Two women deliver a cooking demonstration on stage

Welcome to American History

The museum's world class collections help tell the complex history of our nation. We are located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Open today 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m
Plan Your Visit

From the impact of new technologies to the influence of social and cultural changes, FOOD: Transforming the American Table explores the transformation of food and drink in post-World War II America. Julia Child’s home kitchen—with its hundreds of tools, appliances, and furnishings—begins an experience of artifacts, documents, videos, and stories about sweeping changes from 1945 into the new century.

Entrance to the museum's FOOD exhibition.

Objects from the Collections

When her family's grocery store faltered in the Great Depression, Concha supported her loved ones by creating a tortilleria. She wore this cotton apron while making tortillas in her small neighborhood business.
From the 1970s onward, generations of homebrewers looked to Charlie Papazian for guidance as they worked to invent flavorful beers at home. He used this wooden spoon in his teaching demonstrations.
In 1967, Anne L. Bernat received a set of CorningWare® dishes as a wedding present. Decades later, she still used pieces from the set to heat, serve, and store casseroles and other foods.

As the nation’s history museum, we empower people to create a just and compassionate future by exploring, preserving, and sharing the complexity of our past.

Donate Today and Make History

Help us to preserve, protect, and display America's historic treasures.
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Visitors with suffrage banners standing with a suffragette historic re-enactor.