A People’s Journey, A Nation’s Story
Plan Your Visit
Open daily 10:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., except December 25
Featured Story
A Nation's Story: “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
On July 5, 1852, Frederick Douglass gave a keynote address at an Independence Day celebration and asked, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”
What's Happening at the Museum
A look at all the upcoming programs and events
Featured Exhibition
Searchable Museum
Discover the latest digital exhibition experience for the Searchable Museum, Making a Way Out of No Way.
Featured Learning Resource
Explore African American history through digital activities on the Smithsonian Learning Lab platform. The activities, or collections, have gathered objects, stories, videos and thinking questions all in one place.
Learning History Through Objects: The Founding Documents
What can objects tell us about the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and their relationships to the paradox of slavery and freedom in the new United States?
