04-06-2025
Choose your own adventure: A D.C. museum's journey through U.S. history
Choose your own adventure: A D.C. museum's journey through U.S. history The National Archives Museum will unveil a new, 10,000-square-foot exhibit as the country prepares to celebrate its 250th anniversary.
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National Archives Museum overhauled 20 years after last update
National Archives Foundation project director walks through the vision of the new museum renovation that is set to open to the public in October.
WASHINGTON – Want to see declassified records of UFO sightings? What about George Washington's annoted copy of the Constitution, or footage capturing the Wright Brothers' first test flight?
Visitors to the nation's capital will soon be able to peruse these artifacts, along with more than 2 million other items, in an interactive, choose-your-own adventure journey through American history.
The National Archives Museum is preparing to unveil a new, 10,000-square-foot permanent exhibit this fall, dubbed 'The American Story,' designed to give museumgoers a peek at the the archive's vast trove of more than 13 billion records.
With the help of artificial intelligence systems, visitors will be able to pick and choose the content they most want to see from different parts of U.S. history, from the country's founding to the moon landing, said Franck Cordes, the capital campaign project director at the National Archives Foundation.
More: Can you read cursive? It's a superpower the National Archives is looking for.
"We can't show everything, so we felt that 2 million was a good start,' Cordes told USA TODAY during a media preview of the galleries on June 4.
Soon, the barren walls and blue-taped squares on the floor of the galleries will feature interactive display cases and media stations, allowing visitors to explore some of the country's most prized relics.
A new type of glass on some document cases will act as a transparent television screen, Cordes said. As visitors approach, they'll see the document inside, but as soon as they're above it, a touchable, moveable animation will play.
One room in the exhibit, called the 'Spirit of Innovation,' will be designed to look like the surface of the moon. Another, 'Your Archives in Action,' will give visitors a chance to simulate research and see how the archives collection aided in the making of movies and books, like "Apollo 11" and "Killers of the Flower Moon." Several others will ask guests to put themselves in the shoes of historical figures and navigate historical scenarios based on the records.
At the start of the exhibit, visitors will be asked to scan a QR Code and choose three topics that most interest them, from food to sailing. As they walk through the gallery, AI systems will choose documents related to their interests and add them to their virtual folder.
If, for instance, you were at an interactive station related to the Louisiana Purchase and you selected food as an interest, you'd be delivered documents having to do with food and the Louisiana Purchase, Cordes said.
The goal of the new permanent gallery is to connect people to the old, yellowed documents that aren't always "exciting visually for people," Cordes said. The new museum design opens the door for visitors to "do a deep dive into records and start making those connecting points to other records and unraveling the stories that are there."
'These records are the evidence of who we are as a nation,' Cordes said. 'Everybody has an entry point to that."
The exhibit will open Thursday, Oct. 23. Admission is free.
