The museum upgraded many of the environmental and physical facilities (mechanical, electrical, plumbing, lighting, fire and security systems, elevators, heating, etc., along with a 600-seat cafe), but will also feature several major upgrades and visitor enhancements, including:

• A new state-of-the-art gallery for the giant Star-Spangled Banner flag that flew over Fort McHenry that inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became The National Anthem.
• 10-foot-high artifact walls on the 1st and 2nd floors displaying 400 of the museum’s 3 million historical objects
• A Visitor Welcome Center
• Hall of Invention and Spark Lab, a hands-on science and invention center

The major exhibits, favorites of visitors, such as America on the Move, The American Presidency and The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, will all be reopening.

Other favorite items will be on display, including:

• Mohammad Ali’s boxing gloves and robe 
• Dorothy’s Ruby Red Shoe and the Scarecrow costume from “The Wizard of Oz”
• Babe Ruth autographed baseball
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt NBC Fireside chat microphone
• Several First Lady’s Inaugural Ball gowns
• R2-D2 and C-3PO from "Return of the Jedi"
• White House copy of President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, penned by Lincoln himself (on display through January 4, 2009).

National Museum of American History
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. (map it)

Dates and Times – Reopening starting November 21, 2008 – 10:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. (until 7:30 p.m. on 11/21/08)

Admission – FREE

Nearest Metro Subway Station – Federal Triangle and Smithsonian, Blue and Orange lines, then a 2-4 block walk or use the DC Circulator.

Parking – Limited metered street parking is available. 

Images – building from personal collection – ©2008, Jon Rochetti, all others courtesy of the NMOAH.   _________________________________________________

Post from: The DC Traveler