On the Water: Stories from Maritime America: National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C.

On the Water: Stories from Maritime America has opened at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. Brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed, the exhibit leads the visitor through seven topical/chronological sections that explore the many ways in which Americans from colonial times to the present have pursued commerce at sea and on America's extensive coastal and inland waterways. The exhibit does not cover naval activities or recreational boating, nor does it pay much attention to technology as a category of analysis. But within the realm of maritime experience it explores, the exhibit carries the visitor seamlessly through topics as diverse as commercial fishing, passenger liners, the slave trade, container ships, and the contributions of the merchant marine to victory in World War II. It marshals impressive artifacts, flawless audiovisual aides, instructive texts, and a powerful aesthetic to make a museum experience that is as pleasing as it is instructive.