Past Exhibitions | Smithsonian Institution

100 Years of America's National Park Service: Preserve, Enjoy, Inspire

The National Park Service turns 100 this year! To celebrate, the National Park Service has teamed up with the National Museum of Natural History to present over 50 images by award-winning photographers, showcasing America's national parks.

August 4, 2016 – August 14, 2017

Natural History Museum

100 Years of American Mathematics

The exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the American Society of Mathematics and explores the aspects of the practice of mathematics in the U.S. in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.

May 1, 1988 – August 31, 1988

American History Museum

100th Anniversary of Count Gianni Caproni

Commemorate the birth of this leader in Italian aviation, who designed Italy's 1st successful aircraft, and see his 1911 wood-and-fabric monoplane, the Caproni CA-9, used in Italy for passenger and military transport.

September 12, 1986 – August 10, 1987

Air and Space Museum

10th Anniversary of Apollo 11

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first landing of astronauts on the moon with videotape, photographs, and items from the mission.

Late 1979 – March 31, 1980

Air and Space Museum

14 Canadians: A Critic's Choice

Visit an exhibition of 42 recent works by 13 painters and one sculptor that is being held in conjunction with a Symposium on 20th century Canadian culture.

February 3, 1977 – April 10, 1977

Hirshhorn Museum

150th Commemoration of the Civil War: The Death of Ellsworth

The National Portrait Gallery marks the 150th anniversary of the Civil War through a series of four alcove exhibitions. The first of these exhibitions recounts the death of Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth, a friend of President Lincoln, in Alexandria, Virginia.

April 29, 2011 – March 18, 2012

Portrait Gallery

1812: A Nation Emerges

Learn about key people who influenced the outcome of the War of 1812, which transformed and unified the United States.

June 15, 2012 – January 27, 2013

Portrait Gallery

1846: Portrait of the Nation

To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Smithsonian, this exhibition looks back at the America of 1846.

April 12, 1996 – August 18, 1996

Portrait Gallery

1848: New Border, New Nation

This showcase reviews the history surrounding the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Feb. 2, 1848), which ended the Mexican War of 1848.

May 16, 1998 – March 7, 1999

American History Museum

1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta

The world's rarest postage stamp, the 1856 British Guiana One-Cent Magenta, is prominently displayed in the museum’s William H. Gross Stamp Gallery.

June 4, 2015 – December 22, 2019

Postal Museum

1876 Centennial

See mementos and souvenirs of the Philadelphia event.

December 1, 1974 – January 31, 1975

American History Museum

1876: A Centennial Exhibition

See materials acquired from the nation's 1876 Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia, which recapture the atmosphere and spirit of the original Exposition.

May 11, 1976 – August 10, 1996

Arts and Industries Building

1876: American Art of the Centennial

The majority of the 25 paintings and 5 pieces of sculpture in this exhibition were shown in the American gallery at the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876.

May 28, 1976 – November 28, 1976

American Art Museum

1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions

The first exhibition to examine this pivotal period during the Spanish-American-Cuban-Philippine War through the lens of portraiture and visual culture.

April 28, 2023 – February 25, 2024

Portrait Gallery

18th-Century Scenic and Architectural Design

See 70 drawings and engravings of theater and stage design by the Galli Bibiena family from the National Collection of Portugal.

September 25, 1990 – December 30, 1990

Cooper Hewitt Design Museum

1905 - 1985: 80 Years of Aerospace History

See 10 photographs portraying great events in aerospace history, including the flight of the 1st seaplane, the 1st spacewalk (by a Russian), and the 1stAmerican spacewalk.

January 16, 1985 – June 30, 1985

Air and Space Museum

1934: A New Deal for Artists

See 56 paintings created by artists from across the United States working under the Public Works of Art Program, a federal New Deal program that lasted only six months from mid-December 1933 to June 1934.

February 27, 2009 – January 3, 2010

American Art Museum

1939

This small exhibition reveals how Americans used entertainment to distract themselves during a turbulent year when the country was recovering from the Great Depression and World War II loomed -- 1939.

November 24, 2010 – October 21, 2012

American History Museum

1965 Ford Mustang

An silver-blue 1965 Ford Mustang evokes 1964, the year the museum opened to the public.

April 25, 2014 – January 4, 2015

American History Museum

1977 Trees of Christmas

See 12, 8-foot tall Christmas trees, decorated with ornaments made by Smithsonian and area volunteers.

December 16, 1977 – January 2, 1978

American History Museum

1978 Trees of Christmas

See 13 live trees, each decorated with hand-made ornaments of different American of foreign tradition.

December 15, 1978 – January 1, 1979

American History Museum

1979 Trees of Christmas

This holiday exhibition returns with 13 decorated trees.

December 14, 1979 – January 2, 1980

American History Museum

1980 Trees of Christmas

Twelve trees are on view in this year's holiday display. Two themes were selected this year: international cultures and crafts.

December 19, 1980 – January 4, 1981

American History Museum

1981 Trees of Christmas

Visit the 5th annual holiday exhibition and see 12 trees showing the diversity of the nation's past, its present, and its ethnic heritage.

December 19, 1981 – January 3, 1982

American History Museum

1982 Friends of the National Zoo Photography Contest

See 50 photographs--winners and other entries in the annual competition sponsored by the Friends of the National Zoo.

April 1, 1982 – April 30, 1982

National Zoo