Dumbarton Oaks Research Library

As the Smithsonian Institution's museum of African American history and culture, the Museum explores American history, society, and creative expression from an African American perspective. The museum encourages the collection, protection, and preservation of materials that reflect the history and traditions of families, organizations, individuals, and communities.

The evening of April 14, 1865, has forever been marked with tragedy. On that night, our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, was assassinated in Ford’s Theatre by actor John Wilkes Booth. Just days after General Lee’s Confederate troops surrendered at Appomattox, VA, a time of hope and peace in Washington and around the country turned to a period of mourning that America had never seen before.

National Museum of Women in the Arts, the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to recognizing the contributions of women artists.

Generations of remarkable Americans are kept in the company of their fellow citizens at the National Portrait Gallery. The Gallery presents the wonderful diversity of individuals who have left–and are leaving–their mark on our country and our culture. Through the visual and performing arts, we celebrate leaders such as George Washington and Martin Luther King Jr., artists such as Mary Cassatt and George Gershwin, activists such as Sequoyah and Rosa Parks, and icons of pop culture such as Babe Ruth and Marilyn Monroe. They all link us to our past, our present, and our future. For anyone fascinated by famous Americans and their stories, the National Portrait Gallery is a must-visit destination.

This Federal-era townhouse witnessed decades of American power brokers making decisions that shaped the nation's course. Built in 1818 by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, it became home to Commodore Stephen Decatur and later housed influential political figures whose conversations echoed through its rooms. Walking these halls during winter's quiet months feels like stepping into a preserved snapshot of Washington's most consequential era, when the city's movers and shakers gathered within these walls to chart the country's future. The residence holds stories spanning from the early republic through the early 1900s, each corner reflecting a pivotal chapter in American history that continues to intrigue visitors today.

The National Postal Museum, a Smithsonian Institution museum, is located in the old Post Office building next to Union Station in Washington, D.C. The Museum was created by an agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Postal Service in 1990 and opened to the public in 1993.

The Textile Museum expands public knowledge and appreciation – locally, nationally and internationally – of the artistic merits and cultural importance of the world’s textiles.

The Phillips Collection, opened in 1921, is America’s first museum of modern art. Featuring a renowned permanent collection of nearly 2,500 works by American and European impressionist and modern artists, the Phillips is internationally recognized for both its incomparable art and its intimate atmosphere.

Visiting this winter offers families a cozy refuge where curiosity comes alive. Tiny visitors aged newborn through five gravitate toward the tactile stations—stacking colorful blocks, making rubbish art impressions of holy figures and botanical forms, clanging hand bells, trying on historical garments, and settling under a draped tent for animated Bible narratives. Kids between five and eight discover the joy of bell ringing, explore melodies tucked within traditional Catholic songbooks, and piece together their own glowing digital stained-glass creation. Those eight and beyond pick up an activity sheet at the front desk to hunt through the space, searching out hidden details and solving puzzles along the way. The quiet, introspective atmosphere that defines winter here makes it an especially peaceful time for families to wander through and engage together.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is America’s national institution for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history, and serves as this country’s memorial to the millions of people murdered during the Holocaust. <br> The Holocaust was the state-sponsored, systematic persecution and annihilation of European Jewry by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1933 and 1945. Jews were the primary victims – six million were murdered; Gypsies, the handicapped and Poles were also targeted for destruction or decimation for racial, ethnic, or national reasons. Millions more, including homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Soviet prisoners of war and political dissidents, also suffered grievous oppression and death under Nazi tyranny. <br> The Museum’s primary mission is to advance and disseminate knowledge about this unprecedented tragedy; to preserve the memory of those who suffered; and to encourage its visitors to reflect upon the moral and spiritual questions raised by the events of the Holocaust as well as their own responsibilities as citizens of a democracy.