Opened in 2016, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, DC, stands as the nation's only museum dedicated solely to capturing and sharing the "unvarnished truth" of African American life and legacy.
Through powerful exhibits and interactive elements, visitors experience stories of resilience, tragedy, creativity, and influence that shaped the country, from slavery and the Civil Rights Movement to groundbreaking achievements in music, sports, politics, the arts, and more.
Location and Getting There
NMAAHC is located at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW on the National Mall. The closest Metro stop is Federal Triangle on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines.
Hours of Operation
The museum is open every day of the year except for Christmas Day, December 25.
Tickets and Entry
The museum is free, but entry is governed by a system of timed-entry passes, or tickets. Due to the museum's popularity, free timed entry passes are required for all visitors, regardless of age. A limited number of timed-entry passes are available, and visitors can reserve their passes up to 30 days in advance on a rolling basis.
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The recently-announced visitation policy changes mark a significant shift for the museum, which has seen almost 5 million visitors since its historic 2016 opening.
The biggest shift is that on weekdays, in the off-peak fall and winter months from September to February, no tickets are required. During the months of March through August on weekdays, visitors can enter without a timed-entry pass; weekend visitors will still have to have timed-entry passes throughout the day.
Timed-entry tickets are made available online up to 30 days in advance of a visit date. Beginning January 7, the museum is launching its new online group ticketing platform.
There are no advance timed-entry passes available for December, but same-day passes can be obtained online, every morning beginning at 6:30.
Inside the Museum
The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture is a state-of-the-art building that addresses nearly every aspect of the African American experience, covering the arts, slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, athletics and much more.
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The building's five-floor layout is designed to take visitors on a symbolic and chronological journey from slavery to modern-day, ideally experienced from the bottom up.
The museum’s collection of artifacts is astounding: 3,500 are on view, with another 35,000 or so in the collection. Navigating the entirety of the NMAAHC would be very difficult to accomplish in one visit, and the breadth of its exhibits is astonishing.
Exhibits to Explore
However, there are several displays that you should be aware of before you go.
- Musical Crossroads: The Musical Crossroads exhibit details the history African American music, from the arrival of the first Africans to today. From jazz to hip-hop, African American musicians brought forth new forms of expression that lit a candle for liberty, justice and change.
- Slavery and Freedom: Slavery and Freedom uses first-person accounts and striking historical artifacts to tell an incredibly complicated tale. The exhibit traces slavery from 15th century Africa and Europe to the Civil War and Reconstruction in the United States. This vital history emphasizes that American slavery and freedom are deeply intertwined, and that the story of slavery is in fact a shared one that resides at the core of American politics, economics and daily life to this day.
- Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom and A Changing America: Continue your dive into history with Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom and A Changing America. The former covers the era of segregation and the onset of the Civil Rights Movement, highlighting the struggle that African Americans faced and conquered in establishing a cultural identity and their own communities, changing the nation along the way. The latter goes from 1968 until today, covering the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Additional Information
Object Rotation
The Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture carefully manages display and rest cycles in order to protect objects from light, dust and other kinds of environmental damage, preserving them so that they can be appreciated for years to come.
Architectural Inspiration
The building’s exterior, conceived by Ghanaian-born architect David Adjaye, is artfully made up of a three-tiered, bronze-colored screen.
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Tours and Events
Yes! Most tours are about one hour, focusing in on a particular topic or exhibit. It's best to check before your visit and arrive early, since tours depend on docent availability. Check the museum’s calendar for more programming and events.
Contemplative Court
This special room on the ground level was designed to be the perfect environment to decompress, apt for deep thoughts, meditation and processing the history presented in the museum's exhibits. At its center, a round skylight feeds a cascading fountain, filling the dimly lit room with soft glow and the gentle sound of falling water.
