Smithsonian National Museum of American History
http://americanhistory.si.edu

Opened in 1964 as the National Museum of History and Technology and renamed in 1980, the museum explores America's cultural, political, technical, and scientific past. The incredible diversity of artifacts helps the Smithsonian live up to its nickname, "the Nation's attic." This is the museum that displays Muhammad Ali's boxing gloves, Judy Garland's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz, and the Bunkers' living-room furniture from All in the Family.  Other highlights include the First Ladies’ Inaugural Ball gowns, Julia Child’s kitchen, and the American flag that flew over Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote The Star Spangled Banner.  In addition, the Museum is hosting a special exhibit on military history and Americans at war – The Price of Freedom -  http://americanhistory.si.edu/militaryhistory. 

Exhibits on the first floor emphasize the history of science and technology and include farm machines, automobiles, and a 280-ton steam locomotive. The permanent "Science in American Life" exhibit shows how science has shaped American life through such breakthroughs as the mass production of penicillin, the development of plastics, and the birth of the environmental movement. Another permanent exhibit looks at 19th-century life in three communities: industrial-age Bridgeport, Connecticut; the Jewish immigrant community in Cincinnati, Ohio; and African-Americans living in Charleston, South Carolina. Also here are Lewis and Clark's compass and a life mask of Abraham Lincoln. The second floor is devoted to U.S. social and political history and has an exhibit on everyday American life just after the Revolution. A permanent exhibit, "First Ladies: Political Role and Public Image," displays gowns worn by presidential wives, but it goes beyond fashion to explore the women behind the satin, lace, and brocade. The third floor has installations on money, musical instruments, and photography.