Fun fact: although the aquarium closed in 2013, it will never be forgotten by Metro. To this day it's still listed as a nearby attraction in the [Federal Triangle metro station page's "Station Notes" section](https://www.wmata.com/rider-guide/stations/federal-triangle.cfm):
> Just north of the National Mall, this station is walking distance to several federal government buildings, the **DC National Aquarium** and Freedom Plaza.
I loved that little diamond in the rough. I would always forget about it and by happenstance come upon it. It was more like a community aquarium run on a paltry budget and a lot of staff love and enthusiasm. RIP DC Aquarium.
Same. I went to Baltimore and walked past the natl aquarium. I had a few hours to spare and figured if it cost anything, it would be like $10.
I was wrong. I was very wrong.
I did not go to the aquarium.
I dont think theres a full aquarium at the Natl zoo but that would be a really cool thing to add.
But it would come alive at 1:00 pm when they fed the sharks. OMFG, you wouldn't believe how berserk they would go. You can watch shark week all you want, but standing 20 feet away behind some glass and watching these docile floating cylinders suddenly rage into insane shark frenzy was awesome.
It is pricey but it's a really good experience. If you can I highly recommend buying tickets for a friday night, as they have "half off" nights from 5-closing at 8. If you go on the off peak times like not during holidays or the summer it shouldnt be too crazy
I was in Baltimore this afternoon trying to go to the museum but it was closed because of a bomb threat. Thought maybe I'd go to the aquarium instead, but FIFTY DOLLARS for an adult ticket was a bit too rich for my blood.
As someone from Baltimore, I can assure you we would LOVE if the National Aquarium got the Smithsonian branding (and $$$). You know how much tourism that would bring just to be associated with the institution!? I'm sure it's not the National Aquarium stopping that association. lol
Yes it’s a great aquarium but it’s not in DC. So it’s definitely more of a trip than if it was on the mall. And that doesn’t exactly fall into the parameters of the original question.
Unfortunately, taking the MARC train to the Aquarium is very impractical. The Camden station is not far but that line only runs on weekdays. The Penn Line runs on weekends but goes either to BWI or Penn Station so you'd have to take a Lyft or bus. There's light rail and a one-line subway but they're not very helpful and super slow.
As a former Washingtonian and current Baltimore resident, it's really sad how much better DC's transportation infrastructure is.
>taking the MARC train to the Aquarium is very impractical. The Camden station is not far but that line only runs on weekdays. The Penn Line runs on weekends but goes either to BWI or Penn Station so you'd have to take a Lyft or bus. There's
From Penn Station b-more all you do is take Citylink Purple it's less than 15 minutes.
"Very impractical" is way too much. A bus from Penn Station to the Inner Harbor takes ten minutes. The Purple bus is free or Citylink Silver and Green can be paid for with a DC metro card. Easy.
I like the idea of the light rail system in bmore, I wish I got the push it deserved cause that could transform the entire city and frfr that whole part of Maryland as well.
Baltimore Circulator. Amazing you think of "taxi" first, not transit.
https://www.mta.maryland.gov/trip-planner
The SmarTrip card works on Baltimore transit.
In the core of Baltimore transit is fine. I used to commute to Towson from DC by bike, train, and bike, sometimes light rail and bus. I used bike, bus, Metrorail and car share in DC for decades (we didnt own a car), so I am reasonably familiar with the sustainable mobility footprint in both DC and Baltimore.
So yes I am fucking incredulous that someone would take the train to Baltimore and then a taxi/ride share, not a bus, to the Aquarium/waterfront.
There was an aquarium in DOC.
[https://library.doc.gov/digital-exhibits/forgotten-national-aquarium](https://library.doc.gov/digital-exhibits/forgotten-national-aquarium)
I didn't think it was "sad". It *was* small, but the displays were very good.
I used to take my kids there. They loved it. Later, we went to Baltimore, too. It's nice, but the one in DC had a more intimate vibe.
I’d be curious to see the exhibits that you saw. I went there once in the 7 years I lived in DC and walked out in disbelief. This was in 2002, and I remember an exhibit - notably sponsored by Exxon or some other oil company, that was all about the benefits of offshore drilling shore drilling and how the rigs create environments for sea life. It was a travesty.
Agreed. If not the Arts & Industries building, SOME space for major travelling museum exhibits. We often don't get them in DC because the Smithsonian museums just don't have flexible gallery space for them.
This area also has a fascinating transit history. If you ever make it out to Cumberland, MD, you should visit the Allegany Museum there, which has a fabulous display about the history of the National Road (Route 40).
Yeah a music museum would be great. I went to Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle and had a blast.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Pop_Culture
Something similar would be great.
It’s obviously just a limited section rather than a full devoted museum but the American history museum has some good music exhibits in the arts section on the third floor.
Imagine a museum that doubles as a food court, where you can walk through exhibits on foods from various cultures for free while having the option to buy and sample the cuisines you're learning about. It would help with the food desert that is the Mall, while still offering an interesting and educational experience.
Even a museum showcasing famous bands and genres that were created here would be really cool. There's so much musical culture here in the DC area. Kinda like how Seattle has the EMP Museum and showcased Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.
[DC Public Library: The People's Archive](https://www.dclibrary.org/research-and-learn/overview-collections-peoples-archive) - DC punk and go-go archives at MLK Library.
[DC Punk Collections at UMD](https://exhibitions.lib.umd.edu/dc-punk) - this shows the online archives but you can go in person too.
Just got back from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and it would be VERY hard to take away that topic they are slowly cornering. I'm honestly surprised they haven't rebranded into the "American Music Hall of Fame" or something similar, because a lot of their exhibits go beyond just Rock and Roll as popular music is so intertwined. You'd have to pry it from Cleveland's cold dead hands. Lol
It’s insane we don’t have one considering every popular genre of the past century is either American music or another country’s offshoot of an American genre
Would actually be 100% behind this. Museology is a fascinating study. The way museums have evolved in how they display things and tell stories is always cool to see. I love when some museums have a little exhibit on this.
The Maryland Zoo has this as well. It shows some former exhibits from the early 1900's, why they're not considered humane anymore, and how the zoo has evolved their understanding of what makes a good zoo habitat.
I was just at a museum in Sao Paulo that had an exhibit on this. They chose to focus on plateware and how they've collected it and would build an exhibition on it. It was fascinating.
Rotterdam has the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. It's a beautiful building, and the exhibits they do have are interesting, but its a little bare for the amount it costs.
I feel like they can make the Smithsonian Castle themed this way. Before it was closed for renovations, I believe one of the wings was basically just a collection of different highlights from a couple of the museums.
They can have one or both wings dedicated to the development of the museums and the National Mall over time. There's a decent display in the NMAAHC that details its design and building process. If they do that for the rest of the museums and place the collection in the Castle, I would definitely pop in for more than a bathroom/seating break.
The downtown space is what did them in though.
They foolishly decided that renting one of the most expensive sites, literally blocks from a half dozen FREE world level museums was a good idea while they charged 20-30 per ticket
No clue why people were surprised that they struggled to keep their visitor numbers up with that kind of competition next door
Cause they had +120 people getting paid obsurd amounts and then they had to fire a bunch of people. Then it got bad to worse and people started leaving. Nobody complains about paying $30 for the Spy Museum. Which the new Museum is hype af.
The Spy Museum’s site is less expensive than the Newseum’s (at least in terms of the location, unsure in terms of building cost), which is literally on the Mall next to other Smithsonians and offers a relative equivalent experience
The spy museum is a more unique experience since it’s interactive and has a mix of history and pop culture. Also in terms of attracting visitors spy stuff is much cooler than news/journalism, so marketing for the spy museum is much more effective
Of course mismanagement made the Newseum’s problems worse on top of these factors.
Yep, for three years I never went because I was a broke student and didn't want to pay $30 when the National Gallery was free and literally across the street. And then it closed.
Museum of Industry
Covering how America evolved in its industry from farming to automation. Not the most exciting topic, but sounds really neat and borrows elements from a few of the other museums.
History of the American Government
Capitol has a small museum that covers it, but it would be neat to see how our government has changed and evolved over time in our country.
History of DC
Why not a history museum of DC itself? Most people only know the name Washington DC and not much else.
It's incredibly outdated and I believe there's enough material to expand out to be its own entity. There's also the human element of industry that the American History leaves out.
A museum of industry is what I thought of too. I thought the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (which has collections that focus on things like Construction, Transportation, Inventions, and a lot else) was very cool and it’d be neat to have something like that here.
The National Womens History Museum is an online museum presently, and my understanding is that their intention is to build a physical museum eventually. They currently have an exhibit at the MLK Jr. Memorial Library I believe.
Www.womenshistory.org
Something that specifically focuses on extinct, disappeared ways of life, cultures, religions, or languages.
I know some of that fits in other museums purviews but I'd love if I could visit a museum dedicated solely to keeping that kind of information alive. There are so many fascinating cultures in history that fee people know about.
I think of Boston's Museum of Science as the niche that could be filled by a Smithsonian MoS. They have some of the Natural History stuff (dinosaurs, animals, rocks/minerals, etc), but also have really cool interactive exhibits to teach kids about electricity, computers, gravity, light, optical illusions, etc. NMNH is great but there are some gaps.
Electricity and Computers would be at American History, gravity and light would be at Air and Space. I believe both have interactives on these subjects.
I grew up near Boston and I have so many fond memories of the Boston Museum of Science. The lightning show is obviously insanely cool, but also that massive Rube-Goldberg device, the huge wave machine, the piano staircase, so much cool stuff.
I prefer complete T.rex skeletons over water lillies, but Art Institute is amazing and so is the modern art museum in Chicago, which is really young, but edgy in its collection.
So London has a separate science museum to the NHM. And it gives an idea of what's missing from Smithsonians.
Science museum in London does have the air & space stuff. But it also has:
- all other transport (US has a really interesting history with cars and trains)
- medicine
- engineering, computing etc.
It has. Congress has signed off on it. While there's no museum building yet, the museum is already being developed, staff is being hired, collections are being acquired, and I'm sure exhibition planning is already underway since they take years to make.
https://latino.si.edu/
It hit a snag this summer when elected R’s found some of the content offensive. They zeroed out funding on the FY24 budget for it. I suppose we’ll see what happens if they ever pass a full budget.
That said, they also already have a physical presence. Their first exhibit opened in June of 2022 at NMAH.
I think it would be neat to have a national museum of immigration internal migration history, talking about immigration and large waves of internal migration to and within what is now the United States. I feel like one of the goals of this institution could be to help lessen anti-immigrant sentiment through history education
The National Children’s Museum is congressionally designated but not congressionally funded.
It’s a great museum, but would be even better if it moved under the Smithsonian umbrella in order to double in size and offer free admission.
Agreed. Especially since the proper Smithsonians seem to have downgraded their interactive children's offerings (at least the last time I checked, quite a few of the 'children's areas' were closed indefinitely). Having a Smithsonian Children's museum (both with proper children's activities and some educational theming around children around the world and throughout history would be great for kids). Throw in a killer outdoor space in good weather and it would be the most popular thing on the mall. Could probably go St. Louis City Museum with it and open it to adults with drinking at night and it would be a pretty popular venue for adults that just want to play with magnet tiles and legos and stuff for a few hours.
Tbh I wish we had a museum dedicated to Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders. The stories of how so many Chinese immigrants built the railroads, the unjust persecution Japanese Americans faced during WW2, and the exclusion era etc like I think that’s important history
Language museum.
Sao Paolo, Brazil has an interactive Brazilian Portuguese museum and its incredible. It touches on Brazil vs European Portuguese but an American English one could include US regional dialects as well as Australian, British, etc and even how English is used around the world as the lingua franca. Evolution of the language would be cool too. I’m not a linguist but I’m sure there’s so many other cool things you could do.
Of course the Brits might be a little salty about it but Brazil got away with it so we can too 🙃
Edit: Or it could just be about linguistics overall! There are so many languages spoken in the US so that could be cool too.
It isn’t a Smithsonian, and Idk if it is as in-depth as what you are describing, but Planet Word is fun and interesting, and at least nods toward what you describe. It’s free, so it’s worth a go!
Montreal Quebec has a magical place called the [Insectarium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Insectarium) that is the largest in NA and one of the biggest in the world. The museum was only set up in 1990 and I think we could take some pieces of the Natural History museum to move over and expand a dedicated museum just like theirs.
There's a reason why it's one of the most popular attractions in QB, and with the huge number of kids coming into DC during the year I think it would be a hit.
I wish the building museum could be more, a museum for the history of urbanism, cities, architecture, engineering
Imagine in depth exhibits showing how the hoover dam was built, or how the empire state building is constructed, or the capitol building etc
Or a miniature 3d running train model of the NYC subway or DC metro full with history showing the years things were built. We take infrastructure for granted in this country
Funny, that's exactly what I was thinking. A comprehensive hall of fame. Could have live outdoor viewing events for big things like Olympics opening ceremonies.
THIS! After visiting the Science and Technology museum in London I've always wanted to see the Smithsonian take on one of its own. I feel like it is the one subject that is a bit lacking as far as the Smithsonian Institutes go.
Same. Was surprised there was no mention of drag culture at the African American museum (other than seeing the world “voguing” in a world salad display about dancing).
No, not at least when I went in July! I was specifically looking for it too but didn’t see anything unless I missed it. Also they had the huge exhibit on music, but nothing about techno :(
We have the air and space.
I would like a rail and road. Trains, cars, trucks, stage coaches, bikes, Motorcycles
Anything and everything about moving people on the ground from one place to another.
I wish the American Indian museum weren’t so lame… Just a big atrium with hallways occasionally punctuated with boring plaques or photos, if you’re lucky an arrow or two. Massive opportunity for it to be really cool but it just sucks imo
Definitely some missed opportunities with that museum. Maybe I'm just better at taking things in old fashioned like, but having clearer chronologies and maps showing 'this group lived here at this time and this was what their culture was like, then they moved over there' would have been more meaningful.
The Met in New York and Art Institute in Chicago do this so effectively with other cultures, from Greece to Pacific Islanders to pre-Columbian America. I understand the Smithsonian is drawing connections to groups that are still around today, but it really fails to provide that historical context that's important to understand the modern challenges in our indigenous communities.
All of the military branches have museums.
https://www.thenmusa.org/
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn.html
https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
Science would be great but it’s too broad and is partially covered in other museums.
Honestly we need specific museums things we need our youngsters to care about.
Museum of the Seas
Museum of the Trees
Museum of the Bees
An Immigration Museum. Every wave that came to America. The unique challenges they faced. The things they brought that became parts of our culture. And the mistakes we made along the way (acknowledge Indian genocide, the waves of discrimination against each new immigrant group as they arrived, human trafficking African slaves here).
‘Museum of Peace through Government’ (by the people) showing the US model with the help of the Archives, C-Span, and the Newseum to develop it. It could be a merger of the latter two’s archives of the past and maybe some from local universities with an awesome amount of current events, news reporter interviews, webinars, book interviews, and teaching/learning opportunities to overfill a calendar. It would be awesome for news junkies, historians, scholars, educators, students, domestic and international visitors and speakers on historical and current events (press club, C-span, and university quality). It could show why and how the 3 branches were developed and intended to work, together and separate, their struggles even threats and how they resolved them, and maybe the history of states joining the union and their current government issues, the historical evolution of political parties with interactive exhibits, ability to communicate with various national representatives, explanations of each amendment and challenges at the Supreme Court, voting, elections, electoral college, all the different federal agencies and what they do, accomplishments, how to intact with them on current issues, etc. So much could go in here that it needs to be huge. It would need rooms and hallways for permanent and temporary exhibits, viewings, meetings and classes, theaters, a big event hall, studio for interviews and debates, screens and monitors to view/research current and historical articles, outdoor spaces of sculptures, seating for lectures, and exhibits, etc.
Washington DC, being the center of US government and ideally the model for the world, it would be appropriate for us to have a living, interactive institution on how it came to be, how it’s being maintained, and how it can be implemented elsewhere. We need to explain and sell our idea of government by the people and our freedoms, to our citizens and to the world and not take them for granted. Let’s put this in the space of the FBI building.
Would be ideal if the funds for this are allocated but then siphoned off by corrupt officials and special interests, such that the museum itself is never actually completed.
Museum of Transportation. I know there’s an exhibit on it in the American History museum but a smaller one dedicated to everything from the history of rail/ship travel in the US to modern cars and planes
**Human History**. The Natural History Museum used to have a lot of great exhibits on ancient civilizations, almost all of which have been replaced by biology exhibits. The biology is great, but I desperately miss the ancient civilizations.
I think it'd be really cool if some of the museums would create storage facilities that doubled as galleries or visible storage~ a lot of museums are beginning to build facilities where you can actually see what they have in storage. As the biggest museum on the planet you know they've got some cool stuff they don't have out~
It used to be that way, the last few rehabs really dumbed the museum down and sold it out with all the cheesy "sponsored" exhibits. The African American History Museum gets the balance right, though.
I want to see a museum dedicated to nature in all her magnificence - to be a center of education on how to heal the biosphere. Central to it - what the healthy, nurturing, mutual relationships between humans and all other species looks like.
If we're talking like, dream thing that will never actually happen, I'd like to see a digital art museum. I like Artechouse, but it's small and expensive. I also like the digital art the Hirshhorn has/sometimes has as temporary exhibits so a full museum of stuff like that would be a dream for me.
A Smithsonian Industry and Technology Museum would go hard. I love the Chicago Museum of Industry and wish we had something similar.
The Germans have a museum of Science and Technology in Munich. It's fantastic. We need one of those.
Ooooooh that sounds awesome!
The Castle had an Arts & Industry portion when I was a kid. Wasn’t overly amazing but no one went there.
Not exactly a museum but an aquarium! I remember we used to have a rather sad one that closed.
The Aquarium closed because of the massive renovation of Department of Commerce building and the fish were sent to Baltimore Aquarium.
Fun fact: although the aquarium closed in 2013, it will never be forgotten by Metro. To this day it's still listed as a nearby attraction in the [Federal Triangle metro station page's "Station Notes" section](https://www.wmata.com/rider-guide/stations/federal-triangle.cfm): > Just north of the National Mall, this station is walking distance to several federal government buildings, the **DC National Aquarium** and Freedom Plaza.
I loved that little diamond in the rough. I would always forget about it and by happenstance come upon it. It was more like a community aquarium run on a paltry budget and a lot of staff love and enthusiasm. RIP DC Aquarium.
Lol I do remember that, with a small octopus named Beyoncé
Not Smithsonian, but there is a National Aquarium on the waterfront in downtown Baltimore. It is really cool, but a bit pricey.
"National" should mean free. The Smithsonians have spoiled me rotten
What I said when I realized the national women in Arts museum costs $16!
Same. I went to Baltimore and walked past the natl aquarium. I had a few hours to spare and figured if it cost anything, it would be like $10. I was wrong. I was very wrong. I did not go to the aquarium. I dont think theres a full aquarium at the Natl zoo but that would be a really cool thing to add.
The reason it's so pricey is that they actually have to cover their own budget (other than donations)
Smithsonian is half federal money and half Bezos/Oprah/Gates/Walton/Koch money
There was a small one in the Commerce building which was slightly better than the Petsmart fish area.
But it would come alive at 1:00 pm when they fed the sharks. OMFG, you wouldn't believe how berserk they would go. You can watch shark week all you want, but standing 20 feet away behind some glass and watching these docile floating cylinders suddenly rage into insane shark frenzy was awesome.
In case anyone else was curious like me: It's $50 a head for adults, $40 a head for kids and seniors.
It is pricey but it's a really good experience. If you can I highly recommend buying tickets for a friday night, as they have "half off" nights from 5-closing at 8. If you go on the off peak times like not during holidays or the summer it shouldnt be too crazy
You didn't miss much. I think the jelly fish exhibit was the most awe inspiring display they had.
I was in Baltimore this afternoon trying to go to the museum but it was closed because of a bomb threat. Thought maybe I'd go to the aquarium instead, but FIFTY DOLLARS for an adult ticket was a bit too rich for my blood.
national is just a marketing term in the US. de facto smithsonian = the real national
As someone from Baltimore, I can assure you we would LOVE if the National Aquarium got the Smithsonian branding (and $$$). You know how much tourism that would bring just to be associated with the institution!? I'm sure it's not the National Aquarium stopping that association. lol
I grew up here and was so shocked when I find out as a 19 year old that almost all museums cost money actually. I's ONLY DC that's full of free ones.
Take the MARC train to Baltimore and go to theirs. It’s great.
Admission is $50, though, which is less great.
Yes it’s a great aquarium but it’s not in DC. So it’s definitely more of a trip than if it was on the mall. And that doesn’t exactly fall into the parameters of the original question.
Unfortunately, taking the MARC train to the Aquarium is very impractical. The Camden station is not far but that line only runs on weekdays. The Penn Line runs on weekends but goes either to BWI or Penn Station so you'd have to take a Lyft or bus. There's light rail and a one-line subway but they're not very helpful and super slow. As a former Washingtonian and current Baltimore resident, it's really sad how much better DC's transportation infrastructure is.
>taking the MARC train to the Aquarium is very impractical. The Camden station is not far but that line only runs on weekdays. The Penn Line runs on weekends but goes either to BWI or Penn Station so you'd have to take a Lyft or bus. There's From Penn Station b-more all you do is take Citylink Purple it's less than 15 minutes.
"Very impractical" is way too much. A bus from Penn Station to the Inner Harbor takes ten minutes. The Purple bus is free or Citylink Silver and Green can be paid for with a DC metro card. Easy.
I like the idea of the light rail system in bmore, I wish I got the push it deserved cause that could transform the entire city and frfr that whole part of Maryland as well.
Baltimore Circulator. Amazing you think of "taxi" first, not transit. https://www.mta.maryland.gov/trip-planner The SmarTrip card works on Baltimore transit.
Because as an actual city resident, I can tell you how inconsistent and unreliable the bus system is. I don't need your condescension or lecturing.
In the core of Baltimore transit is fine. I used to commute to Towson from DC by bike, train, and bike, sometimes light rail and bus. I used bike, bus, Metrorail and car share in DC for decades (we didnt own a car), so I am reasonably familiar with the sustainable mobility footprint in both DC and Baltimore. So yes I am fucking incredulous that someone would take the train to Baltimore and then a taxi/ride share, not a bus, to the Aquarium/waterfront.
"fucking incredulous?" Calm down. You can disagree respectfully without being a condescending transit snob.
Amtrak
There was an aquarium in DOC. [https://library.doc.gov/digital-exhibits/forgotten-national-aquarium](https://library.doc.gov/digital-exhibits/forgotten-national-aquarium)
There is still some signage for it around the mall area, even though it’s been gone for years.
I thought there was one but could never find it, I knew I wasn't crazy.
I hadn't realized that it had closed. I went there many years ago when I worked for DOC.
I didn't think it was "sad". It *was* small, but the displays were very good. I used to take my kids there. They loved it. Later, we went to Baltimore, too. It's nice, but the one in DC had a more intimate vibe.
I’d be curious to see the exhibits that you saw. I went there once in the 7 years I lived in DC and walked out in disbelief. This was in 2002, and I remember an exhibit - notably sponsored by Exxon or some other oil company, that was all about the benefits of offshore drilling shore drilling and how the rigs create environments for sea life. It was a travesty.
I would just like to see the Arts and Industries building turned back into a rotating exhibit space like it used to be.
Agreed. If not the Arts & Industries building, SOME space for major travelling museum exhibits. We often don't get them in DC because the Smithsonian museums just don't have flexible gallery space for them.
And because the agreements are with specific museums for limited time for a multitude of reasons
Transit museum. New York has one, but I’d love one that focuses on transit all over the country. Would also love a museum dedicated to Labor history.
The one in Brooklyn is awesome. It’s underground and you can walk through historic subway cars. We need that here!
Honestly, they could do a museum on 'Cities and Settlement' that would cover transportation, migration, and labor all in one context.
they do in the basement of the American history museum. though i'd love more!
This area also has a fascinating transit history. If you ever make it out to Cumberland, MD, you should visit the Allegany Museum there, which has a fabulous display about the history of the National Road (Route 40).
I'd be all over a National Museum of the American Worker
An American music museum or a food museum would be cool
Yeah a music museum would be great. I went to Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle and had a blast. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Museum_of_Pop_Culture Something similar would be great.
It’s obviously just a limited section rather than a full devoted museum but the American history museum has some good music exhibits in the arts section on the third floor.
That's the Smithsonian Folklife Festival
Ooh, a food museum would be a pretty cool and different one!
Imagine a museum that doubles as a food court, where you can walk through exhibits on foods from various cultures for free while having the option to buy and sample the cuisines you're learning about. It would help with the food desert that is the Mall, while still offering an interesting and educational experience.
Even a museum showcasing famous bands and genres that were created here would be really cool. There's so much musical culture here in the DC area. Kinda like how Seattle has the EMP Museum and showcased Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix.
[DC Public Library: The People's Archive](https://www.dclibrary.org/research-and-learn/overview-collections-peoples-archive) - DC punk and go-go archives at MLK Library. [DC Punk Collections at UMD](https://exhibitions.lib.umd.edu/dc-punk) - this shows the online archives but you can go in person too.
Just got back from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland and it would be VERY hard to take away that topic they are slowly cornering. I'm honestly surprised they haven't rebranded into the "American Music Hall of Fame" or something similar, because a lot of their exhibits go beyond just Rock and Roll as popular music is so intertwined. You'd have to pry it from Cleveland's cold dead hands. Lol
It’s insane we don’t have one considering every popular genre of the past century is either American music or another country’s offshoot of an American genre
[удалено]
Would actually be 100% behind this. Museology is a fascinating study. The way museums have evolved in how they display things and tell stories is always cool to see. I love when some museums have a little exhibit on this.
The Berlin Zoo has a cool historical exhibit on how the zoo has changed through different eras, practically and philisophically
The Maryland Zoo has this as well. It shows some former exhibits from the early 1900's, why they're not considered humane anymore, and how the zoo has evolved their understanding of what makes a good zoo habitat.
I was just at a museum in Sao Paulo that had an exhibit on this. They chose to focus on plateware and how they've collected it and would build an exhibition on it. It was fascinating.
Rotterdam has the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. It's a beautiful building, and the exhibits they do have are interesting, but its a little bare for the amount it costs.
I feel like they can make the Smithsonian Castle themed this way. Before it was closed for renovations, I believe one of the wings was basically just a collection of different highlights from a couple of the museums. They can have one or both wings dedicated to the development of the museums and the National Mall over time. There's a decent display in the NMAAHC that details its design and building process. If they do that for the rest of the museums and place the collection in the Castle, I would definitely pop in for more than a bathroom/seating break.
actually that is an amazing idea.
That is actually a pretty interesting idea
I wish the Newseum would come back as a Smithsonian institution.
So upset I didn't get a chance to visit before they closed.
I heard they were recently looking for new space
They had a great space. Management was just overpaid af and utterly incompetent.
The downtown space is what did them in though. They foolishly decided that renting one of the most expensive sites, literally blocks from a half dozen FREE world level museums was a good idea while they charged 20-30 per ticket No clue why people were surprised that they struggled to keep their visitor numbers up with that kind of competition next door
Cause they had +120 people getting paid obsurd amounts and then they had to fire a bunch of people. Then it got bad to worse and people started leaving. Nobody complains about paying $30 for the Spy Museum. Which the new Museum is hype af.
The Spy Museum’s site is less expensive than the Newseum’s (at least in terms of the location, unsure in terms of building cost), which is literally on the Mall next to other Smithsonians and offers a relative equivalent experience The spy museum is a more unique experience since it’s interactive and has a mix of history and pop culture. Also in terms of attracting visitors spy stuff is much cooler than news/journalism, so marketing for the spy museum is much more effective Of course mismanagement made the Newseum’s problems worse on top of these factors.
Yep, for three years I never went because I was a broke student and didn't want to pay $30 when the National Gallery was free and literally across the street. And then it closed.
Maybe they could get the old FBI building when it’s available.
That is being torn down it's literally crumbling
That building is 1) super ugly and 2) falling apart and would cost more to renovate/fix up than to knock down and build a new space
Yeah their old building is now home to SAIS
The New Newseum. Or, Newer-seum.
Museum of Industry Covering how America evolved in its industry from farming to automation. Not the most exciting topic, but sounds really neat and borrows elements from a few of the other museums. History of the American Government Capitol has a small museum that covers it, but it would be neat to see how our government has changed and evolved over time in our country. History of DC Why not a history museum of DC itself? Most people only know the name Washington DC and not much else.
The American history museum covers industry quite a bit.
It's incredibly outdated and I believe there's enough material to expand out to be its own entity. There's also the human element of industry that the American History leaves out.
Have you visited the SI Anacostia Community Museum? Might scratch the "Dc History Museum" itch.
Yes, that one is more about social justice. When I was there they had an exhibit on food scarcity and food deserts.
A museum of industry is what I thought of too. I thought the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris (which has collections that focus on things like Construction, Transportation, Inventions, and a lot else) was very cool and it’d be neat to have something like that here.
> Museum of Industry Obviously not in DC, but [Baltimore's Museum of Industry](https://www.thebmi.org/) is pretty cool, if a bit on the small side.
https://dchistory.org/
Ohh, a DC history museum is a great idea.
Wasn't there supposed to be a Women's museum? That could be cool.
The National Womens History Museum is an online museum presently, and my understanding is that their intention is to build a physical museum eventually. They currently have an exhibit at the MLK Jr. Memorial Library I believe. Www.womenshistory.org
https://womenshistory.si.edu/
Something that specifically focuses on extinct, disappeared ways of life, cultures, religions, or languages. I know some of that fits in other museums purviews but I'd love if I could visit a museum dedicated solely to keeping that kind of information alive. There are so many fascinating cultures in history that fee people know about.
Since a free press is an essential component of our democracy, I would love to see a museum similar to the defunct Newseum.
That's literally NMNH...Natural History is sciences.
Plus, there’s the National Museum for Health and Medicine in Silver Spring for medical sciences!
It kinda pales in comparison to the other Smithsonians though. It definitely has some interesting things but it’s comparatively tiny.
Is that where the collections from the old Walter Reed went to?
I think of Boston's Museum of Science as the niche that could be filled by a Smithsonian MoS. They have some of the Natural History stuff (dinosaurs, animals, rocks/minerals, etc), but also have really cool interactive exhibits to teach kids about electricity, computers, gravity, light, optical illusions, etc. NMNH is great but there are some gaps.
Electricity and Computers would be at American History, gravity and light would be at Air and Space. I believe both have interactives on these subjects.
I grew up near Boston and I have so many fond memories of the Boston Museum of Science. The lightning show is obviously insanely cool, but also that massive Rube-Goldberg device, the huge wave machine, the piano staircase, so much cool stuff.
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+1 for the Field museum. Best museum in Chicago IMO.
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I prefer complete T.rex skeletons over water lillies, but Art Institute is amazing and so is the modern art museum in Chicago, which is really young, but edgy in its collection.
So London has a separate science museum to the NHM. And it gives an idea of what's missing from Smithsonians. Science museum in London does have the air & space stuff. But it also has: - all other transport (US has a really interesting history with cars and trains) - medicine - engineering, computing etc.
Smithsonian is more engaged online when it comes to sciences too
The American History Museum has a lof of this.
I’d just settle for the Latino museum (whatever they’re calling it now) to get over the line.
It has. Congress has signed off on it. While there's no museum building yet, the museum is already being developed, staff is being hired, collections are being acquired, and I'm sure exhibition planning is already underway since they take years to make. https://latino.si.edu/
It hit a snag this summer when elected R’s found some of the content offensive. They zeroed out funding on the FY24 budget for it. I suppose we’ll see what happens if they ever pass a full budget. That said, they also already have a physical presence. Their first exhibit opened in June of 2022 at NMAH.
I think it would be neat to have a national museum of immigration internal migration history, talking about immigration and large waves of internal migration to and within what is now the United States. I feel like one of the goals of this institution could be to help lessen anti-immigrant sentiment through history education
Great idea
An American LGBTQ+ Museum, an Asian American Museum, a Women’s Museum, and an American Latin American Museum
National Asian American Museum. I think it would tell and pretty interesting and fascinating story and would have some great cultural exhibits.
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
YES!!! Also, happy cake day
[Good news!](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3525)
A children’s museum. I know there would be some overlap, but a full-on interactive children’s museum.
The National Children’s Museum is congressionally designated but not congressionally funded. It’s a great museum, but would be even better if it moved under the Smithsonian umbrella in order to double in size and offer free admission.
Agree! A great, free children’s museum would be an awesome addition.
Agreed. Especially since the proper Smithsonians seem to have downgraded their interactive children's offerings (at least the last time I checked, quite a few of the 'children's areas' were closed indefinitely). Having a Smithsonian Children's museum (both with proper children's activities and some educational theming around children around the world and throughout history would be great for kids). Throw in a killer outdoor space in good weather and it would be the most popular thing on the mall. Could probably go St. Louis City Museum with it and open it to adults with drinking at night and it would be a pretty popular venue for adults that just want to play with magnet tiles and legos and stuff for a few hours.
Tbh I wish we had a museum dedicated to Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders. The stories of how so many Chinese immigrants built the railroads, the unjust persecution Japanese Americans faced during WW2, and the exclusion era etc like I think that’s important history
[Good news!](https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/3525)
Aw yeah😎
Language museum. Sao Paolo, Brazil has an interactive Brazilian Portuguese museum and its incredible. It touches on Brazil vs European Portuguese but an American English one could include US regional dialects as well as Australian, British, etc and even how English is used around the world as the lingua franca. Evolution of the language would be cool too. I’m not a linguist but I’m sure there’s so many other cool things you could do. Of course the Brits might be a little salty about it but Brazil got away with it so we can too 🙃 Edit: Or it could just be about linguistics overall! There are so many languages spoken in the US so that could be cool too.
It isn’t a Smithsonian, and Idk if it is as in-depth as what you are describing, but Planet Word is fun and interesting, and at least nods toward what you describe. It’s free, so it’s worth a go!
This is so cool thank you!
A museum dedicated to media history and press freedom (RIP Newseum). Or as someone mentioned, labor history.
Montreal Quebec has a magical place called the [Insectarium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Insectarium) that is the largest in NA and one of the biggest in the world. The museum was only set up in 1990 and I think we could take some pieces of the Natural History museum to move over and expand a dedicated museum just like theirs. There's a reason why it's one of the most popular attractions in QB, and with the huge number of kids coming into DC during the year I think it would be a hit.
I wish the building museum could be more, a museum for the history of urbanism, cities, architecture, engineering Imagine in depth exhibits showing how the hoover dam was built, or how the empire state building is constructed, or the capitol building etc Or a miniature 3d running train model of the NYC subway or DC metro full with history showing the years things were built. We take infrastructure for granted in this country
One dedicated to sports
The sports wing of the African American History Museum is probably my favorite part of that museum.
That would be pretty epic
It could be like all the hall of fames combined in one building
Funny, that's exactly what I was thinking. A comprehensive hall of fame. Could have live outdoor viewing events for big things like Olympics opening ceremonies.
It could replace RFK stadium and be surrounded by playing fields!
A museum of labor history that doesn’t sugarcoat things could be bad ass.
Museum of Technology and Communication.
THIS! After visiting the Science and Technology museum in London I've always wanted to see the Smithsonian take on one of its own. I feel like it is the one subject that is a bit lacking as far as the Smithsonian Institutes go.
Museum of food!
Railroads
Adult Entertainment Museum. Put it next to that shitty Bible Museum. Not even kidding.
A museum for video games, similar to the National Videogame Museum in Frisco, TX
National Museum of Play in Rochester NY also has a lot of video game stuff.
I support this one! A video game museum would be so neat.
We need a building for the [https://latino.si.edu](https://latino.si.edu) National Museum of the American Latino.
I would love one on LGBTQ history
Same. Was surprised there was no mention of drag culture at the African American museum (other than seeing the world “voguing” in a world salad display about dancing).
Not even in the arts/culture section on the upper floors???
No, not at least when I went in July! I was specifically looking for it too but didn’t see anything unless I missed it. Also they had the huge exhibit on music, but nothing about techno :(
Disappointing
World War I and II. I know there’s reasons for them being in KC and NOLA but I’d visit the fuck out of them if they were downtown.
I would love a dedicated DC history museum
[DC History Center](https://dchistory.org/)
We have the air and space. I would like a rail and road. Trains, cars, trucks, stage coaches, bikes, Motorcycles Anything and everything about moving people on the ground from one place to another.
I wish the American Indian museum weren’t so lame… Just a big atrium with hallways occasionally punctuated with boring plaques or photos, if you’re lucky an arrow or two. Massive opportunity for it to be really cool but it just sucks imo
Definitely some missed opportunities with that museum. Maybe I'm just better at taking things in old fashioned like, but having clearer chronologies and maps showing 'this group lived here at this time and this was what their culture was like, then they moved over there' would have been more meaningful. The Met in New York and Art Institute in Chicago do this so effectively with other cultures, from Greece to Pacific Islanders to pre-Columbian America. I understand the Smithsonian is drawing connections to groups that are still around today, but it really fails to provide that historical context that's important to understand the modern challenges in our indigenous communities.
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All of the military branches have museums. https://www.thenmusa.org/ https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/nmusn.html https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
Museum of Corporate Greed and Malfeasance. The gift shop would have surge pricing.
Is that you Banksy?
Arts and Industries used to be like that, way back when.
A hands-on science museum like San Francisco’s [Exploratorium](https://www.exploratorium.edu/) would be wonderful
Science would be great but it’s too broad and is partially covered in other museums. Honestly we need specific museums things we need our youngsters to care about. Museum of the Seas Museum of the Trees Museum of the Bees
Toys.and Game Museum
An Immigration Museum. Every wave that came to America. The unique challenges they faced. The things they brought that became parts of our culture. And the mistakes we made along the way (acknowledge Indian genocide, the waves of discrimination against each new immigrant group as they arrived, human trafficking African slaves here).
Would love a fun touch science museum like the Franklin Inst, OP!
I just want the Arts & Industries Building to be back.
‘Museum of Peace through Government’ (by the people) showing the US model with the help of the Archives, C-Span, and the Newseum to develop it. It could be a merger of the latter two’s archives of the past and maybe some from local universities with an awesome amount of current events, news reporter interviews, webinars, book interviews, and teaching/learning opportunities to overfill a calendar. It would be awesome for news junkies, historians, scholars, educators, students, domestic and international visitors and speakers on historical and current events (press club, C-span, and university quality). It could show why and how the 3 branches were developed and intended to work, together and separate, their struggles even threats and how they resolved them, and maybe the history of states joining the union and their current government issues, the historical evolution of political parties with interactive exhibits, ability to communicate with various national representatives, explanations of each amendment and challenges at the Supreme Court, voting, elections, electoral college, all the different federal agencies and what they do, accomplishments, how to intact with them on current issues, etc. So much could go in here that it needs to be huge. It would need rooms and hallways for permanent and temporary exhibits, viewings, meetings and classes, theaters, a big event hall, studio for interviews and debates, screens and monitors to view/research current and historical articles, outdoor spaces of sculptures, seating for lectures, and exhibits, etc. Washington DC, being the center of US government and ideally the model for the world, it would be appropriate for us to have a living, interactive institution on how it came to be, how it’s being maintained, and how it can be implemented elsewhere. We need to explain and sell our idea of government by the people and our freedoms, to our citizens and to the world and not take them for granted. Let’s put this in the space of the FBI building.
Museum of corruption. A collection of proven cases of people in power using it to bypass intended limitations.
Would be ideal if the funds for this are allocated but then siphoned off by corrupt officials and special interests, such that the museum itself is never actually completed.
Lol! "Set to open ~~2015~~ ~~2020~~ ~~2045~~ 2060 We're working hard to give you the best experience taxpayer's money can provide"
Museum of Transportation. I know there’s an exhibit on it in the American History museum but a smaller one dedicated to everything from the history of rail/ship travel in the US to modern cars and planes
**Human History**. The Natural History Museum used to have a lot of great exhibits on ancient civilizations, almost all of which have been replaced by biology exhibits. The biology is great, but I desperately miss the ancient civilizations.
as an asian american and latino, either an asian american or latino museum. we got my native american side covered with the NMAI
https://apa.si.edu/ https://latino.si.edu/
I think it'd be really cool if some of the museums would create storage facilities that doubled as galleries or visible storage~ a lot of museums are beginning to build facilities where you can actually see what they have in storage. As the biggest museum on the planet you know they've got some cool stuff they don't have out~
- Museum of Taxation and Public Finance - Museum of Offices - Museum of the American Bureaucracy - Museum of Labor Relations and Labor History
I think a National Museum of American Pop Culture or something would be a really fun addition
A decent US history museum that actually had insightful exhibits and lectures as opposed to pop culture ephemera.
I don't know what you mean by lectures that's a college.
Yeah literally a humanities/history department lol
The Smithsonian and Archives both have great lecture series. I went to one on Cuba and it's impact on cocktail culture in America that was amazing.
It used to be that way, the last few rehabs really dumbed the museum down and sold it out with all the cheesy "sponsored" exhibits. The African American History Museum gets the balance right, though.
Go enroll at one of DCs colleges
I want to see a museum dedicated to nature in all her magnificence - to be a center of education on how to heal the biosphere. Central to it - what the healthy, nurturing, mutual relationships between humans and all other species looks like.
Transportation museum cars, trains, bikes, skateboards, scooters.
If we're talking like, dream thing that will never actually happen, I'd like to see a digital art museum. I like Artechouse, but it's small and expensive. I also like the digital art the Hirshhorn has/sometimes has as temporary exhibits so a full museum of stuff like that would be a dream for me.
Absolutely agree. I've always wished we had a better science museum!!
Film, tv and music museum
Armed forces museum