Past Exhibitions

African American History and Culture Museum

Highlights of the NMAAHC Library Collection

Eleven objects are featured in this exhibition of highlights from the National Museum of African American History and Culture Library.

September 12, 2022 – December 31, 2023

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces

Why We Serve honors the generations of Native Americans who have served in the armed forces of the United States—often in extraordinary numbers—since the American Revolution.

November 11, 2020 – November 30, 2023

American Indian Museum New York

Why We Serve: Native Americans in the United States Armed Forces

Why We Serve honors the generations of Native Americans who have served in the armed forces of the United States since the American Revolution.

November 10, 2021 – November 30, 2023

American Indian Museum DC

Portrait of a Nation: 2022 Honorees

This intimate exhibition features the portraits of the seven individuals who have been selected to receive one of the museum’s 2022 Portrait of a Nation Awards.

November 10, 2022 – October 22, 2023

Block by Block: Naming Washington

Explore the namesakes of Washington, D.C.’s streets, avenues, neighborhoods, and other public spaces.

July 30, 2021 – October 22, 2023

A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time

In celebration of its 60th anniversary, Art in Embassies’ traveling exhibition, A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Currents of Our Time, will be on view at the National Museum of American History September 19–October 1, 2023.

September 19, 2023 – October 1, 2023

Places of Invention

Discover what can happen when the right mix of inventive people, ready resources, and inspiring surroundings come together.

July 1, 2015 – July 30, 2023

Inventive Minds

Inventive Minds, a gallery within the Lemelson Hall of Invention and Innovation, will introduce visitors to the mission and work of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation, particularly its efforts to document invention.

July 1, 2015 – July 30, 2023

Reconstructing ‘Weatherbreak’ in an Age of Extreme Weather

This month-long exhibitions will display the reconstruction of Weatherbreak—the first large-span geodesic dome to be erected in North America.

July 5, 2023 – July 27, 2023

Discovery and Revelation: Religion, Science, and Making Sense of Things

This exhibition tells stories concerning intersections of religion and science from three centuries of American history, beginning with a 1721 controversy concerning smallpox and Puritan notions of divine judgement, and ending with encounters of technology and belief in the digital age.

March 18, 2022 – April 30, 2023

American Indian Museum New York

Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field

Developing Stories: Native Photographers in the Field features photo essays by Native photojournalists Donovan Quintero, Tailyr Irvine, and Russel Albert Daniels

November 3, 2022 – March 12, 2023

The Utopia Project

This interactive gallery is a space to learn the art of activism and to unlock the creativity in each of us to transform our world.

November 1, 2022 – March 1, 2023

Anacostia Community Museum

Our Universes: Traditional Knowledge Shapes Our World

Focusing on Native cosmology and organized around one solar year, this exhibition explores the annual ceremonies of Native peoples as a window on their ancestral teachings.

September 21, 2004 – February 12, 2023

American Indian Museum DC

Smithson Crypt

The final resting place of the Institution's benefactor, James Smithson (1765-1829), is a small chapel-like room located at the north entrance to the Castle.

March 6, 1905 – January 31, 2023

Welcome to Your Smithsonian

This exhibition looks at the history of the Smithsonian, focusing on its research; museums; and public programs in art, culture, history, and science, and the role of the American public in the Smithsonian's museums and research. The Smithsonian is a partnership between its specialist staff and the American people.

March 20, 2015 – January 31, 2023

Views from the Tall Tower

See how the Washington skyline, as seen from the north tower of the Castle, has changed since 1863.

August 1, 2012 – January 31, 2023

The Earliest Known Photograph of the Castle

The earliest known photograph of the Castle, taken in 1850 during the building's contruction, is on view.

August 10, 2015 – January 31, 2023

Smithsonian Stamped!

In this small display, learn about the origins of the commemorative stamp and view two Smithsonian commemorative stamps celebrating our 100^th and 150^th anniversaries.

December 16, 2021 – January 31, 2023

I Dream a World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Remarkable Black Women: Part I

This exhibition features more than 25 photographs by Brian Lanker, the Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer.

July 8, 2022 – January 29, 2023

More Doctors Smoke Camels: A Close Reading of Historical Advertising

Contemporary audiences will learn how advertisers from the 1920s to the 1960s worked to promote cigarettes in the face of the health problems they caused.

April 5, 2019 – January 29, 2023

Girlhood (It's Complicated)

Through its rich collections and new acquisitions, the museum explores how girls have been on the front lines of social and cultural change.

October 9, 2020 – January 2, 2023