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knowledge of the object, enhances connoisseurship, and democratizes collection activities.
As much as one purpose of American material culture studies is the encyclopedic survey
of American things, it is not yet possible within the confines of one volume to account for,
describe, and discuss the full wealth of material culture created, used, and altered by various
groups in the American experience. What this volume attempts to provide, however, is a map
of American material culture and its study. Maps outline and describe, providing instruction
and necessary information for further knowledge. We conceptualized entries in three cate-
gories: The first category includes the scholarly disciplines and fields that emphasize or incor-
porate material culture as subjects or evidence, and the documentary evidence that scholars
use to study material life. The second category contains entries defining and discussing var-
ious aspects of human experience within the boundaries of what is now the United States.
The last category contains entries on classes, forms, and types of American material culture—
the stuff itself. The volume reflects the field’s historic emphasis on everyday life and domestic
material culture but also includes entries that push beyond that emphasis.
The bibliography offers listings of journals, the seminal works of American material
culture studies theory and methodology, useful research tools, selected studies on specific
objects, and a general survey of works, categorized by the larger scholarly ap proaches to the
field. We have attempted to include essays published in journals that remain unindexed in
major journal databases now available on the World Wide Web.
Acknowledgments
We are indebted to many. Miriam Forman-Brunell initiated this project and remains a source
of friendship and wise advice. Susan Garfinkel not only wrote important entries but gener-
ously offered much needed advice at all the right times. With her expertise as editor of Win-
terthur Portfolio, Lisa Lock suggested strategies and authors that were always perfect and
welcome. Advisory board members Simon Bronner, Miriam Forman-Brunell, Susan Garfinkel,
Beverly Gordon, Karal Ann Marling, and Charles McGovern contributed by writing entries
or giving advice and by the example of their excellent work in the field. Early in the process
editor James Ciment provided wise and timely counsel. At ABC-CLIO, Alex Mikaberidze,
Craig Hunt, Cami Cacciatore, and Ellen Rasmussen were patient, good-humored, and always
quick with replies and welcome guidance.
The scope of this project has changed greatly from our initial conception. We thank all the
contributors who not only wrote engaging and informative entries but who, in their initial
responses to our requests and calls, reminded us of what we had not yet or fully considered.
The volume is much the better for all the discussions we have had with contributors. It is a
bit poorer for the entries that went unwritten either for the lack of scholarship devoted to a
certain subject or the unavailability of the appropriate scholar or expert.
We found in the course of our work that many individuals have widely varying ideas of
what material culture means and what its study requires. Though one of the early goals of
American material culture studies was to create a systematic approach to the study of all mate-
rial things, the field remains divided among the imperatives of various disciplines and
between university-affiliated scholars and museum professionals. We hope, however, that
the work at hand helps to further the dialogue about the field, its shape, and its promise. We
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M AT E R I A L C U LT U R E I N A M E R I C A
Introduction
