Legacies: Collecting America's history at the Smithsonian

by Steven & Kathleen M. Kendrick Lubar

Legacies Collecting America's History at the Smithsonian by Steven Lubar and Kathleen M. Kendrick

Genres: History, Museums, Nonfiction, Art

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Legacies" looks like a classic Smithsonian coffee table book, but it is much more. In addition to photos and stories about 250 artifacts in the National Museum of American History, there is a lot of inside information about what guides the curators in their selections and how these guidelines change as time passes. An object barely worth collecting 100 years ago might gain more value, and vice versa. The authors mention a number of objects that seemed important many years ago but that now merit just a shrug from museum-goers.

[Tee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome coffee table book I picked up. It's packed full of interesting facts and pictures. It's perfect!

[Emily Rheault]

If you want a good coffee table book on the history of the Smithsonian and how it has collected and interpreted its collections, then this is the book for you.