American Pastimes: Arts

A wide variety of ethnic and regional traditions have shaped American popular culture. American literature, music, film, television, and athletic events continually evolve as new generations expand established boundaries. The Smithsonian's collections of objects relating to popular culture contain many of the most famous objects preserved in the Institution. Their popularity reflects the way in which popular culture often unites a large and diverse public.

American Writers

Remembering the past and assessing the present through the prism of their own lives have long been concerns of many American writers. The writers commemorated here have tended to cultivate a two-fold vision. They explore the tensions and contradictions they see in our complex societies. But they examine the world from a perspective that remains intensely personal, rooted in individual experience. The Smithsonian preserves objects that give us avenues into writers' personal lives and the evolution of their literary visions. By examining them, we recall not only their lives but also many of the issues they addressed.

Pearl Buck	Pearl Buck	F. Scott Fitzgerald
Langston Hughes		Mark Twain
Walt Whitman	Walt Whitman

Music

Musical instruments, original sheet music, and portraiture preserved in the Smithsonian remind us that American music flourishes within a wide variety of traditions drawn from our multicultural heritage. From our country's urban centers to its rural landscapes, the sounds of many musical styles enrich our lives. The exacting structures of classical music, the power and emotion of the blues, the swinging tones of the big band era, the seductive rhythms of jazz, the joys and sorrows expressed in country music, and the hard-charging beat of rock 'n' roll--all serve to unite us.

Gillespie Trumpet	Music Manuscript	Heritage: EKE
"Dizzy" Gillespie	Marian Anderson	Anderson's Fur Coat
Int'l Surface No. 1		Jitterbugs (I)

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