National History Day 2024-2025

For written information you’ve viewed in person at the museum:

Format of information (wall text, object label, brochure), Gallery Name, Exhibition Title, National Postal Museum, Washington, District of Columbia.

Example: Wall Text, Behind the Badge, National Postal Museum, Washington, District of Columbia.

For written information you’ve viewed on the museum’s website:

Author’s last name, author’s first name (add comma, and second author if applicable). “Title of the Page.” Name of the webpage. Date created (if available). URL.

Example: Boyd, Deanna, and Kendra Chen. “The History and Experience of African Americans in America's Postal Service.” The History and Experience of African Americans in America's Postal Service | National Postal Museum, https://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/research-articles/the-history-and-experience-of-african-americans-in-america’s-postal-service.

For an object in our collection that you’ve viewed in person at the museum:

Artist or creator last name, first name (if known: if unknown write “Unknown”). Title or name of object. Year. Medium. National Postal Museum, Washington, District of Columbia. Credit line (if applicable).

Example: Unknown. Owney the dog. Circa 1895-1897. Skin; fur; bone; glass / prepared; stuffed; mounted. National Postal Museum, Washington, District of Columbia.

For an object in our collection you’ve viewed on the museum’s website:

Artist or creator last name, first name. Title or name of object. Year the object was created. National Postal Museum. Title of the webpage, URL.

Example: Boudet, Raymond. Coconut. 1944. National Postal Museum. Collection Search—Coconut, https://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/object/npm_1996.2028.1.

For an object you’ve viewed on Learning Lab:

Museum, Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Learning Lab Resource: Name of resource.” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, Date resource added, URL.

Example: National Postal Museum, Smithsonian Institution. “Smithsonian Learning Lab Resource: 24c Curtiss Jenny invert single.” Smithsonian Learning Lab, Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, 3 Nov. 2015, https://learninglab.si.edu/q/r/297505

 Tip: on Learning Lab, when viewing a resource or collection click on the quotation mark on the left side of the screen: Learning Lab will create the MLA citation for you! 

How do I know if a collection object is a primary source or a secondary source?

Whether or not a source is a primary source or secondary source depends on the questions you may ask.

Let’s use this stamp of the singer, Selena—depending on the questions you ask and how you’re using it, this object could be a primary source or a secondary source.

If your topic is Selena, this stamp would not be considered a primary source. While the stamp depicts her, this stamp dates to 2011 (about 16 years after Selena’s death) and should be considered a secondary source as it is a secondary account of its subject.

However, if your topic was on the depiction of Latinx subjects after the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee was formed in 1957, then this stamp would be considered a primary source! The stamp of Selena was a direct account or example of a depiction of a Latinx subject made at the time that your topic is focused on.

A primary source is a document or object that was created by an individual, group, or organization as part of their daily lives. Primary sources include birth certificates, photographs, diaries, letters, embroidered samplers, clothing, household implements, and newspapers.

A secondary source is a summary, second-hand account, or analysis of events created by someone who did not witness the event but may have read or heard about it. Secondary sources include books or articles written on a topic, artworks depicting an event, letters or diaries recounting a version of events told to the author by another source.