White Brothers Snare Drum: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This snare drum was made by the White Brothers in Boston, Massachusetts, around 1860-1862. It has a light brown wood shell, skin heads, and a gut snare. There are two wood hoops drilled with 8 holes each for rope which is laced through leather ears, used to tighten the hoops. There is a printed maker’s label inside the shell that is inscribed:

This drum was used by William M. Choate as a musician in the 39th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, Company K during the Civil War. Choate enlisted on July 19, 1862, served from August 22, 1862 until he was discharged for disability on February 12, 1863.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1845 - 1864
• maker: White Brothers
• Object Name: drum
• Physical Description: wood (overall material)
• Physical Description: leather (overall material)
• Physical Description: rope (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 16 in x 20 in x 20 in x 17 3/8 in; 40.64 cm x 50.8 cm x 50.8 cm x 44.1325 cm
• place made: United States: Massachusetts, Boston
• ID Number: MI.031840
• catalog number: 31840
• accession number: 67539
• Credit Line: Gift of William W. Choate
• 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.