DAR Museum
The Washington D.C Daughters of the American Revolution Museum is a highly popular city-block-long complex that teaches guests all about the history and impact of the DAR. This spot features an interactive museum, library, manuscript room, and even auditorium and is open to the public. First founded in 1890, this spot was sought out to be a “place for the collection of historic relics… portraits, pictures, etc...in a fireproof building” for the Daughters of the American Revolution, something the building did very well for the group once established. By collecting, preserving, exhibiting, and interpreting the ‘material culture and social history of a pre-industrial America’, the DAR museum reaches its historic goals of educating the public and preserving its past.
Your group may choose to take a self-guided journey around the museum, a 45-minute docent-led tour (leaving on every 1.5 hours), any available Special Exhibit tours (currently An Agreeable Tyrant - Fashion After the Revolution), or the popular group Quilt Tour. See a total of over 30,000 objects reflecting the material culture and social history of the U.S prior to 1840 within the building, including a complete journey into the past with such stately rooms as the 1810’s Bedroom, 1820’s Dining Room, and 1860s Parlor. The entire building holds a total of 31 different Period Rooms, rooms that display the most common furnishings in American homes from 1690 to 1935. In these rooms, and throughout the hallways in general, you will see several different examples of decorative arts, costumes, quilts, and needlework. School tours, scouting programs, and summer camps are available for those with a particularly large American history interest, the information even meeting National Learning Standards.
