Exhibitions

Treasures of American History

November 17, 2006 – April 12, 2008

National Air and Space Museum
6th St. & Independence Ave., SW
Washington, DC

2nd floor, East Wing, Gallery 211, Flight and the Arts

See on Map Floor Plan

While the American History Museum is closed for renovation (Sept. 5, 2006-fall 2008), more than 150 highlights from the museum are on view here. The exhibition is divided into four sections: Creativity and Innovation, American Biography, National Challenges, and American Identity.

Highlights include:

  • Dorothy's ruby slippers and the rarely seen Scarecrow costume worn by Ray Bolger in The Wizard of Oz
  • First lady Jacqueline Kennedy's inaugural gown
  • the compass used by Lewis and Clark during their journey across the Louisiana Territory
  • the Woolworth's lunch counter from Greensboro, N.C., where four African American students began a "sit-in" in 1960 that lasted for six months
  • Thomas Jefferson's bible and lap desk
  • Abraham Lincoln's top hat
  • Thomas Edison's lightbulb
  • General Custer's buckskin jacket
  • R2-D2 and C-3PO from Star Wars
  • Kermit the Frog
  • Duke Ellington's sheet music for "Mood Indigo"

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