Past Threads
Last week, the Office of Visitor Services and Volunteer Management (OVS) hosted our June Smithsonian Volunteer Enrichment program, “Past Threads: Researching the Rubin Brothers Waste Company Collection.”
During the program, Frank Blazich Jr., curator of Military History at the National Museum of American History, explained how, beginning in November 2021, military curators in the Division of Political and Military History at NMAH began to evaluate a massive collection of discarded uniforms acquired in the 1970s. The curators examined the clothing piece by piece looking for names and marks that enabled them to recover lost identities and stories.
If you were unable to join us for the live program (or want to watch it again), the recording is now available! As a reminder, we ask that you do not share our recordings outside of the Smithsonian as a courtesy to our presenters.
Click the link below to access the program.
Program Recording:
To learn more about the NMAH’s Division of Political and Military History, you can visit their website here: https://americanhistory.si.edu/about/departments/political-and-military-history
Interested in the resources/stories Frank mentioned in his talk? Links to some of them are below:
- WWII Online Army Enlistment Resource Page: https://www.wwii-enlistment.com/
- James K Redding’s Uniform in the Price of Freedom Gallery: https://americanhistory.si.edu/blog/battle-of-hue-1
- NMAH’s Price of Freedom Gallery: https://americanhistory.si.edu/exhibitions/price-of-freedom
(All photos courtesy Frank Blazich Jr.)
Posted: 21 June 2023