Join us to explore how communities in the Washington, D.C., region record their experiences and contribute to the nation’s story and to recognize Washingtonians whose work as change makers and history keepers has had a lasting impact.
"We Make History" explores how history is made, preserved, and shared. The exhibition opens May 30 and we have a full weekend of events to celebrate.
Learn more and let us know you're joining by visiting the link in our bio.
MARK YOUR CALENDARS! Join us June 19 from 10am-10pm for a neighborhood block party-style celebration of freedom, heritage, and community.
While the museum stays open late, enjoy a full day of free activities outdoors featuring live music performances, powerful spoken word, cooking demonstrations, front-porch foodways conversations, youth activities, and gardening. The evening culminates with a high-energy outdoor late skate to close out the celebration.
From engaging workshops to powerful performances, Juneteenth at the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum is a tribute to resilience, creativity, and heritage.
Head to the link in bio to get the most up to date information including the line up.
🎉It's a new month and we have a full calendar of free events including the opening weekend of our new exhibition "We Make History", which explores how history is made, preserved, and shared.
⚡ Highlights for May include:
🦋 Roots & Wings: Honoring Mother Figures, Caregivers, and Memory | May 9
🌱Growing Community: From Garden to Table | May 16
✨"We Make History" opening weekend celebration May 29-31
🔗Visit the link in our bio to learn more about all of this month's events and let us know you're joining!
🎉We are celebrating the opening of "We Make History" with back-to-back After Dark events! Join us for engaging live performances, small bites, and your first look at "We Make History". Must be 21+ years old to attend these events.
✨Friday, May 29 | 7-10PM with Marcus Mitchell
Be among the first to experience, We Make History, during an exclusive sneak peak! The night will be set to a vibrant, soulful soundtrack by acclaimed DMV saxophonist and pianist Marcus Mitchell, joined by his band and vocalist, creating an elevated after-hours experience. Enjoy light bites provided by DCity Smokehouse and beverages, available while supplies last.
✨Saturday, May 30 | 7-10PM with Joi Carter
Celebrate opening night of We Make History with an unforgettable After Dark experience at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum. The evening will feature a dynamic live performance by multi-faceted vocalist, Joi Carter, whose sound effortlessly moves across genres, joined by her band for an engaging musical experience. Enjoy access to the exhibition alongside light bites by Lucy Beas Kitchen, complemented by a selection beverages, available while supplies last.
🔗Registration requested; Head to the link in our bio.
This small basket is made of wood splints and round reeds woven in a plain weave. Purple reeds surround the woven God’s Eye design that connects the handle to the body of the basket. Glass pony beads attached to the handle complement the purple reeds, giving this piece a colorful, playful aesthetic.
After moving to Washington, DC following World War II, Ira Blount mastered dozens of artisanal crafts. His love for crafting, learning, and community engagement would endure over the course of his long life and career.
This pair of boxing boots belonged to DC Hall of Fame boxer William “Billy” Banks (1921-2006), a professional featherweight and lightweight boxer from Washington, DC who fought locally and regionally in the 1930s and 1940s. Banks is recognized as the first African American boxer to break the segregation line in boxing in Washington, DC, when he fought an undercard fight against Joe Sole at Griffiths Stadium on June 19, 1940, a fight he won. The fight was one of two that night that desegregated boxing within the city.
Learn more about Banks and view his boxing boots and other memorabilia when "We Make History" opens to the public on Saturday May 30 (with a sneak peek viewing on Friday May 29). Head to the link in our bio to learn more about the exhibition and opening weekend programs.
The Carver Theater before its renovation for the Anacostia Neighborhood Museum, the original name of the Anacostia Community Museum, was located on Nichols Avenue SE (now Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave SE) in Anacostia. The Museum opened in September 1967 and remained at this location until April 1987, when it moved to its present location.
Learn more about the museum's early years through the voice of Dianne Dale. a fourth generation Anacostia resident, who spent much of her life connecting the people in her community to their history: https://s.si.edu/49Xnzlj
This stainless-steel steamer basket and lid were used to keep dim sum foods warm at Hollywood East Café, a popular Chinese restaurant that specializes in Cantonese and Hong Kong-style cuisine in Wheaton, MD.
Dim sum originated in Southern China and refers to the style and practice of enjoying small dishes with tea in a leisurely meal from mid-morning to mid-afternoon. At Hollywood East Café, popular dishes for dim sum included: har gow (steamed shrimp dumplings), char siu bao (steamed roast pork buns), and sweet egg custard tarts. While these could be ordered from the menu, they were often enjoyed on weekends, when wait staff served diners tableside from steam-heated carts filled with steamer baskets of dumplings and other dishes. Dim sum at Hollywood East Café was a communal event, where family members from multiple generations came to share a meal on Sunday or Saturday afternoon.
#SmithsonianAANHPI
Join us this Saturday for Roots & Wings, an intergenerational, family-friendly gathering that honors mother figures and caregivers. Through hands-on artmaking, oral history, and community reflection, families will celebrate the legacies that shape who we are and who we become.
Head to the link in bio to learn more.
This Dresden mesh purse hails from the early twentieth century, when the invention of mesh-making machines dramatically increased daily link production. Recalling an impressionistic watercolor, enamel coats the purse’s fine ring metal mesh in hues of deep pink, green, and blue on a lighter pink background. Scallops serrate the bottom of the German-made bag. The purse’s golden metal hand chain hangs from a similarly-hued metal frame. An angular metal fastener embossed with scrollwork exemplifies the era’s Art Deco style. Pink silk lines the bag’s interior.
The evening bag is one of two Dresden mesh purses in the Anacostia Community Museum’s collection. Both belonged to renowned scholar-librarian Dorothy Porter Wesley (1905-1995), who organized and developed an unparalleled collection rooted in African American history that would become the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University in Washington, DC. Learn more about Porter Wesley in our next exhibition "We Make History" opening May 30.
🌱Growing Community is the longstanding community gardening program at the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum. Through garden programming, residents of all ages can engage with the beauty of the natural world, a healthy food system, and their cultural past. We welcome the community to participate in our monthly workshops, taking place throughout the growing and harvesting seasons.
🌻This season programming will explore how gardens have served as formal and informal educational spaces, where community members have discovered and nurtured a connection to and stewardship of place that is integral to understandings of “community” in its broadest sense- people and spaces.
Head to the link in our bio to learn more about each week's focus.
Our next exhibition “We Make History” opens May 30 (with a sneak peek the evening of May 29)! Join us to celebrate how history is made, preserved, and shared! 🎉
