Museum Object 1

Imagine our class is tasked with creating a Museum of United States History from 1865 to the Present. Your job is to propose objects (artifacts) that should be in this museum. At the end of each unit of our course you will propose ONE object that relates to United States history during the time frame covered in that unit.

The purpose of this assignment is to give you an opportunity to prove you have learned something about United States history during the time period covered in Unit 1, but maybe in a different way than you’ve done in previous history courses.

Read through all the directions to learn how to complete and fully succeed in this assignment!

For each museum object, post a reply to the appropriate Discussion Board (started by Dr. Peacock below) with the following:

1. Identify your specific object its name and time period (year or best estimate)
2. Object one must relate to Chapters 15-18 & 20, approx. 1865-1910
3. Identify the objects connection to a key historical theme or event during the relevant time period of the unit that you learned about through our textbook AND give a brief description of that theme or event
4. Identify why you want to include this object in the museum (what does it tell others about United States history? Why is this object important to you?)
5. OPTIONAL: Provide an image of the object (or a related one) from a reputable and verifiable source and identify that source (provide the link and/or a citation).

Your object cannot be one that already has an image in your textbook – but you can use the images to help you think of potential objects.

Note: You are not being asked to give great detail or a history of the object itself. Your submissions should focus on the requested information detailed above.

Your response should be approximately 200 words with professional grammar, complete sentences, and correct spelling. It can be in paragraph form or divided into individual answers to each question.

What is an object?

• Objects come in lots of shapes and sizes (in todays world, they dont even have to be something you can physically hold think an audio recording or email). They could be singular or multiple (for example, instead of a singular letter, perhaps you want to include all letters exchanged by Ronald and Nancy Reagan before they were married). If it helps, think about a time when you visited a museum or library and what objects you saw.
• Your object should be as specific as possible for example, it would not be enough for shoe to be an object. But the shoes Jesse Owens (track and field athlete) wore at the 1936 Olympics would work (even if we dont know the exact type of shoes he wore.) Your object does not need to be explicitly named in the textbook, but use what you read to spark your mind. For example, perhaps reading about the beginnings of hip-hop sparks you to include an object related to that.
• Your objects cannot be something named in these directions or examples provided by Dr. Peacock although you can use these to help spark your mind.

Finding Objects

• Im not expecting you to search out sources beyond our textbook (or other provided course materials) or to know specifics about your objects, nor am I asking you to provide them. (For example, it is 100% ok if all you know is that Jesse Owens was a track and field athlete at an Olympics in the 1930s and you want to include his shoes as an object in our museum. Im not expecting you to find out all the details about those shoes their color, their size, who made them, how much he paid for them, etc. – nor about the history of shoe making in the United States in general)
• Students who spend too much time and words on describing the objects they choose often do not provide full answers to the required information (items 2 & 3 above). They also run the great risk of violating NSUs Student Academic Honesty Policy by either plagiarizing another source or utilizing generative AI tools.

OPTIONAL Image

• Not all objects will have easily found images, so an image is an optional piece of your response. An image of a very similar object is acceptable (example: you cant find an image of Jesse Owens shoes, but did find a reputable image of Jesse Owens at the 1936 Olympics).
• What is a reputable and verifiable source? Think a library, book, or other place/website where the image is cited. Many websites will not be verifiable for example, with a Google image search you might find images of Pinterest websites but unless they link to another website (which has a citation/is reputable) or have a citation, the image isnt reputable or verifiable. If you have the object in your possession, an image you take is reputable and verifiable.
• A full citation is not needed for the image; but provide at least a link to the image (if found online) or as many details as possible (examples: what book and page number is it from; did you take the picture? etc.)

[This assignment is also to get you thinking about the many types of sources (objects) historians use to understand the past; how anything and everything has a history; how material things have important roles in peoples lives and ways of living; how we all can learn about or connect to the past in many different ways; and how all of us have different and valid interests.]