The White House Historical Association interprets the history of the White House, home to the Presidents of the United States since the term of John Adams (1797-1801).
The visitors' center offers exhibits. The website offers lesson plans; educational activities; historic photographs; timelines; virtual tours; educational interactive animations; audio and video clips; and podcasts.
The Textile Museum presents the cultural significance and artistry of world textiles. The museum library contains more than 20,000 volumes, including listings of educational programs and textile collections; and the artifact collection contains over 18,000 artifacts from around the world—with the oldest dating to 3,000 B.C.E.
The museum offers guided highlights tours, interactive educational tours, hands-on activities, teacher workshops, and supporting materials for selected exhibits. Reservations are required for educational tours. The website offers digital exhibits.
The library is currently closed for reorganization.
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens consists of a historic home and surrounding gardens. The Georgian mansion was originally designed in 1926; and was purchased by Marjorie Merriweather Post, heir to the Post cereal fortune, in 1955. The extensive gardens reflect a variety of influences and include a Japanese garden, one of the last remaining examples of the type of oriental gardens influenced by the reintroduction of the Japanese culture to America during the 1950s. Today the estate has one of the most comprehensive collections of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Russian Imperial art outside of Russia, as well as an extensive collection of eighteenth-century French decorative arts. Highlights include a diamond crown worn by Empress Alexandra at her marriage to Nicholas II; Beauvais tapestries designed by François Boucher; two Imperial Easter eggs by Carl Fabergé; La Nuit by William-Adolphe Bouguereau; and a collection of costumes and accessories worn by Mrs. Post or her family. Many artifacts can be viewed in the mansion.
The estate offers an introductory film; period rooms; exhibits; Acoustiguide tours for the home, gardens, Russian collection, and French collection, as well as a tour designed for children; guided tours of the mansion and gardens; self-guided written tours; custom tours; sign language, oral, or cued speech interpreters—with advance notice; Braille information guides; a resource area; and a non-circulating art research library. The website offers digital access to the collections.
The Stephen Decatur House is one of the oldest surviving homes in Washington, DC and one of only three remaining residential buildings in the country designed by Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who has been called the father of American architecture. The home was completed in 1818, and has been home to many prominent figures over the course of its history both due to its neoclassical architecture as well as its location across from the White House. The location offers visitors a glimpse into nearly 200 years of Washington history through a variety of permanent and special exhibits. Currently, the house is undergoing an extensive renovation, though exhibits continue to be open for visitors.
The website offers brief biographies of all house owners, a history of the Lafayette Square neighborhood; information on all special events and programs, including educational tours and other programs designed for schoolchildren; an online museum shop; and visitor information.
The house offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational programs.
As the Smithsonian Institution's museum of African-American history and culture, the Museum explores American history, society, and creative expression from an African-American perspective. The museum encourages the collection, protection, and preservation of materials that reflect the history and traditions of families, organizations, individuals, and communities.
The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and recreational and educational events.
Visitor to this Victorian mansion can step back into family life in Washington at the turn of the century. The Victorian interior decorations and furnishings remain largely unchanged since it was built in the late 19th century. Looking very much like a medieval castle, this 31-room mansion was designed by John Granville Myers for local brewer Christian Heurich, between 18941896. The interior is predominately Renaissance and Rococo Revival.
The house offers tours.
Braden Paynter of the Frederick Douglass Historical Site, Callie Hawkins of Lincoln's Cottage, and Eric Martin of Ford's Theatre each describe methods their sites use to immerse and provide context for visitors.
From a President Lincoln's Cottage email:
"This FREE event invites educators to explore Lincoln's country home and workplace where he spent one quarter of his presidency and thought through his ideas on the Civil War and emancipation and to discover the array of hands-on, engaging programs the Civil War Washington Museum Consortium has to offer for students in Kindergarten through Twelfth grade!"
From the Smithsonian American Art Museum website:
"Join colleagues from across the country for a unique opportunity to collaborate with art experts and leading technology professionals. Through gallery talks, lectures, discussion groups, and hands-on activities, you will learn to incorporate technology to enliven your core subject teaching. As part of an interdisciplinary team, you'll share models for integrating art across the curriculum using Web 2.0 applications, such as podcasts, wikis, and blogs."
"Institutes are open to educator teams of two to three members, from the same school or district, each representing a different subject area (i.e., social studies, language arts, science, math, etc.). Each applicant must be a full-time grade 4-12 teacher."
For more on the Smithsonian American Art Museum, refer to NHEC's Museums and Historic Sites listing.
From the Smithsonian American Art Museum website:
"Join colleagues from across the country for a unique opportunity to collaborate with art experts and leading technology professionals. Through gallery talks, lectures, discussion groups, and hands-on activities, you will learn to incorporate technology to enliven your core subject teaching. As part of an interdisciplinary team, you'll share models for integrating art across the curriculum using Web 2.0 applications, such as podcasts, wikis, and blogs."
"Institutes are open to educator teams of two to three members, from the same school or district, each representing a different subject area (i.e., social studies, language arts, science, math, etc.). Each applicant must be a full-time grade 4-12 teacher."
For more on the Smithsonian American Art Museum, refer to NHEC's Museums and Historic Sites listing.