Technology & Innovation

Inventing in America, a collaboration with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, focuses on inventions and innovators of the past and present, including Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, and Thomas Edison. The displays feature early patent .... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.

In the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation Object Project, visitors consider the impact of innovative things on everyday life in the past. This is a place to celebrate some everyday things that changed everything through approximately 250 objects .... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.

Spark!Lab is open Wednesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Hours are subject to change please check the events calendar for the latest information. Spark!Lab is where museum visitors become inventors. The Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and .... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.

American Enterprise chronicles the tumultuous interaction of capitalism and democracy that resulted in the continual remaking of American business—and American life. It traces the development of the United States from a small dependent .... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.

The Value of Money examines global histories of exchange, cultural interaction, political change, and innovation through more than 400 objects from the National Museum of American History’s National Numismatic Collection. The exhibition .... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.

“Big Band” is by American painter LeRoy Neiman, who was known for his brilliantly colored, expressionist paintings and screen prints of athletes, musicians and sporting events. Completed in 2005, this work depicts performers he saw in concert .... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.

Explore the work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. Examine the inspection service’s history, work through some of its most famous and remarkable cases, learn how the service helps protect you,.... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.

Encounter the world’s first postage stamp—the 1840 Penny Black, with its profile of young Queen Victoria—and learn how it revolutionized communication. Learn how stamps have shaped history and honored people and places around the world. See .... Shortened snippet. View full page for more details.