National Portal to Historic Collections

Located in Lady Bird Johnson Park on Columbia Island, the Navy-Merchant Marine Memorial honors the American sailors and marines killed at sea during World War I. Situated across the Potomac River from West Potomac Park and the National Mall, the memorial was designed by Harvey Wiley Corbett and completed in 1934.

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The District of Columbia War Memorial honors the 499 Washington D.C. soldiers who lost their lives in World War I. Construction began following an act of Congress in 1931, and President Herbert Hoover dedicated the memorial on Armistice Day, November 11, 1931.Located in West Potomac Park along Independence Avenue, the memorial received a $7.3 million refurbishment in 2010 and was re-opened to the public on November 10, 2011. 

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Opened to the public on August 22, 2011, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial honors an iconic leader in the Civil Rights Movement whose commitment to colorblind equality and nonviolence helped overturn centuries of racial segregation in the United States.Opened to the public on August 22, 2011, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial honors an iconic leader in the Civil Rights Movement whose commitment to colorblind equality and nonviolence helped overturn centuries of racial segregation in the United States.

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The International Spy Museum opened in Washington, DC on July 19, 2002. It is the only public museum in the United States solely dedicated to espionage and the only one in the world to provide a global perspective on an all-but-invisible profession that has shaped history and continues to have a significant impact on world events.

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The Navy Art Collection contains over 15,000 paintings, prints, drawings, and sculpture which bring alive the history, legacy and traditions of the United States Navy. The Navy History and Heritage Command maintains it the historic Navy Yard in Washington, D.C.The Art Collection contains depictions of naval ships, personnel, and action from all eras of U.S. naval history. Thanks to the Combat Art Program which began in 1941, the eras of World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and Desert Shield/Storm are particularly well represented.

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The Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation was founded in 1995 at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History through a generous gift from the Lemelson Foundation. Its collection documents the history of invention and technology.
The online catalog features a various guitars, from early 20th-century harp guitars to modern electric guitars.

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Martha Washington's granddaughter once hosted the brightest luminaries of early American politics at this gorgeous home; today, the site offers visitors a glimpse of nineteenth-century life.Martha Washington's granddaughter once hosted the brightest luminaries of early American politics at this gorgeous home; today, the site offers visitors a glimpse of nineteenth-century life.

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Opening on March 21, 2010, the German-American Heritage Museum of the USA will tell the story of all Americans of German-speaking ancestry.Opening on March 21, 2010, the German-American Heritage Museum of the USA will tell the story of all Americans of German-speaking ancestry.

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In 1861, theatre entrepreneur John T. Ford leased the First Baptist Church and converted it into a music hall. “Ford’s Athenaeum” grew in popularity and was poised for tremendous success when the building was tragically destroyed by fire. Undaunted, the entrepreneur immediately began reconstruction and opened Ford’s “New Theatre” in August 1863, at the height of the Civil War.

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