students of American Studies, one important resource has been largely neglected. The museum, as a repository of cultural artifacts-objects and documents-remains for the most part a rich untapped lode of valuable learning experiences in American culture. With only a little willingness to experiment and some freedom of imagination, the university and museum can form a cooperative relationship that will enhance the educational effectiveness of both institutions, while it opens to students the discovery of new dimensions in their understanding of American art, history, economics and cultural life. Objects, in combination with written documentation, can help us to explore the why of history, can help us to move beyond simply the what and how. Those objects housed in small, local museums generally belong to