Top 10 History Museums in Upper Northwest, District of Columbia (DC)

One of the Smithsonian museums along the Mall, this one has more than 3 million artifacts in its collection—from gowns to locomotives—that reflect and preserve a record of America’s past.

A living memorial to the Holocaust, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum inspires citizens and leaders worldwide to confront hatred, prevent genocide, and promote human dignity. Tickets are only needed from March 1 to August 31 to visit the Museum's Permanent Exhibition, which tells the history of the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945. Exhibitions Include: Permanent Exhibition: The Holocaust Spanning three floors, the self-guided Permanent Exhibition presents a narrative history of the Holocaust and features historical artifacts, photographs, and film footage. Personal objects and the concluding eyewitness testimonies highlight the stories of individuals. Recommended for ages 11 or older. The Portal: A Real-Time Conversation with People Forced to Flee Persecution The Shared Studios Portal allows you to have a face-to-face conversation with someone in another part of the world-as if you are standing in the same room. Through this installation, visitors will be able to converse in real time with displaced persons or refugees in Iraq, Jordan, and Germany Remember the Children: Daniel's Story Representing the experiences of many Jewish children during the Nazi era, "Daniel" narrates through his diary the history of the Holocaust in ways that children can understand. Recreated environments present life in a middle-class German home, in a Jewish ghetto in occupied Poland, and finally at the Auschwitz concentration camp. The exhibition is explicit without being graphic. Recommended for ages 8 or older. Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration & Complicity in the Holocaust Some Were Neighbors: Collaboration & Complicity in the Holocaust addresses one of the central questions about the Holocaust: How was it possible? The central role of Hitler and other Nazi Party leaders is indisputable. Less well understood is these perpetrators' dependence on countless others for the execution of Nazi racial policies. Within Nazi Germany and across German-dominated Europe, circles of collaboration and complicity rippled throughout governments and societies wherever victims of persecution and mass murder lived.

The Woodrow Wilson House is open! We welcome visitors back for a variety of Covid friendly activities and for private events including weddings and corporate receptions, seven days a week. Don’t miss your chance to visit the Suffrage Outside exhibition, the only fully outdoor history exhibit in DC, on display in the Wilson House garden through November 30th. Reserve your visiting time on our website www.woodrowwilsonhouse.org. Also available are two walking tours: "If these walls could talk! A Waddy Wood Walking Tour" and the "Kalorama Audio Tour". Once you’ve downloaded the map, take the tour at your leisure. The giftshop and bathroom are open during business hours.

Visitors can view the portraits of all the U.S. presidents.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum shares its collections, programs, and exhibitions in two locations in Washington, DC. SAAM’s main building is located at the heart of a vibrant downtown cultural district.

The DAR Museum looks at the American experience through objects and art of the American home from the Colonial Era to the early 20th century. Visitors can tour 31 period rooms, learn about the history of American furnishings through a fun interactive area, and research their family history in the library.

The African-American Civil War Museum and Memorial was created to tell the story and pay tribute to African-Americans who fought in the Civil War.

Explore the Society of the Cincinnati's historic headquarters, Anderson House, a National Historic Landmark that has been the Society's home since 1938. The Society and its American Revolution Institute work to honor the men and women who won American independence in the Revolutionary War by supporting advanced study, presenting exhibitions and other public programs, advocating preservation, and providing resources to teachers and students. Tours of Anderson House reveal the history of the Society of the Cincinnati, the significance of the American Revolution, and the lives and collections of the home's first owners, Larz and Isabel Anderson. The mansion was completed in 1905 for the Andersons, a wealthy couple who devoted their lives to public service, travel, entertaining, collecting, and philanthropy-interests and activities that are reflected in Anderson House, where much of the couple's art collection and furnishings are still on display. Guided tours begin at 15 minutes past each hour. Anderson House also offers a changing exhibition gallery, a research library, and an active calendar of public programs.

The National Woman's Party at the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument is the only museum in the nation's Capitol that tells the inspiring and ongoing story of women's quest for equality. The Sewall House has stood strong on Capitol Hill for over two hundred years. Early occupants of the house participated in the formulation of Congress and witnessed the construction of the US Capitol and the Supreme Court. In 1929, the National Woman's Party (NWP) purchased the house, and it soon evolved into a center for feminist education and social change. For over sixty years, the trail-blazing NWP utilized the strategic location of the house to lobby for women's political, social, and economic equality.Today, the National Woman's Party tells the compelling story of a community of women who dedicated their lives to the fight for women's rights. The innovative tactics and strategies these women devised became the blueprint for women's progress throughout the twentieth century. The Museum exhibits highlight the tactics and strategies used during the 20th century women's rights movement. Artifacts from the NWP collection bring the story to life. Public Programs showcase the Museum's commitment to continuing conversations on women's progress while examining the ongoing national and international quest for women's equality.The site was dedicated as a National Monument for its significance to the history of the United States.