WELCOME TO THE SMITHSONIAN

Located along the north side of the Arts and Industries Building is the Kathrine Dulin Folger Rose Garden.

Welcome to the Smithsonian! Through our 19 museums and galleries, National Zoo, and numerous research centers, we offer a wide variety of exciting, inspiring experiences for the whole family. Whether you’re interested in art, science, history, or culture, there is something here for everyone. Your visit can continue long after you’ve gone because, increasingly, we are making our experts and collections accessible online. It is now easy and convenient for our conversation to continue.

Entrance to the Castle on the south side, from Independence Avenue and the Enid A. Haupt Garden.

For more than 170 years, the Smithsonian has remained true to its mission, “the increase and diffusion of knowledge,” and currently maintains scholarly contacts or conducts research in nearly 90 countries around the world. The Smithsonian is involved in pressing issues of the day in science, education, and concerns of national identity. It is a vast enterprise that encompasses — in addition to exhibition halls and art galleries — laboratories, observatories, field stations, scientific expeditions, classrooms, performing arts events, publications, affiliate museums, the world’s largest traveling exhibition service, a cable television channel, numerous Web sites and blogs, and much more.

The remarkable collections of the Smithsonian are the basis for research, exhibitions, and public programs in art, history, and science. The collections include nearly 138 million artifacts, works of art, and scientific specimens. Among them are objects that speak to our nation’s unique inquisitiveness, bold vision, creativity, and courage: Edison’s light bulb and Morse’s telegraph, the Wright flyer, the Apollo 11 command module Columbia, Lewis and Clark’s compass, Colin Powell’s Desert Storm uniform, Mark Twain’s self-portrait, and Oscar the Grouch.

Through its creative staff and collections, the Smithsonian presents the astonishing record of American historical, cultural, and scientific achievement with a scope and depth no other institution in the world can match.

In the pages that follow, you’ll find many treasures of the Institution pictured and described.

Through exciting exhibitions, Smithsonian magazine, the Smithsonian Channel, blogs, affiliate museums, lectures, and tours, the Smithsonian connects Americans to their heritage. You can contribute to America’s ongoing story with your questions and comments, and we invite you to do so.

Enjoy your visit. Please come back often!