NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY

The latest addition to the Smithsonian Institution, this exciting museum presents the history of African Americans since the creation of the United States. It was inaugurated by Barack Obama in September 2016. The museum stands out for its aluminium structure, which stands out from other institutions in the Mall. David Adjaye, a British architect of Ghanaian origin appointed in a 2004 competition, was responsible for the incredible task of designing the building. To integrate the structure into the story told by the museum, Adjaye gave it the shape of an inverted pyramid evoking the crowns worn by the Yoruba, an ethnic group from a region of Kenya from which slaves were imported in large numbers. A whole symbol.

The museum has five floors where more than 3000 objects, documents and photographs are on display. The History section extends over three underground floors and covers the themes of slavery, segregation, the role played by black patriots during the American Revolution and the Civil War. On the third floor, an exciting exhibition is dedicated to contemporary America from 1968, the year of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. We look back at the birth of hip hop, the Black Panther Party, the election of Barack Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement, which is very much in the news. The Culture and Community sections, presented on the top two floors, pay tribute to the many contributions of African Americans in the fields of literature, sports, visual arts, music and medicine in the United States.

A reservation system has been set up on the museum's website, which has been a victim of its popularity since its opening in September 2016 (1 million visitors in a few months). During the high season, from March to August, you will have to book your ticket on the website if you want to visit the museum on weekends or before 1pm on weekdays. To make sure you have access to the museum on the day of your choice, try to do it in advance. Otherwise, same day tickets can be booked on the site every morning from 6:30 am, but they leave quickly.