Smithsonian National Museum of American History

The museum opened in 1964 as the Museum of History and Technology before being renamed in 1980. Its centerpiece, the Star-Spangled Banner, is a 30-by-34-foot wool bunting flag commissioned by Fort McHenry’s commander before the War of 1812. After inspiring Francis Scott Key to write the poem that became the national anthem, the flag was preserved by the Armistead family and donated to the Smithsonian in 1907.

Collections range from inaugural gowns and presidential artifacts to Julia Child’s kitchen, Thomas Edison’s experimental light bulbs, and the original Kermit the Frog puppet. The museum’s American Democracy and American Presidency galleries document the country’s political history through objects that witnessed it firsthand.