In the event of a government shutdown, American History will remain OPEN through at least Saturday, October 7, by using prior year funds. Visit si.edu for updates.

(Re)opening day

Reopening-085

This morning’s ribbon-cutting was loads of fun. Despite the cold weather, there was a large crowd gathered and everyone seemed to be having a good time. From the many photos we took during the event, I had a hard time deciding which one best represented the experience. Was it the re-enactors—everyone from soldiers to George and Martha Washington to Dorothy Gale to R2D2—entertaining the crowd? Was it the cute and talented Children’s Chorus of Washington? Was it Colin Powell reading the Gettysburg Address or other distinguished speakers? In the end I decided the best choice was this photo of the crowd streaming through the doors of the museum for the first time in more than two years. We are thrilled to have people back in the museum again!

By the way, you can see more photos of the event posted to Flickr, and soon we should have video up on our webcast page.

Matthew MacArthur is Director of New Media at the National Museum of American History