchy. This humanizing approach to the story of American Revolution helped popularize the musical when it debuted in 1969. However, as many historians have pointed out, 1776 took quite a few creative liberties.
 
For one thing, 1776 portrays many of the characters, like Richard Henry Lee of Virginia, as much more comedic and buffoonish than they really were. Thomas Jefferson’s wife, Martha, one of just two female characters in 1776, never really came to visit her husband as he wrote the Declaration, as she does in the musical. At one point in 1776, almost the entire Southern delegation stages a walkout over anti-slavery language in the Declartion. The walkout never really happened, though the matter of slavery was a contentious issue that kept Congress from unanimously voting for independence, and the scene acts to highlight the very real sentiments held by those delegates.
 
The show is also unapologetically political in other ways; the song Cool, Cool Considerate Men is heavily critical of conservative politicians, and Molasses to Rum is sung by Edward Rutledge of South Carolina to point out the hypocrisy of Northerners who couldn’t admit that they, too, benefited from slavery. Cool, Cool Considerate Men so offended the sensibilities of President Richard Nixon that when the cast was invited to perform at the White House, they were asked to leave out that number (they refused). The song was also omitted from the Warner Bros. film version of the musical under the orders of Jack Warner, who went so far as to attempt to destroy all film negatives of the scene. The scene does still survive in some versions of the film, and continues to be performed in stage productions. Even the theater can stage a rebellion!

 
[Image description: President Richard Nixon posing with the cast of 1776 at the White house in 1971.] Credit & copyright: White House Photo Office, Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain

It inspired Abraham Lincoln’s most famous speech, countless documentaries, and even quite a few ghost stories. The Battle of Gettysburg, which ended on this day in 1863, is one of the most famous battles in American history and by far the bloodiest of the American Civil War with more than 50,000 estimated casualties. It was also a military campaign that didn’t go the way anyone was expecting it to. In fact, the Battle of Gettysburg became the war’s crucial turning point, unforeseen by both the Union and the Confederacy.
 
On May 6, 1863, Confederate General Robert E. Lee won his greatest military victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. Although Lee’s forces had been badly outnumbered, he triumphed thanks to his sharp tactical skills, leading many to believe that the Confederacy would win the war. In high spirits, Lee decided to lead his army northward into Pennsylvania to launch an invasion in Union territory, north of the Mason-Dixon line. Lee believed that a successful invasion of the North would cause panic in cities like New York, demoralize the Union, and pave the way for the Confederacy to take control of Washington D.C., bringing the war to a quick end. Meanwhile, Union Major General Joseph Hooker was relieved of his command after his defeat at Chancellorsville, and Major General George Gordon Meade was placed in charge of around 90,000 Union troops. Under Meade’s leadership, they began moving to block Lee’s route to Washington, drawing very close to Lee’s troops in the process. Though both sides knew that the other could be nearby, they had no idea just how close they were as they both neared the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The situation was a powder keg.
 
On the morning of July 1st, Confederate Major General Henry Heth disobeyed orders from Lee and led a division into Gettysburg on a supply run. To his surprise, he ended up bumping right into a group of Union cavalry, and a skirmish broke out immediately. If not for Heth’s blunder, the Battle of Gettysburg might never have taken place, or might have ended differently. When later confronted about his ill-advised trip into town, Heth claimed that he and his troops desperately needed shoes, and he had no choice but to disobey Lee in order to get them. In any case, the relatively small fight took a grave turn when Union reinforcements under the command of Major General John F. Reynolds arrived in town. Reynolds was killed in the fighting, and both sides began calling for more reinforcements. Soon, tens of thousands of troops had taken to the battlefield. By nightfall, the Confederates appeared victorious. Outnumbered Union troops withdrew to an area south of town to wait for daybreak.
 
The Confederacy gained more ground on the battle’s second day by attempting to encircle Union troops who were defending hills and ridges south of Gettysburg. However, despite heavy losses, the Union successfully defended most of their positions, including a hill called Culp’s Hill and a ridge called Cemetery Ridge. These positions gave them advantageous high ground, with Culp’s Hill functioning as the Union’s right defensive flank. On the morning of July 3, Lee was determined to drive the Union from their high ground. This culminated in what became known as Pickett’s charge. Under orders from Lieutenant General James Longstreet, Lee’s second-in-command, around 12,5000 Confederate troops charged up the center of Cemetery Ridge, attempting to take it from the Union through sheer force. About half of them were under the command of Brigadier General George Pickett. Though one Confederate brigade did make it to the top of the ridge, Lee’s hopes of a successful, all-out assault were quickly dashed. The charge was a disaster for the Confederacy. From their position atop the ridge, Union troops picked off a critical number of Confederates. Having lost around 60 percent of his men, Lee was forced to retreat from Gettysburg, through Maryland, and then back to Virginia with wagons full of gravely injured soldiers. In fact, the ambulance wagon train stretched for around 15 to 20 miles.
 
Although the Civil War continued for almost two more years, the Battle of Gettysburg gave the Union a much-needed morale boost and ended the Confederacy’s long-held plan to invade the North. Just think, the U.S. might look very different today if General Heth hadn’t been so desperate for new shoes.

 
[Image description: Monument to Battery B, a stone monument and two cannons near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania] Credit & copyright: indiesilver, Pixabay

It's Flashback Friday, and almost the 4th of July! Enjoy these curios in honor of the holiday. 
Hands off that document! If you’ve ever considered stealing the Declaration of Independence, like in the movie National Treasure... don't. It isn't nearly as easy as Nicolas Cage made it look. Displayed at the U.S. National Archives in D.C., the document is one of the most important in the history of democracy, alongside the Magna Carta. But believe it or not, nobody considered preserving the document until the mid 1900s. Before then, it was left in the sunlight, rolled up, and in 1823 had water spilled on it. Today it’s one of the most secured documents in the world. To start with, its case is framed with titanium, filled with inert argon gas, and behind a thick pane of bulletproof glass. It is also protected by a UV-light filter and monitored using a camera system developed for the Hubble Space Telescope. The cameras have the ability to detect very slight ink-fading, along with changes in light or temperature. And just in case those systems malfunction, it is surrounded by armed guards during public hours. At night, the case is lowered 22 feet down into a secure vault. So it’s no surprise that nobody has ever tried to steal it except for Nicolas Cage.
 
[Image description: A desk in Independence Hall in Philadelphia, featuring hand-written documents and a feather quill.] Credit & copyright: RGY23, Pixabay