EDM in the history museum: Steve Aoki gear travels the world and finds a home at the museum
Music blasts toward the audience as concertgoers dance to Steve Aoki's pounding bass rhythms and bright LED displays. The DJ throws cakes...
You're invited to a Bowl of Rice Party
Wartime often catalyzes developments in philanthropy. In 2017, the museum added the Bowl of Rice party banner, from fundraising efforts to...
6 Jewish American objects for Jewish American Heritage Month
In April 2006, President George W. Bush proclaimed May to be Jewish American Heritage Month. Jewish American objects in our collections...

Blog

Your burning questions answered: First Ladies' dresses
If you’ve been to the new exhibition First Ladies at the Smithsonian, you may have found yourself asking: Where are all the other...
O say can you sing?
Do you sing in the shower? I do. And I can tell you that I don’t sound anything like Jennifer Hudson at the Superbowl. But maybe you do. Or...
Lincoln lives on in 2277
It recently came to my attention that our museum is included, under a vaguely masked name, in the video game Fallout 3. The game is set in...
Happy birthday, Mr. Lincoln
With all the recent news coverage, pretty much everyone knows that today is the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. As you would...
What you’re saying
Being nosy makes me better at my job. I’m not talking about being a snoop or the office gossip. I’m talking about turning my curious nature...
American history 2.0
Recently I took part in a “Smithsonian 2.0” conference about the future of the Smithsonian’s digital presence. In attendance were many of...
Presidents and invention
I can’t wait to see what Barack Obama does to fulfill his campaign pledge to spur innovation and improve American competitiveness in...
6 ideas for achieving your New Year’s resolutions
2008 was a banner year for the museum. Literally. The creation of a new permanent home for the Star-Spangled Banner—the flag that inspired...
Night at the museum
My alarm woke me up early on Inauguration Day, and like many others in Washington I padded down the hall and made my way downstairs for...
Being a part of history
Wow. On Inauguration Day they came to Washington to witness history being made, and we thought we’d planned it all. We knew that Tuesday’s...
An inaugural slideshow
With millions of people on the National Mall to watch the presidential inauguration ceremonies, it’s perhaps no surprise that the museum...
Interconnectedness
One of my favorite authors is the late Douglas Adams, whose Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series expounded the “interconnectedness of...
All things presidential
2009 is upon us. The last year has seen major changes. For us here at the museum, being open again is certainly among the largest! As a...
My list for inauguration weekend
As a program producer and member of the department that manages visitor services, I’m making my list for inauguration weekend: Cell phone....
Historic inauguration, historic multitudes
While the museum isn’t expecting all of the projected millions of inaugural attendees to visit us, we are expecting enormous crowds. As a...
Scenes from the front line
Wearing my red director’s badge, I have plunged back into the throngs of visitors in the first month since we reopened to gauge how they...
Claro que si!
¿Habla Español? You can now get information in Spanish about the Museum—what to see, how to get here, and what to do! In an effort to reach...
Bringing new light to history--on the outside
It was in the year 1882 when Thomas Edison’s assistant, Edward Johnson, developed the idea for electric Christmas tree lights. Now, the...
Top 10 posts of 2008
I’m a sucker for year-end wrap-ups. Sometimes roundup lists serve as shortcuts, helping us plan for the year ahead. For example, I’ll...
The First Ladies at the Smithsonian: more than dresses
Last Friday we were thrilled to open our new exhibition First Ladies at the Smithsonian. The exhibition tells the history of the First...
The famous flying elephant
I’m lucky enough to have an office near a car from Disneyland’s Dumbo the Flying Elephant ride on display and I often hear the...
Decking the halls
Winter can be a dreary time of year in Washington. The city’s trees have shed their orange, gold, and red autumn leaves and the arrival of...
Sounds of the season
I tend to work later in the day than many of my museum colleagues and while the building was under construction that was quite a drag...
That was fast!
In the few weeks since the museum reopened to the public, I’ve noticed quite a few visitors congregating around one particular piece of...
For your viewing and listening pleasure
When friends ask you to view their vacation photos, does it elicit a grin or a groan? Well, we’ve really been enjoying the terrific photos...
Rubbing elbows with history
At one of the museum’s reopening events, I perused the new Star-Spangled Banner Gallery for the first time. I was especially...
A picture within a picture
Editor's Note: The portrait of Stephen Colbert returned to view at the National Museum of American History on December 16, 2010. The...
A historic transaction
A national museum opens to great fanfare after being closed for 2 years. People clamor to get in, to see the Star-Spangled Banner...
A living museum
It is such a joy to come to work in a living, breathing museum again. The building is buzzing with life—from young children helping a...
By the numbers
I am a new employee at the National Museum of American History. In fact, at the time of this writing, I have been working here for 9 weeks...
The unexpected impact of opening weekend
I used my staff pass to line jump the queue for the Star-Spangled Banner gallery, expecting to grab a quick look and duck out so I could...
Talk of the town
If you haven’t heard the news yet—the doors to the National Museum of American History are open once again! Not only are we thrilled to be...
Shining new light on American history
I’ve been working on a project for the museum’s reopening that is so big and so unprecedented that it defies written description. In the...
(Re)opening day
This morning’s ribbon-cutting was loads of fun. Despite the cold weather, there was a large crowd gathered and everyone seemed to be...
The return of the ruby slippers
Yesterday, we took you behind the scenes as curators worked to install the museum’s new entertainment, sports, and music exhibition. At the...
Dedication to history
Yesterday’s ceremony to dedicate the new Star-Spangled Banner gallery and celebrate the reopening of the museum was, in many ways, a paean...
Fright wigs and slapsticks and Tonys . . . oh my!
What do Grandmaster Flash, Phyllis Diller, and Oscar the Grouch have in common? Their pop culture legacies are all featured in the museum's...
All atwitter
The museum is buzzing with anticipation for our reopening on November 21, and here in the new media office we’re getting ready to cover all...
Eureka! A sneak peek at Spark!Lab
You know that moment when an idea suddenly strikes and—BOOM—there’s a new invention ready to change the world? No? Well, the museum’s...
History alive!
When the museum reopens on November 21, we will debut new theater programs designed to engage our visitors, bring history to life, and...
Photo gallery: Closing in on our reopening
As you can see from our stream of blog posts, the museum has been an unbelievable beehive of activity during the past few weeks as...
Getting ready
Our director, Dr. Brent D. Glass, went on air yesterday to talk with Chris Dorobek and Amy Morris of “Daily Debrief” about what we’ve been...
I love my commute
OK, not the part where I drive my car and ride the Metro. It’s my walk through the halls and galleries of the museum that I love. Since we...
Lucky me!
Sometimes, you’re just in the right place at the right time. I got up from my desk this morning to go see the progress in the renovation of...
In honor of Veterans Day
I recently had the opportunity to head over to the Lincoln Memorial to take some photographs for the interactive that will be featured in...
Sneak peek at the new Star-Spangled Banner gallery
A little over a month ago we shared video of the Star-Spangled Banner—the flag that inspired the national anthem—moving from the...
On the Day of the Dead we celebrate life
While many were planning their Halloween costumes, parties, and trick or treat routes, a few of us at the National Museum of American...
A historic day for the U.S.A.
Many of today’s newspaper headlines describe the victory of presidential candidate Barack Obama as “historic.” The election might qualify...

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