Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

¡De última hora!: Latinas Report Breaking News

Working in the fast-paced, ever-changing environment of broadcast news, these women shaped and shape the narrative for major historical events.

September 15, 2023 – August 17, 2025

American History Museum

¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States

The inaugural exhibition of the Molina Famliy Gallery, ¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States, reveals how Latinos have shaped the nation since before its founding.

June 18, 2022 – July 20, 2025

American History Museum

Forensic Science on Trial

Explore historic cases where science has entered the courtroom and see how forensic science is used in the pursuit of justice.

June 28, 2024 – July 6, 2025

American History Museum

Music HerStory: Women and Music of Social Change

Music HerStory explores the countless contributions of women changemakers, groundbreakers, and tradition-bearers.

June 22, 2022 – March 24, 2025

American History Museum

(re) Framing Conversations: Photographs by Richard Avedon, 1946-1965

Twenty Richard Avedon images spanning two decades, curated from the Smithsonian’s photo history collection, are on display.

December 9, 2022 – February 2, 2025

American History Museum

Gunboat Philadelphia

Built in 1776, the gunboat Philadelphia is the oldest American fighting vessel in existence.

July 3, 1965 – January 6, 2025

American History Museum

Reckoning with Remembrance: History, Injustice, and the Murder of Emmett Till

This display of the defaced historical marker helps preserve the memory of Emmett Till while demonstrating the contested nature of racism’s violent legacy in America.

April 6, 2024 – September 15, 2024

American History Museum

Picturing Women Inventors

Featuring stories of contemporary and historic women, this display of photos and graphics is dominated by lively, larger-than-life images of woman inventors.

May 21, 2021 – September 11, 2024

American History Museum

Dave's Dream

Dave’s Dream is a modified 1969 Ford LTD known as a “lowrider” and named for David Jaramillo of Chimayo, New Mexico, who began customizing this car in the 1970s.

May 27, 2022 – August 26, 2024

American History Museum

Mirror, Mirror for Us All: Disney Parks and the American Narrative / Experience

Through objects, images, maps and more, this exhibit looks at how Disney and the public are in conversation to create the national narrative of today and the future.

April 28, 2023 – April 14, 2024

American History Museum

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

American History Museum

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

American History Museum

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

American History Museum

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

American History Museum

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 History Museum

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

American History Museum

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

American History Museum

¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues: En los barrios y las grandes ligas

This exhibit features the historic role baseball has played as a social and cultural force within Latino communities across the nation.

July 2, 2021 – January 2, 2023

American History Museum

Upending 1620: Where Do We Begin?

Upending 1620: Where Do We Begin? is a display that examines the early encounters between Wampanoag peoples and English colonists, and the important legacies of those encounters over the next 400 years.

August 6, 2021 – September 5, 2022

American History Museum

Ruby Slippers

A special collection of displays featuring American history through culture, entertainment, and the arts.

October 19, 2018 – June 12, 2022

American History Museum

All Work and No Pay: A History of Women's Invisible Labor

Break rooms across America hold signs that read: “Your mother doesn’t work here.” All Work and No Pay examines the implied expectation that women will take care of the housework.

March 4, 2019 – May 30, 2022

American History Museum

Magnificent Obsessions: Why We Collect

Smithsonian Libraries preserves historic treasures and everyday items to provide a window onto the past.

November 7, 2018 – April 11, 2022

American History Museum

Escaramuza Dress

An escaramuza charra dress worn by Veronica Davila is on view, representing the only female event in the Mexican charrería.

September 17, 2021 – January 4, 2022

American History Museum

A Nation Grieves

This display features 24 white plastic flags from the 2020 public art installation designed by artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg to honor and remember the lives lost in the U.S. to COVID-19.

September 17, 2021 – January 2, 2022

American History Museum

Creating Icons: How We Remember Women's Suffrage

This exhibition marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment recognizing women’s right to vote.

March 6, 2020 – January 2, 2022

American History Museum