Riley, James Whitcomb, 1849-1916; Indiana; Authors--Indiana; 1900s
One of James Whitcomb Riley's best known poems is "Little Orphant Annie." Annie, a girl who lived with Riley's family in Greenfield, Indiana when he was growing up inspired Riley. The poem was published in this book form in 1908. In 1924...
Savings bonds; Government securities; Investments; World War, 1939-1941; Indiana
During the early 1940s, the United States issued Defense bonds and stamps to raise money to support the war effort against Germany and Japan. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 7, 1941, the bonds became war bonds after the United...
Prayer books; Shamans; Thailand; Thailand --Social life and customs; Thailand--Rites and ceremonies
This prayer book was used by a shaman of northern Thailand during wedding and funeral ceremonies. Nearly all traditional villages and nomadic mountain villages in northern Thailand have a headman who performs most of the political and social...
Islam; Islamic learning and scholarship; Muslim students; Muslims -- Customs and practices; Koran
In the past, (mostly) boys learned to recite parts of the Qu'ran, the Muslim Holy book, in Qu'ranic schools. Muslims believe that God or Allah revealed this book to the prophet Mohammed. A Qu'ran board like this one was used to teach young boys...
One of the most important Jewish religious celebrations is Passover, or Pesach. Observed during the spring, Passover is an eight day event commemorating the freedom of Jewish peoples from slavery in Egypt. It is an occasion when Jews spend time...
A new species of dinosaur has been discovered! It is a 66-million-year-old, first-of-its-kind, dragon-like dinosaur and it has been named in honor of celebrated children’s book author J.K. Rowling. The dinosaur has been named Dracorex hogwartsia,...
From his Fountain City, Indiana home, Levi Coffin and his wife Catharine helped so many slaves escape north to Canada and freedom that their home has been referred to as "Grand Central Station." The Coffins were well known in the...
Puppets; Hand puppets; Dolittle, Doctor (Fictitious character)
Dr. Dolittle was first introduced in the 1920 book The Story of Dr. Dolittle. Over the years many more books were written, and the character has been featured on the radio, on TV and in the movies. This talking hand puppet was made when the movie...
High school seniors--Columbus (Ind.); Pants; Autographs
This pair of light yellow girl's corduroys was decorate by Columbus, Indiana, high school seniors in 1964 as part of a "senior cords" tradition that thrived in the Midwest in the 1960s. The pants feature several brightly colored cartoon...
With his superhuman strength, flying ability and X-ray vision, Superman has remained a popular superhero across generations. His first appearance was in June of 1938 in DC Comics' Action Comics." In 1978 actor Christopher Reeve brought the...
Egypt -- Social life and customs -- To 332 B.C.; Egypt -- Civilization -- To 332 B.C.; Egypt -- Antiquities; Ushabti
Shabtis, also called shwabtis or ushabtis, were placed in ancient Egyptian burials from the Middle Kingdom (between about 4000 and 3500 years ago) until the Ptolemaic Period (around 2300 years ago), when the practice died out. They are small...
Teaching young children the alphabet without destroying the book can be a challenge. In the United States and England, children used a table-tennis sized paddle with the alphabet and the Lord’s Prayer written on it. To protect the paper, thin...
Multi-media artist and children’s book illustrator Jayoung Cho created these whimsical gloves as a companion to her handmade Dokabi (Korean trolls) dream quilt. She created the three dimensional quilt, full of traditional Korean and other...
