Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

orchids: A MOMENT

The Smithsonian Gardens and United States Botanic Garden 2017 Orchid Exhibition, showcases over 100 orchids in a limited-time display amidst the Hirshhorn’s unique architecture.

January 14, 2017 – May 14, 2017

Hirshhorn Museum

ZooArk

Discover the reasons so many animals are endangered in this 6-part interactive exhibition located at different places throughout the Zoo.

September 1, 1986 – July 1, 1987

National Zoo

Zoo Centennial Historic Photo Exhibition

Visit selection of historic photographs taken during the past 100 years at the Zoo, commemorating both the 100th anniversary of the Zoo and the 150th anniversary of the invention of photography.

June 22, 1989 – October 1, 1991

National Zoo

Yuungnaqpiallerput (The Way We Genuinely Live): Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival

This exhibition reveals Yup'ik elders' scientific and spiritual knowledge for living in a sub-arctic environment.

April 17, 2010 – July 25, 2010

Natural History Museum

Yellow Diamond from Zale Corporation

Marvel at the largest existing diamond-in-the-rough in the world, weighing 890 carats.

November 22, 1984 – January 6, 1985

Natural History Museum

Year of the Tiger

Marvel at some 40 photographs by wildlife photographer Michael Nichols, from the National Geographic book Year of the Tiger.

November 11, 1998 – April 26, 1999

Natural History Museum

Year of the Coast

See specimens from the nearby seashore. Various coastal features and life forms are highlighted.

October 1, 1980 – April 1, 1996

Natural History Museum

X-Ray Vision: Fish Inside Out

X-rays of some of the fish in the museum's collection reveal delicate and exquisite details and help scientists understand the evolutionary development of fish.

February 4, 2012 – August 5, 2012

Natural History Museum

X-Ray Photography of Fossils

See 45 radiographs taken by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Sturmer of Lower Davonian plant and marine animal fossils taken in the fossil-rich Rheinische Schiefergebirge area.

May 7, 1977 – July 17, 1977

Natural History Museum

Written in Bone: Forensic Files of the 17th-Century Chesapeake

This exhibition features archaeological discoveries that reveal the historic importance of Jamestown and its contribution to the American way of life.

February 7, 2009 – January 5, 2014

Natural History Museum

World War I Aviation

Explore the technological advances of WWI aviation set against a background of a front-line, allied airstrip somewhere in France in 1918.

July 1, 1976 – 1987

Air and Space Museum

World Aerobatic Championship Trophies

See 3 trophies won by U.S. Aerobatic Team in the 1988 world competition.

December 1, 1989 – May 31, 1990

Air and Space Museum

Wondrous Cold: An Antarctic Journey

See 50 color and black-and-white photographs of the Antarctic landscape by award-winning photographer Joan Myers. Large panoramas of Antarctica's beauty and desolation are juxtaposed with scenes of wildlife, people, and abandoned historic huts of early explorers.

May 18, 2006 – September 4, 2006

Natural History Museum

Wonder Bound

See a selection of rare books from the 18th and 19th centuries, along with specimens, that document the peculiarities of early museum collecting practices and the origins of natural history museums.

May 24, 2002 – November 15, 2002

Natural History Museum

Women in Science in 19th-century America

View photographs, portraits, research tools and apparatus, and publications of pioneering American women scientists.

September 15, 1978 – January 12, 1979

American History Museum

Wine, Worship and Sacrifice: The Golden Graves of Ancient Vani

See more than 100 objects that provide a rich archaeological view of the ancient Asian country Colchis—land of the Golden Fleece.

December 1, 2007 – February 24, 2008

Asian Art Museum Sackler Gallery

Willys Model MB Jeep

In honor of D-Day, June 6, 1984, see a Willys Model MB Jeep, typical of the four-wheel drive jeeps used in World War II, including the D-Day maneuvers.

June 1, 1984 – June 30, 1984

American History Museum

William Harvey and the Study of the Heart

A 1628 edition of the book from the Dibner Library as well as 19th century instruments used in bloodletting and 20th century pacemakers are on view marking the 400th anniversary of William Harvey's birth.

October 1, 1978 – October 31, 1978

American History Museum

Wildlife Photography Rotating Display

Visit a rotating display of wildlife photography by Zoo and FONZ Photo Club photographers.

April 9, 2005 – July 24, 2006

National Zoo

Wilderness America

Commemorate the Silver Anniversary of the Wilderness Society through photographs, maps, and text.

September 8, 1989 – November 26, 1989

Natural History Museum

Who Invented the Environment?

Compare society's ideal of nature and the reality measured by the scientific instruments in these 2 small cases.

September 11, 1998 – September 27, 1999

American History Museum

Where Next, Columbus?

Examine the motives and methods of past and present space exploration, as well as the options and possibilities for the future.

December 12, 1992 – March 4, 2002

Air and Space Museum

Whatever Happened to Polio?

The story of the polio epidemic in the United States, from vaccine development to current world efforts to stop polio.

April 12, 2005 – September 4, 2006

American History Museum

Whales: From Bone to Book

Trace the process of Natural History from the discovery of a whale fossil on a beach to museum drawer to scientific illustration.

May 25, 2013 – June 8, 2014

Natural History Museum

Wethersfield Meteorites

View two celebrated meteorites that fell in the same town, Wethersfield, Connecticut, eleven years apart.

July 22, 1983 – October 30, 1983

Natural History Museum