Franz Jantzen: Artist, Archivist, Washington, DC.
In 1955 Emmett Till, a 14-year old African-American, was lynched in Money, Mississippi for allegedly whistling at a white woman. This River Site marker is the second of four markers placed at the site where his body was pulled out of the Tallahatchie River. The first was stolen, this one was riddled with bullet holes, and the third was similarly shot up, capturing media attention in 2019 when frat boys posed with rifles in front of it. When a fourth bullet-proof marker was installed, it became the focal point of a white supremacist rally.
This sign was put on display at Smithsonian’s Museum of American History in front of “The Abstract Flag,” meant to evoke the Star-Spangled Banner which had previously hung there. In 2026, the marker is no longer on view.
Defaced Emmett Till Historic Marker, National Museum of American History, not currently on view.
Wayson R. Jones, Artist, Washington, DC.
Whenever I'm in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, I pay a visit to Thornton Dial's The Beginning of Life in the Yellow Jungle (2003). I urge you to do likewise and consider the irrelevance of ideas like "outsider" and "painting versus sculpture."
Thornton Dial, Sr., The Beginning of Life in the Yellow Jungle, 2003, plastic soda bottles, doll, clothing, bedding, wire, found metal, rubber glove, turtle shell, artificial flowers, Splash Zone compound, enamel, and spray paint on canvas on wood, 75 x 112 x 13 inches, Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Teresa Oaxaca, Painter & Draftsman, Arlington, VA.
I return to Whistler’s Peacock Room whenever I need to remember that art can become an environment rather than simply an object. The luminous gold peacocks, deep blue-green walls, and exquisite ceramics create a space where painting, architecture, and craftsmanship exist in perfect harmony. It is one of the rare places where I lose track of time. Every artist and every lover of beauty should experience this room at least once.
James McNeill Whistler, The Peacock Room, 1923, porcelain collection, National Museum of Asian Art (Freer Gallery of Art).
Andy Yoder, Artist, Educator, Washington, DC.
For me, no other object in the Smithsonian can equal the emotional and historic power of the top hat Lincoln wore to Ford’s Theater the night of his assassination. It feels incredibly personal, as if he just set it down, and reminds me that the events of that evening are relatively recent. The tragedy of a president who suffered and died for his determination to hold the country together is deepened by comparison to the divisive efforts of the current administration. However, as a reminder of the great conflict our country survived, this relic also provides hope for the future.
Abraham Lincoln's Top Hat, National Museum of American History.