Buildings of the Smithsonian

National Museum of American History (National Museum of History and Technology, Museum of History and Technology)

1959-1964, McKim, Mead and White; Steinman, Cain and White

The present-day National Museum of American History began with the 1923 plan for a National Museum of Engineering and Industry. In 1928, Smithsonian Secretary Charles Abbott suggested a Museum of American Industry and six years later Assistant Smithsonian Secretary Alexander Wetmore endorsed the idea of the new museum. Discussion continued and on June 20, 1955, the United States Congress appropriated funds for a Museum of History and Technology. The architectural firm McKim, Mead and White was contracted for the design of the new building on March 16, 1956. James Kellum Smith of McKim, Mead and White served as designer until his death when Walker Cain of the successor firm Steinman, Cain and White replace Smith. The firm proposed various schemes and in July 1956 one of them was selected by the Joint Congressional Committee consisting of five Senators appointed by Vice President Richard Nixon. The final exterior design was approved by the Joint Congressional Committee in February 1957 and by the Commission of Fine Arts in November 1957. In December 1957 the National Capital Planning Commission approved the site between 12th and 14th Streets on Constitution Avenue, just west of the Museum of Natural History. The site was cleared and ground was broken in August 1958 and construction began on October 5, 1959.

The final built design was approximately 577 feet by 301 feet, with five stories and a basement. The façade consists of repeated bay units clad in a pink Tennessee marble. The building was intended to fit within a classical environment yet make use of modern methods of construction. The architectural firm did not choose a grand staircase like the adjacent Museum of Natural History or the West Building of the National Gallery of Art. To make the building highly accessible to each visitor, the firm designed a first level entrance on Constitution Avenue and a second level entrance on the Mall. The building is devoid of ornamentation. Designed with recessed bays and a cornice, the museum was intended to contextually relate to the neoclassical columns of its neighbors. It opened to the public on January 23, 1964 to five and a half million visitors in its first year. In 1969 the museum was renamed to the National Museum of History and Technology and in 1980 it was again renamed to the National Museum of American History.

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