The National Museum of American History displays three centuries of the nation's history and offers many options for reception and dinner sites throughout the Museum. Although food and beverages are restricted to non-exhibition spaces, exhibitions are chosen to customize each event to guests’ interests.
The America on the Move exhibition takes visitors on a journey though the history of the United States—a history shaped by transportation. The exhibition uses multimedia technology and historical artifacts to create period settings around times and places where transportation changed American lives and landscapes. Visitors will be transported back in time and immersed in the sights, sounds and sensations of transportation in the U.S. from 1876 to 1999. Among the 300 objects in the 26,000-square-foot show are a 1950s Chicago Transit Authority mass transit car, the 260-ton, 90-foot-long "1401" locomotive and a 1903 Winton, the first car driven across the United States. Return to top.
The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden
The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden exhibition explores the personal, public, ceremonial, and executive actions of the 42 men who have had a huge impact on the course of history in the past 200 years. More than 900 objects, including national treasures from the Smithsonian’s vast presidential collections such as Thomas Jefferson's writing desk, bring to life the role of the presidency in American culture. The visitor discovers the nation’s highest office through eleven sections, a timeline, and media presentations. Return to top.
First Ladies at the Smithsonian
First Ladies at the Smithsonian showcases premier objects from the nearly century old collection including 15 First Ladies dresses ranging from Martha Washington to Laura Bush. The exhibition also includes a large exhibit case featuring selected gowns, portraits, White House china, personal possessions, and other objects from the Smithsonian’s unique collection of first ladies material. The final section will focus on the significance of the first ladies and the ways in which they have influenced the most powerful office in the country. It will explore ways in which first ladies have constructed their role to suit their own personalities, the country’s expectations of public women, and the needs of the presidential administration. Return to top.
Julia Child's Kitchen
Bon Appetit! Julia Child’s Kitchen at the Smithsonian showcases her 14 by 20’ custom kitchen from Cambridge, Massachusetts including her personal cookbooks, small utensils, pegboards, sink, and commercial gas range. The kitchen was used by Child as the set of three television shows and the testing ground for many recipes featured in her cookbooks. Return to top.
Price of Freedom
The Price of Freedom: Americans at War exhibition surveys the military history of the United States, exploring ways that wars have been defining episodes in American history. Using more than 800 original artifacts, first person accounts, graphic images and interactive stations, the exhibition tells compelling stories of how Americans have fought to establish the nation's independence, determine its borders, shape its values of freedom and opportunity, and define its leading role in world affairs. The exhibition features one of the few Revolutionary War uniforms in existence; a restored Huey Helicopter, an icon of the Vietnam War; and the uniform worn by Colin Powell during Operation Desert Storm. Return to top.
Presidential Reception Suite
The Presidential Reception Suite is available for daytime and evening events
with up to 100 guests. It serves as the Museum’s VIP area and has been
used for numerous events for celebrities including the most recent Presidents and
Vice-Presidents. Return to top.
Rooftop Terrace
The Museum’s Rooftop Terrace has a fabulous view stretching from the
Capitol to beyond the Lincoln Memorial and is available for daytime and evening
events with up to 350 guests. Return to top.
Science in American Life
This major exhibition explores significant “intersections” of science and society, from 1876 to the present. From genetics to the atomic bomb, the exhibition examines some of the issues the American public has dealt with and the ever-increasing role of science in society. Included are more than 1000 scientific instruments and appliances, 25 video interactives, and a “Hands-On” activities center.
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Star-Spangled Banner
Tis the Star-Spangled Banner, o long may it wave, o’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.
Francis Scott Key wrote these inspiring words on September 14, 1814 when he saw the United States flag still flying over Fort McHenry after the British bombardment of Baltimore, Maryland. His poem, which became the country’s national anthem, changed the way Americans looked at their flag and the Star-Spangled Banner has become one of the most important symbols of American patriotism.
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Within these Walls
Within These Walls tells the history of the house that stood at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts, and five of the many families who occupied it from the mid-1760s through 1945. Through this history, the exhibition explores some of the important ways ordinary people, in their daily lives, have been part of the great changes and events in American history. Within the house from Ipswich, American colonists created new ways of living, patriots sparked a revolution, an African-American struggled for freedom, community activists organized to end slavery, immigrants built new identities for themselves, and a grandmother and her grandson served on the home front during World War II. Return to top.
