About the Object of History Project
The Object of History is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and George Mason University’s Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. The project was conceived of in an effort to find a low cost way for students and teacher of U.S. History to have access to the museum’s collections and the expertise of the curators. As a result the materials on the site are designed to improve students’ content knowledge of standard topics in U.S. History and to improve their ability to understand material culture objects as types of historical evidence.
A second goal of the project is to provide smaller museums and historical societies with a model for creating similar materials using their own collections and expertise. Hence, in January 2008, we will offer a downloadable package that will include templates, a database structure, and a guide to creating object lessons using the software. This free package will be available to all interested users and will be composed using open source software.
Project Management
- Roy Rosenzweig, (Principle Investigator, Senior Historian) Director of CHNM
- Judy Gradwohl, (Senior Museum Specialist) Associate Director NMAH, Office of Public Programs
- Sharon Leon, (Director) Director of Public Projects, CHNM
- Julia Sytsma Garcia, (Associate Director) Program Assistant, Office of Public Programs, NMAH
- Amy Bartow-Melia, (Museum Education Coordinator) Director of Education for Public Programs and Outreach, NMAH
- Matt MacArthur, (Museum Coordinator) Director, New Media Program, NMAH
- Elly Greene, (Education Coordinator)
Curator Interviews
- NMAH: William Lawrence Bird (Curator, Division of Politics and Reform); Lisa Kathleen Graddy (Deputy Chair and Curator, Division of Polititcs and Reform); Peter Liebhold (Chair and Curator, Division of Work and Industry), Magdalena Mieri (Director, Program in Latino History and Culture); Fath Davis Ruffins (Curator, Division of Home and Community Life); David Shayt (Associate Curator, Division of Work and Industry); Barbara Clark Smith (Curator, Division of Politics and Reform); William Yeignst (Chair and Curatory, Division of Home and Community Life).
Research and Annotations
- CHNM: Robert Colby (Research Assistant); James Halabuk (Digital History Associate); Ben Huggins (Research Assistant); Alexis Hurter (Research Assistant); Sharon Leon (Research Assistant Professor, Department of History and Art History) Allison O’Connor (Research Assistant); Michael O’Malley (Associate Professor, Department of History and Art History); Jenny Reeder (Research Assistant); Roy Rosenzweig (Mark and Barbara Fried Professor of History & New Media, Department of History and Art History); Heather Velez (Research Assistant).
Website Development
- Web Designers: Jeremy Boggs, Stephanie Hurter
- Programmers: Kristopher Kelly, Ammon Shepherd
- Video Editing: Andrew Graulich
