Many Voices, One Nation: National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.
The National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., is home to many artifacts and items connected to the vast history of the United States. These items tell various stories involving different disciplines of history from military, popular culture, and societal. One exhibit, Many Voices, One Nation, falls under the latter two, telling the stories of the long history of immigration in the United States.
Physical Site
Argument
When visitors walk into the exhibit, they are greeted by the title with some information about it. It states:
The people of North America came from many cultures and spoke different languages long before the founding of the United States, even before European contact. In creating the new nation, early leaders envisioned a country that promised opportunity and freedom—but only for some. As the population grew, the people who lived in the United States found ways to negotiate, or work out, what it meant to be American. That negotiation continues. This exhibition explores how the many voices of people in America have shaped our nation.1
The argument the exhibit is trying to convey is that the United States is a country of diversity and the contributions that different “voices” have made throughout its history. The exhibit does well in communicating that argument with the items relating to other cultures in the country and spanning from the earliest days to today.
Audience
The audience for the exhibit is tourists in Washington, D.C. Being a part of the Smithsonian Institution, the exhibit is free for anyone to see, making it relatively accessible for tourists in the area. Being a short walk from the Metro also gives residents and tourists access. The museums are also favorite spots for field trips for K-12 schools, giving young students access to the exhibit. Other audiences include anyone interested in immigration history in the United States, whether a researcher or the average citizen.
Content
The exhibit contains several items that relate to the argument it is trying to make. The items are divided into different categories that all tell an overarching history of the United States. These categories include religious groups (specifically Catholicism and Judaism), education, sports, and achievements. The items range from statues and different objects to painted items such as the Painted Elk Hide from between 1693 and 1710. There is not one item or items that weigh more heavily than the others. The exhibit shows the importance of all the items equally.
Layout
When visitors first walk into the exhibit, they see the earliest items in history conveyed. However, the traffic flow changes once they turn the corner, giving visitors different options to view the items. It also makes viewing the exhibit easier, especially on busier days, ensuring more traffic flows freely rather than a single flow.
Interactivity
The exhibit contains some forms of interactivity with metal booklets showing topics related to the items presented behind them and touch screens with more information.
Curators, Interpreters, and Docents
There are employees stationed at the exhibit to give more information. However, they are regulated to the front of the exhibit at a desk rather than inside, and when I viewed the exhibit, there were few visitors for them to interact with. The only employees present inside the exhibit consist of security guards.
What I Would Change
Some things would make the exhibit more effective. For one, I would add more interactivity for visitors. Most of the exhibit consists of visitors viewing items and reading the information provided. Adding more ways for visitors to interact would give the items and history more meaning. I would also add a way for visitors to contribute. At the Civil Rights Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, there is a section at the end for visitors to add their names and thoughts about the museum and the country’s civil rights history. The museum provided a touch screen to input information, and once that was entered, it showed up on a screen that covered one wall of the room. Adding an element similar to that in the Many Voices, One Nation exhibit would allow visitors to provide their thoughts or even their stories, which can open up a conversation in that history.
The only other thing I would change is more employee interaction. However, since I visited on a slower day, there was less interaction compared to the interactions employees give on busier days.
Digital Site: https://wayback.archive-it.org/3340/20230921075831/https://americanhistory.si.edu/many-voices-exhibition
Unfortunately, the National Museum of American History is changing its website layout, including the separate websites for the exhibits. However, the museum did archive most of its previous site pages using the Wayback Archive, making it accessible to users.
Argument
The website’s argument is the same as the physical site’s, conveying that the United States is a country of diversity and the contributions that different “voices” have made throughout history.
Audience
While the physical site focuses on tourists, the website is primarily for people who need help to make it to Washington, D.C., to see the items. There is also more of a focus for researchers than the physical site, giving more reliable access than a physical site would provide, especially to researchers who cannot visit.
Layout
The website’s layout has a main page giving users some introductory information about the exhibit. It is then divided into sections spanning the history of immigration in the United States with subsections within those sections. It is more free-flowing than the physical site, as users can access whichever section they want to read. An “About” section also gives more information about the exhibit and the donors who contributed.
Content
The information provided in the sections and their subsections is similar to the physical site’s, with information about the different periods, the topics during those periods, and the items included in the exhibit.
Interactivity
There are some interactive elements on the website. Pictures of the items are provided. However, there is no ability to view the record now, and some pictures still need to be included in the website archiving. One of the sections consists of a short video explaining the period, while the other sections only have a short paragraph.
Site’s Creators
Unfortunately, there is no way for users to contact the site’s creators other than getting the museum. There are two different ways for people to contact the museum: email and by phone. It also provides an FAQ page. The contact information can be found at https://americanhistory.si.edu/about/contact. There is also a way to contact the museum’s web team with any questions about the changes happening to the website which can be accessed at https://americanhistory.si.edu/nmah-web-team/contact.
What I Would Change
There are some changes I would make to make the website more effective for users. Just like with the physical site, I would include more interactive elements. This would consist of a way for people to share their thoughts or contribute their stories about immigration. Like the physical site, this would open up a conversation about immigration history in the United States. I would also provide a way for users to contact the creators. By doing some research, I found that the exhibit was produced by Haley Sharpe Design, and some information about their role is provided here. However, I needed help finding out who was responsible for creating the exhibit in the museum. Providing that information would allow users to converse and learn more about different items and elements of the exhibit with the creator/creators. Nonetheless, this is only an archived website. All of these elements might be addressed in the new website that is under construction. Returning to that site once it is completed and comparing it to the original site would be interesting.
- Many Voices, One Nation. Exhibit. National Museum of American History. ↩︎