National Museum of American History--GRAND REOPENING FESTIVAL!

Join us for the GRAND REOPENING CELEBRATION for the National Museum of American History!!! Experience the newly transformed Museum with a dynamic schedule of activities, including musical entertainment, living history and various giveaways (while supplies last), in addition to the Museum’s usual exhibition offerings. ADMISSION IS FREE!! Let's meet at 10:30AM near the entrance. Museum is located at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Nearest metro stops are Smithsonian or Federal Triangle. Look for "Meetup" sign/nametag. If you have trouble finding the group call me at 301-325-9548. Following is a brief description of the festival from the museum's website. If you'd like to visit the museum online visit www.americanhistorysi.edu. The soundtrack of American history will echo through the Museum during the reopening celebration as musical styles of our nation’s past come to life. Jazz, blues, Latin, 19th-century string band music, "freedom songs" of the Civil Rights Movement and military music will fill the Museum. Performances will rotate and repeat throughout the day. Complete schedules will be available at the Welcome Center on the second floor or the Information Desk on the first floor. Visitors will have the opportunity to meet actors impersonating Mary Pickersgill, who made the Star-Spangled Banner in 1813, outside of the iconic flag’s new gallery. Near the Greensboro Lunch Counter display visitors may take part in the sit-ins of the Civil Rights Movement or move to "The Price of Freedom" exhibition to listen to letters home from American soldiers throughout our nation’s armed conflicts. Visitors may have their photo taken with Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz," George Washington, Civil War soldiers and other historical characters in front of the Museum’s iconic landmark objects, such as Clara Barton’s ambulance, the John Bull locomotive or Dumbo the elephant. Volunteers will be on hand to assist in photography. At artifact and destination carts visitors will have the opportunity to get their hands on history. These carts provide a venue where visitors get to be the historian and learn about the past. Everyday objects can be examined for clues about the people who made and used them, and visitors can explore the experience of various Americans, such as soldiers, throughout history. Carts vary daily. Check at the Welcome Center on the second floor or the Information Desk on the first floor for daily schedules. At staffed kiosks on the third floor, visitors will be able to test drive "Smithsonian’s History Explorer," the Museum’s new gateway to online resources for teaching and learning American history made possibly by a new partnership with Thinkfinity.org, the Verizon Foundation’s comprehensive education program and online portal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History reopens after two years of architectural renovations to shed new light on American history, literally and figuratively. The Museum has been dramatically transformed and will engage audiences of all ages. Visitors walk into a five-story skylit atrium, surrounded by artifact displays showcasing the breadth of the Museum’s three million objects from the cultural, social, technological and political history of the United States. A grand staircase now links the Museum’s first and second floors and six landmark objects located in the wings of each of the three exhibition floors help orient visitors. New galleries such as the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Hall of Invention, presenting "Invention at Play," join old favorites including "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden" and "America on the Move." At the heart of the Museum, the Star-Spangled Banner—one of the most recognized symbols of the nation—has been given a new state-of-the-art gallery and fresh interpretation. The grand reopening kicks off a year of new exhibitions and programming throughout 2009.