The National Museum of American History is part of the Smithsonian Institution. It is located on the National Mall at Washington, D.C. The museum opened in 1964 as the Museum of History and Technology.
It preserves more than 3 million artifacts of American history and culture, from the War of Independence to the present day.
The museum has
• Five-story sky-lit atrium, which is surrounded by displays of artifacts that showcase the breadth of the museum’s collection.
• Grand staircase that links the museum’s first and second floors.
• Welcome center and the addition of six landmark objects to orient visitors.
• New galleries such as the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Hall of Invention.
The museum’s exhibits include a little bit of everything — history (i.e., Civil Rights), TV (i.e., Kermit the Frog, Archie Bunker’s chair) cinema (i.e., Dorothy’s ruby slippers) sports (i.e., Mohammed Ali’s boxing gloves and robe) music (i.e., Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa) and of course art (i.e., Mexican Revolution).
Food
The food section of this museum is definitely favorite of all. It has a pretty extensive and interesting gift shop also. The best part is Julia Child’s ORIGINAL kitchen. All the food exhibits were just interesting. There is a lot of history and seeing the evolution of food in the United States was pretty fantastic.
A great collection of US history under one roof! Some highlights:
• Dorothy’s original ruby red slippers
• Edison’s light bulb
• Abe Lincoln’s top hat the one he was wearing the day he was assassinated.
• The First Ladies Collection contains dresses most of the first ladies wore at the presidential inaugurations.
• Presidents Exhibit contains a variety of memorabilia that different US Presidents owned during their times in office.
• A HUGE handmade dollhouse with detailed rooms, including mini, handcrafted furniture and textiles.
Everyone and particularly Kids will have the most fun using their imaginations at the Spark Lab, hands on science and invention center and riding a Chicago Transit Authority car in America on the Move. They’ll marvel over displays of Kermit the Frog and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. Throughout the museum there are plenty of opportunities to use touch stations to learn something new.
This is one museum you will definitely enjoy among all museums of Washington D.C.

-Written by Mukesh Shah, OnBoard Tours staff writer