The Anacostia Museum and Center for African American History and Culture is a Smithsonian Institution museum in the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C., United States. As its name implies its focus is the national history and culture of African Americans, for presentation to scholars and to all visitors•domestic and international.

The Concert Hall, on the south side, seats 2,442. When it opened in 1971, the Concert Hall has a seating arrangement, similar to that used in many European halls such as Musikverein in Vienna.The Concert Hall was renovated in 1997, and currently is state-of-the-art, with a high-tech acoustical canopy, and accessible locations on every level, and new seating sections (onstage boxes, chorister seats, and parterre seats). The Hadelands crystal chandeliers, a gift from Norway, were repositioned to provide a clearer view.Behind the stage the 4,144-pipe organ is located. This was a gift from the Filene Foundation of Boston. The Concert Hall is the largest performance space in the Kennedy Center and is the home of the National Symphony Orchestra.

The Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the City and Diocese of Washington, known as the Washington National Cathedral, is an Episcopal cathedral in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It is a listed monument on the National Register of Historic Places and the designated "National House of Prayer" of the United States. In 2007, it was voted one of the three most beautiful buildings in the United States in a survey by the American Institute of Architects.

The cathedral is the official seat of both the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Episcopal Church USA) and the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. It is the mother church of the Episcopal Church in the District of Columbia and in the Maryland counties of Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's, and St. Mary's.

The cathedral was built by the Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation under a charter granted by Congress on January 6, 1893. Construction began in 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt, and lasted for 83 years; the last finial was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush in 1990. The Foundation operates and funds the cathedral, which does not receive any federal or local government funding.

The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts (or Kennedy Center), which is located beside the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate Hotel in Washington, D.C., opened in 1971. It represents a unique public/private partnership, since it is both the nation's living memorial to President John F. Kennedy and the "National Center for the Performing Arts", which includes educational and outreach initiatives, almost entirely paid for through ticket sales and gifts from individuals, corporations, and private foundations.

Designed by architect Edward Durrell Stone, it was built by Philadelphia contractor John McShain and is administered by a bureau of the Smithsonian Institution. It receives Federal funding each year to pay for the maintenance and operation of the building.

The National Mall is an open-area national park in downtown Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States of America. However, the term commonly includes the areas that are officially part of West Potomac Park and Constitution Gardens to the west, and often is taken to refer to the entire area between the Lincoln Memorial and the Capitol, with the Washington Monument providing a division slightly west of the center.

The National Museum of American History is a museum administered by the Smithsonian Institution and located in Washington, D.C., on the National Mall. It opened in 1964 as the Museum of History and Technology and adopted its current name in 1980. It is currently closed for major renovations, but is scheduled to re-open during the summer of 2008.

The museum has three exhibition floors, two floors for offices, and one floor (the ground floor) for retail and dining.

On the first floor, major exhibitions include "America on the Move," detailing the history of transportation in the U.S. from 1876 to the present and housing Southern Railway steam locomotive 1401 as well as automobiles and other forms of transportation. Also on the first floor is a showcase for various props from famous television shows, such as Archie Bunker's chair from All in the Family, Fonzie's leather jacket from Happy Days, Joanne Gardner's apron from Search for Tomorrow, and the "Puffy Shirt" from Seinfeld.

The second floor displays the inaugural gowns of First Ladies from Martha Washington to Laura Bush. The gigantic 15-star and 15-stripe American flag which flew over Fort McHenry during the War of 1812 and inspired Francis Scott Key to write "The Star-Spangled Banner" (the American national anthem) is located in a conservation lab on the second floor. It used to hang in the main hall but was removed due to its deteriorating condition. In its place is a modern 50-star flag which draped the Pentagon after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Third-floor exhibits include "A Glorious Burden," an exhibit on Presidents of the United States; this voluminous exhibit displays everything from George Washington's Revolutionary War uniform to Bill Clinton's saxophone. Another major highlight is American Popular Culture, which shows popular culture artifacts. It is a changing exhibition, but Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz are a permanent part of the exhibit. The "History of Money and Medals," the museum's oldest exhibit, was on this floor but was recently closed. An exhibit entitled "The Price of Freedom" on U.S. military history opened on November 11, 2004; among its numerous treasures are a sword belonging to George Washington, the chairs that Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant sat in at the Appomattox surrender of the Civil War, and a Vietnam-era helicopter.

The National Museum of American History Archives Center occupies over 12,000 feet of shelving in the National Museum of American History building. The archives are made up of photographs, motion pictures, videotapes, and sound recordings of events in American history. The archives are acquired almost entirely from donations.

The museum closed September 5, 2006 for a two-year renovation, including a new display for the Fort McHenry flag. During this renovation, some of the artifacts will be on display in the exhibtion "Treasures of American History" at the National Air and Space Museum and "Legendary Coins & Currency" at the Smithsonian Castle. The museum is scheduled to reopen in summer 2008.

The Washington Monument is a large, white-colored obelisk at the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C. It is a United States Presidential Memorial constructed for George Washington.

The monument is among the world's tallest masonry structures, standing 555 feet (169.29 m) in height and made of marble, granite, and sandstone. It was designed by Robert Mills, a prominent American architect of the 1840s. The actual construction of the monument began in 1848 but was not completed until 1884, almost 30 years after the architect's death. This hiatus in construction was because of a lack of funds and the intervention of the American Civil War. A difference in shading of the marble, visible approximately 150 feet (45 m) up, clearly delineates the initial construction from its resumption in 1876.

Its cornerstone was laid on July 4, 1848; the capstone was set on December 6, 1884, and the completed monument was dedicated on February 21, 1885. It officially opened to the public on October 9, 1888. Upon completion, it became the world's tallest structure, a title it inherited from the Cologne Cathedral and held until 1889, when the Eiffel Tower was finished in Paris, France.

The Washington Monument reflection can be seen in the aptly named Reflecting Pool, a rectangular pool extending to the west, towards the Lincoln Memorial.