NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY
What’s Happening in November: Events for Native American Heritage Month and More!
Here’s what’s happening this month at the National Museum of American History
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EXHIBITION OPENINGS
Value of Money
Updated Exhibition Experience
Gallery of Numismatics, One West
Opens Nov. 15 - Ongoing
“The Value of Money” exhibition features a number of updates to mark its 10-year anniversary and will include a changing display case, a refreshed entry feature and extensive new content. The exhibition connects American history to global histories of exchange, innovation, political change, and cultural interaction and expression through more than 300 objects from the museum’s National Numismatic Collection. Behind the massive vault door entrance, the new entryway includes diverse objects spanning more than 4,000 years from ancient cuneiform tablets to modern money. Across the gallery, visitors will see some of the collection’s most recently acquired objects, including an IRS agent’s laptop that helped the U.S. government seize $3.6 billion of stolen cryptocurrency in 2022 – resulting in the largest financial seizure in U.S. history. Another recent addition, Chinese coins from the Howard F. Bowker Collection will explore the history of money in China. A special display, “Revolutionary Money,” features the wide range of objects in circulation in early America, such as a beaver pelt, colonial and European coins, and Continental banknotes. Popular objects, among the rarest in the world, will continue to delight visitors, including the legendary “1933 Double Eagle,” the first U.S. $20 gold coin from 1849, a $100,000 bill printed in 1934, and the famous 1804 silver dollars known as “the king of coins.”
NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH
"Entertainment Nation”/”Nación del espectáculo”
Ray and Dagmar Dolby Hall of American Culture
Third Floor, West, Ongoing
Lakota and the Wild West Shows Video
The museum’s popular “Entertainment Nation” exhibition’s first section on has been updated with a multi-media short film, “Lakota and the Wild West Shows” which introduces the voices and stories of Native Americans who are descendants of performers in William F. Cody’s “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” shows. The decimation of the buffalo and the confinement of the Lakota to reservations found hundreds of tribe members joining the show in order to survive and provide for their families.
PROGRAMS
JUST ADDED FOR OCTOBER
History Film Forum: Spooky Silent Films (double feature)
Warner Bros. Theater, First Floor
Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m.
Free Tickets, Register at Eventbrite
Halloween kicks off early with a spooky double-feature of silent horror films with live musical accompaniment by the Andrew Simpson Ensemble. The screening opens with the 1917 short, “The Devil’s Assistant,” directed by Harry A. Pollard. This groundbreaking film about love, obsession and drug abuse—with a remarkable, red-drenched sequence comparing narcotic addiction to the horrors of hell—will be shown with an original 2017 recorded soundtrack by Andrew Earle Simpson composed in 2017. The live ensemble will add new music from Simpson, composed specially for this screening. The feature-length 1927 silent horror film, “The Unknown,” directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford. This sensational and still-shocking film features Chaney, "the man of a thousand faces," as circus performer Alonzo the Armless, a knife-thrower in love with his assistant Nanon, played by Crawford. This film will be accompanied by a live performance of a brand-new score composed by Simpson.
The screenings open with Curator of Medicine Katherine Ott setting the context within the history of health and disability. Following the films, Composer Simpson and museum experts will participate in a talk-back moderated by Smithsonian “Sidedoor” Podcast Host Lizzie Peabody.
“The Unknown” is screened courtesy of the George Eastman Museum, with preservation funded by the National Film Preservation Foundation.
History Film Forum: Popeye Classic Cartoons
Warner Bros. Theater, First Floor
Nov. 19, 6:00 p.m.
Free Tickets, Eventbrite link available beginning mid-October
Popeye the Sailor Man, a one-eyed cartoon character, made his debut as a comic strip in 1929 and transitioned to cartoon shorts. Classic shorts from the “Popeye the Sailor Man” series which originally screened in the 1940s will be shown.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society Presents: “Masterworks of Five Centuries”
Nicholas and Eugenia Taubman Hall of Music; Third Floor, West
Sat. Nov. 2, 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 3, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
The 47th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society presents musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized instruments. This concert features the music of English composers Orlando Gibbons and William Byrd, played by The Smithsonian Consort of Viols: Kenneth Slowik, Arnie Tanimoto, Ryan Cheng, Catherine Slowik and Chelsea Bernstein.
To purchase tickets:
Sat. Nov. 2: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/scms-masterworks-1P0855
Sun. Nov. 3: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/scms-masterworks-1P0860
Members: $32; Non-members: $36
Smithsonian Chamber Music Society Presents: “Masterworks of Five Centuries”
Nicholas and Eugenia Taubman Hall of Music; Third Floor, West
Sat. Nov. 23, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 24, 3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
The 47th season of the Smithsonian Chamber Music Society presents musical masterpieces from the late 16th century to the cusp of the 21st, played on some of the world’s most highly prized instruments. This concert features Austrian Music from the Time of Leopold I with works by Heinrich Biber, Johann Schmelzer and Johannes Schenck. This selection will be played by Edwin Huizinga and Manami Mizumoto on violins; Kenneth Slowik, Rebecca Landell, Catherine Slowik and Lily Schrantz on viols; Lucas Harris on theorbo; and Webb Wiggins on organ and harpsichord.
To purchase tickets:
Sat. Nov. 23: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/scms-masterworks-1P0860
Sun. Nov. 24: https://smithsonianassociates.org/ticketing/programs/scms-masterworks-1P0861
Members: $32; Non-members: $36
HOLIDAY DECORATIONS
Exterior and Interior
Flag Hall, Second Floor
Nov. 22 to Jan. 2, 2025
Smithsonian Gardens joins in closing out the celebration of the museum’s 60th anniversary year with specially themed mid-century silver holiday trees among the interior and exterior decorations across the museum. The popular Dolls’ House, found near the museum’s “Wegmans Wonderplace” is also traditionally decorated for the holidays and the museum’s gift stores and cafes will feature special merchandise and holiday-themed foods.
VISITING
What to know:
The museum is open seven days a week, except Dec. 25, between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, and passes are not required. For more information, go to https://americanhistory.si.edu/visit
Food:
The Eat at America’s Table Cafe is open for complete food and beverage service. In November, Chef Kyre and his team will present a special Native American menu, featuring Smoked Cedar Plank Salmon with Wojapi Berry Glaze; Apache Stew with venison and green chiles; Tuya Asuyi Gadu, a Cherokee bean bread; House Made Fry Bread; wild rice salad and more.
Bottled water is allowed in the museum. We recommend bringing a refillable water bottle for use at fountains.
Stores:
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM
Through incomparable collections, rigorous research and dynamic public outreach, the National Museum of American History seeks to empower people to create a more just and compassionate future by examining, preserving and sharing the complexity of our past. The museum, located on Constitution Avenue N.W., between 12th and 14th streets, is open daily except Dec. 25 between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Admission is free. The doors of the museum are always open online and the virtual museum continues to expand its offerings, including online exhibitions, K–12 educational materials and programs. The public can follow the museum on social media via Instagram and Facebook. For more information, go to https://americanhistory.si.edu. For Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000.
