Today in Smithsonian History: January 26, 1957

“A New England kitchen” Photograph of drawing by H. W. Pierce

January 26, 1957 More than 800 people attend the opening of the Hall of Everyday Life in Early America, officiated by Secretary Leonard Carmichael. It is the first hall in the National Museum of Natural History to be devoted to cultural history, and includes an entire 17th-century Massachusetts Bay Colony house, three 18th-century rooms, an early 19th-century bedroom and a New England schoolroom equipped with original desks and benches.

Artifacts in the Hall of Everyday Life exhibition included tables and chairs from the pre-industrial era. (Photo by David Harrell)

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