December Debuts

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History has been called “America’s Attic.” The museum on the National Mall definitely exhibits an eclectic collection of artifacts dealing with American political, social, and cultural history.

First opened in 1964, the National Museum of American History reopened in December 2008 following a two year closure for renovation. A new central skylight and atrium opens up four floors of the museum, though it meant removal of the popular Foucault pendulum.

The exhibit space at the museum has been redesigned into theme areas. Rather than trying to present a linear history of the USA, the exhibits tie together artifacts representing the American experience in a variety of areas through time. The them galleries include “America on the Move” (Transportation), Science and Innovation, American Lives, American Ideals, Entertainment, Sports, and Music, and American Wars and Politics.

“Landmark Objects” anchor the two wings of each floor and introduce the themed exhibits. The objects include Horatio Greenough’s monumental sculpture of a seated George Washington, the 1831 John Bull steam locomotive, the telescope used by America’s first woman astronomer, Clara Barton’s Red Cross ambulance (wagon), Disney’s Dumbo, and the lunch counter from the 1960 Greensboro, NC, civil rights sit-in. (The 1841 statue of George Washington wearing a toga and sitting Zeus-like is one of my favorite objects in this museum.)

The signature artifact on display at the museum is the original Star-Spangled Banner, the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore during the British bombardment in 1814. It is the flag that inspired Francis Scott Key to write his poem that became the lyrics to “The Star-Spangled Banner”, the national anthem of the USA. The museum’s renovation has created a new display area for the flag.

The museum is far from stuffy. Items of popular culture on display include the Ruby Slippers worn by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz, a Dumbo ride car from Disneyland, Elvis’ guitars, one of singer Celia Cruz’s dresses, and Julia Child’s Kitchen from the TV cooking show. An always popular exhibit is the display of the First Ladies’ inaugural ball gowns.

I do find that displays tend to reflect whatever subjects the curators happen to be interested in at the time or outside sources of financing will fund. Some exhibits, like the one on Rachel Carson’s work on pesticide control, don’t appear to have been refreshed in many years.

Construction began on the new Visitor Center for the United States Capitol in 2000. The Visitor Center was opened to the public in December 2008 and provides a climate-controlled space for visitors waiting to tour the U.S. Capitol building. Previously, visitors queued in the open air (and summer heat or winter cold) on the East Front plaza, or, after 9/11, in a temporary wooden structure and under a canopy.

The new Visitor Center provides a vast hall and accompanying exhibit space and visitor amenities. In it, visitors can learn about the history of the Capitol and of Congress while waiting for their tour. (If time is limited, visitors can view the exhibits without taking the tour.)

Visitors first enter the vast Emancipation Hall. (Emancipation Hall is named to honor the slaves who built the Capitol.) The plaster cast of the bronze Statue of Freedom that sits atop the Capitol (designed by Thomas Crawford in 1855-1857) dominates the hall. (The hall gives me the feel of a train station or airport terminal. But, it will certainly hold a lot of visitors in spring and summer!)

Also in the hall are a few statues from National Statuary Hall Collection. (Two statues of notable citizens from each state are invited to be placed in the Capitol building.) The Capitol Visitor Center will hold overflow statues from the Capitol’s Statuary Hall collection itself. (I’m not sure what that says about the personages who have been removed to the Visitor Center, but it is supposed to be the more recently added statues that have been relocated.) When in the hall, be sure to look up through the two skylights for a view of the Capitol’s dome.

The exhibit space includes several contemporary touch-screen interactive exhibits. Six models of Capitol Hill, the Capitol building, and the surrounding structures show the development of the Capitol complex over time. Surrounding them are displays on the issues that have faced Congress in each period. (There is even a small display about the history of touring the U.S. Capitol building!)

Artifacts on display include the masonry trowel used by George Washington to lay the Capitol’s cornerstone in 1793 and the Lincoln catafalque (coffin platform) constructed in 1865. The catafalque is used when deceased former Presidents and other prominent Americans are given the honor of lying in state under the Capitol dome. (Most recently it was used for the lying in state of Rosa Parks in 2005 and President Gerald Ford in January 2007.)

Two theaters show a 13-minute orientation film about the Capitol and Congress. Tours of the Capitol building are free. Capitol tours can be booked online at the Visitor Center web site or same-day tickets may be obtained at the Information Desk.

The Visitor Center also has a cafeteria, two gift shops, and eight public restrooms!

A tunnel under First Street, Southeast, connects the Visitor Center with the Library of Congress' Thomas Jefferson Building.