The Smithsonian Institution, the largest museum complex in the world, is made up of 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoo, in Washington, D.C., area and New York City. It also is an important research organization, with facilities and projects worldwide.

This brochure, offered as a companion to "Go Smithsonian," a free guide to the Institution, provides details on exhibitions and objects on display that reflect the contributions of African Americans to the history and culture of the United States. Details on exhibitions and objects in the collections and on view that reflect the life and art of the peoples of Africa are offered as well. Programs and activities for young African American visitors also are noted.

On December 16, 2003, President George W. Bush signed legislation to create a National Museum of African American History and Culture within the Smithsonian Institution. This new museum will be devoted to the documentation of African American life, art, history and culture. The museum will be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Information subject to change. Please call (202) 633-1000 (voice) or (202) 633-5285 (TTY) to verify dates and other information. Send e-mail requests to info@si.edu, or visit the Smithsonian’s Web site at www.smithsonian.org.

The S. Dillon Ripley Center serves as a learning annex with meeting rooms, classrooms and a lecture hall. In addition, it is the home of the International Gallery, which features changing exhibitions from various Smithsonian museums and other organizations. The short-term exhibitions are typically on art, history, culture and science.

It also houses the Discovery Theater, which offers live educational performances for young people, featuring multicultural programs in music, theater, storytelling and puppetry, from mid-September through July. During Black History Month in February, the theater offers special performances to celebrate the contributions of African Americans.

In addition, the museum’s World War II Aviation Gallery includes a section on African American pilots. In Space Hall, the spacesuit of the first African American in space, Guion “Guy” Bluford, is on view. A backup to the Apollo 16 telescope is on display in the Apollo to the Moon Gallery. This is the first telescope used to make astronomical observations from the surface of another planetary body and was designed and built by black astronomer George Carruthers.

Every February during Black History Month, both museum locations - on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. - offer lectures by and about African American aviators, astronauts and scientists, as well as special programs for families.

The museum celebrates the rich visual traditions of Africa through its collections, exhibitions and public programs. The heritage of Africans and African Americans is seen through the many objects in the collections or on view, including exquisite pottery, musical instruments; royal jewelry and masks.

The museum’s pavilion is a welcoming introduction to Africa, its art, peoples and geography. Visitors are greeted with traditional and contemporary African music, as well as a film that runs continuously.

The space also is home to interactive computer stations that allow visitors access to information about museum exhibitions and programs, works in the museum’s permanent collection and facts about African-related events taking place at other Smithsonian venues.

Family activities include a year-round program of storytelling and music performances, hands-on workshops and reading programs.

The museum reflects the experiences of the American people and holds in its collections more than 25,000 objects related to the contributions of African Americans, including memorabilia of educator Nannie Helen Burroughs; 100,000 pages of Duke Ellington’s unpublished music; Arthur Ashe’s tennis racket; Ella Fitzgerald’s famous red dress; and a section of the Woolworth’s lunch counter from Greensboro, N.C., where four black college students held a sit-in for racial equality in 1960. The museum initiated the founding of Jazz Appreciation Month, held annually in April, and each year offers a variety of programs throughout the month.

The museum, now closed for renovation, is expected to reopen in summer 2008. Visit the museum's Web site at americanhistory.si.edu to explore collections, activities and exhibitions, including, "The American Presidency," "Julia Child's Kitchen," "The Price of Freedom: Americans at War," "America on the Move" and more.

The exhibition, "Treasures of American History," which includes the Greensboro lunch counter; Duke Ellington's sheet music for "Mood Indigo"; a poem jar by Dave, slave potter; and photos of Malcolm X and Marian Anderson, is on view until spring 2008 at the National Air and Space Museum.

The museum’s African Voices Hall presents the richness and diversity of cultures throughout Africa and its diaspora. The exhibition spans Africa’s history, from early civilizations along the Nile River through contemporary societies. Films, lectures and other public programs are presented at the museum in conjunction with African Voices.

Discover Africa, a small interactive room for families, is located within the African Voices Hall. Here, young visitors and their parents can touch unusual objects from Africa, shape and wrap headdresses, and learn greetings in different languages from around the continent.

Mammals of Africa, from a lion and giraffe to an impala and an ardvark, are featured in the Hall of Mammals.

For Black History Month, the Smithsonian Jazz Cafe in the museum features jazz and African American musicians each Friday evening throughout the month of February. For more information on the Jazz Cafe, visit www

In the Zoo’s African American Heritage Garden, from April through October, visitors are introduced to many African plants that have nourished and healed generations of African Americans. Many of the favorite animals exhibited throughout the park are from Africa as well.

For a century, the Zoo has hosted an annual African American Family Celebration on Easter Monday. Visitors enjoy Easter egg hunts, live music, storytelling, animal demonstrations, dance performances, African drumming and more.

The gallery tells the story of America through the individuals who have built our national culture. Poets and presidents, visionaries and villains, actors and activists who speak our history are portrayed through the visual arts, the performing arts and new media.

The museum holds the nation's first collection of American art, an unparalleled record of the American experience that captures the aspirations, character and imagination of the American people over three centuries.

The pioneering efforts of its curators have created a collection of African American art that is now considered the largest anywhere, including works by such masters as Romare Bearden, Roy DeCarava, Robert Scott Duncanson, Lois Mailou Jones, Jacob Lawrence, Edmonia Lewis, Gordon Parks, Horace Pippin, Martin Puryear, Faith Ringgold and Renee Stout.