A Hand to Guide Me: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A signed, hardcover first edition of A Hand to Guide Me, written by Denzel Washington and inscribed to General Colin L. Powell. The book features a glossy paper jacket over its brown hardcover. The tan colored spine displays the book title, author, and publisher name with logo, printed horizontally in gold text. On the front cover, embossed in gold ink, is [A HAND TO GUIDE ME / DENZEL / WASHINGTON]. There are no markings on back cover. The jacket front is a large black-and-white photograph of Denzel Washington, seated with his hands together. Patterns of famous names in light black ink are printed across the white space around Washington’s head. At the top in red text is [INSPIRING PERSONAL STORIES]. In the bottom half of the jacket cover and on the spine, printed in gold and white text, is the title and author – in the same format as on the hardcover. At the far bottom in white text is: [LEGENDS AND LEADERS CELEBRATE / THE PEOPLE WHO SHAPED THEIR LIVES]. On the flyleaf, in black marker, is a note from Washington to General Colin L. Powell, “To Gen. Powell / God Bless! / Denzel Washington”. The last numbered page in the book is 272. On the reverse of the black jacket at the top, is a quote by Denzel Washington in gold print: [“EVERY ONE OF US HAS A STORY TO SHARE. / EVERY ONE OF US LOOKS BACK ON A COACH / OR A TEACHER OR SOME PERSON WHO SET US / STRAIGHT AND STEERED US RIGHT.”]. In white text the middle of the cover gives a short summary of the book’s contents, which mentions that stories included come from: “Hank Aaron, Muhammed Ali, Jimmy Carter, / Bill Clinton, Whoopie Goldberg, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Leonard Nimoy, / Colin Powell, Bonnie Raitt, Cal Ripken Jr., and many more.” Five small black-and-white pictures are featured at the bottom, to include one of General Powell on the far right.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 2006
• Written by: Denzel Washington, American, born 1954
• Published by: Meredith Corporation, American, founded 1902
• Subject of: General Colin L. Powell, American, 1937 - 2021
• Owned by: General Colin L. Powell, American, 1937 - 2021
• Type: autobiographies
• Type: hardcover books
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product) and cardboard
• Dimensions: H x W x D (open): 9 1/4 × 13 1/4 × 7/8 in. (23.5 × 33.7 × 2.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (closed): 9 1/4 × 6 5/16 × 7/8 in. (23.5 × 16 × 2.2 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Actors
• Topic: Athletes
• Topic: Education
• Topic: Politics
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: A2022.101.1.52
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Alma J. Powell
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Meredith Corporation Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.