Dashiki, worn by Mongo Santamaría: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This shirt was made by an unknown maker, undetermined provenance and date. It is a Dashiki made of red and green printed fabric, with white embroidery on neckline, sleeves, and top of pockets. It was previously used by Mongo Santamaría.

Ramón "Mongo" Santamaría Rodríguez (1917–2003) was a Cuban percussionist and bandleader who spent most of his career in the United States. Primarily a conga drummer, Santamaría was a leading figure in the pachanga and boogaloo dance crazes of the 1960s. From the 1970s, he recorded mainly salsa and Latin jazz, before retiring in the late 1990s. Santamaria made several recordings as a leader of his own group, as well as a sideman with Fania All-Stars, Tito Puente, Dizzy Gillespie, and Ray Charles.

Materials, dates and provenance

• user: Santamaria, Ramon "Mongo"
• Object Name: shirt
• Physical Description: fabric (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 28 in x 37 1/2 in; 71.12 cm x 95.25 cm
• ID Number: 2005.0030.21
• accession number: 2005.0030
• catalog number: 2005.0030.21
• Credit Line: Gift of Nancy Santamaria
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.