Virtual Exhibits

The National Portrait Gallery began to acquire the likenesses of American presidents shortly after the museum was established by Congress in 1962, and a number of portraits, including paintings of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Jackson, and John F. Kennedy, were already in the collection when the museum opened to the public in 1968.

The Portrait Gallery, whose signature installation is America’s Presidents, is the only public collection to feature portraits of all of the U.S. presidents.

This digital exhibit provides perspectives from Native American community members, documents, maps, images, and activities to help understand an important and difficult chapter in the history both of Native Nations and the United States. 

Visit famous zoos of the United States through their animal webcams

Smithsonian National Zoo Webcams

Bronx Zoo Webcams

Houston Zoo Webcams

Away From Home examines an important and often unknown period of American history. Beginning in the 1870s the U.S. government aimed to assimilate American Indians into “civilized” society by placing them in government-operated boarding schools. Children were taken from families and transported to far-away schools where all signs of “Indian-ness” were stripped away. Students were trained for servitude and many went for years without familial contact—events that still have an impact on Native communities today. Sponsored by the Heard Museum.

Specializing in Greek art from prehistoric to times, this Athens museum is a delight to browse. An interactive map allows viewers to navigate from room to room, and also take advantage of some exhibits that have an audio component. If you're just going to take a look around, that is easily achieved. If you'd like to delve a little deeper into the collection, the audio makes that easy and informative.

The Black Elevation Map is a comprehensive guide to the black cultural sites, black historical landmarks and black owned businesses which can be found in America's towns and cities. This new interactive map uses data from a number of sources to show the concentration and locations of black owned businesses and black historical markers across the country.

The Black Women’s Suffrage Digital Collection is a collaborative project to provide digital access to materials documenting the roles and experiences of Black Women in the Women’s Suffrage Movement and, more broadly, women’s rights, voting rights, and civic activism between the 1850s and 1960.

The 1904 World's Fair (Louisiana Purchase Exposition) marked the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase, a monumental event in U.S. history. Fair organizers set out to celebrate that event and create their own monumental event. It seemed appropriate to set the Fair in St. Louis Missouri, at that time the fourth largest city in the country and part of the land covered by the Treaty.

Download and order free coloring books from libraries and museums across the world.

David Attenborough leads you on an interactive tour underwater to explore the Great Barrier Reef. Through interactive time-lapses, videos, and weather maps, the tour shows you the Earth’s most bio-diverse ecosystem.

All the while, a tracker notes miles traveled, total sailing time, and the effects of climate change during your “exhibition,” making this a great educational tour for adults and kids alike!

This digital exhibit provides Native perspectives, images, documents, and other sources to help understand how the 17th-century fur trade brought together two cultures, one Native and the other Dutch, with different values and ideas about exchange.

Every Eye Is Upon Me: First Ladies of the United States is the first major exhibition to explore the historical significance of this prominent position through the mode of portraiture. The exhibition, organized in collaboration with the White House and the National First Ladies’ Library, spans nearly 250 years, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump, and features more than 60 portraits of the First Ladies or those who undertook the role of White House hostess, alongside related ephemera, including iconic dresses

Many of the imaginary beasts that populate the modern imagination—like unicorns, dragons, and griffins—appear in medieval manuscript illumination.

Explore historic cookbooks from both the US and around the world in these online collections.

The Doris S. Kirschner Cookbook Collection

The Cookbook and Home Economics Collection

This digital exhibit from the National Museum of the American Indian explores one of the essential understandings about Native Americans: that ideals, principles, and practices of citizenship have always been part of American Indian societies. 

The exhibition explores the background to the 1916 Rising. It introduces the visitor to the nuances of contemporary political events; the rise of the Catholic élite; the push for Home Rule along with the counter-moves of unionism; the increasing ‘Irish-Ireland’ aspects of the arts and cultural movements of the period and the growth of republican nationalism.

This digital exhibit provides perspectives from Native American community members, images, documents, and other sources to help understand the difficult choices and consequences Northern Plains Native Nations faced when entering into treaty negotiations with the United States.

 The countdown to the first images from the new telescope. Everything you need to know about the telescope, where it is, and test images it has already taken.

Thomas Jefferson assembled a private text in 1820, using excerpts from the Four Gospels of the New Testament in Greek, Latin, French and English. His aim was to tell a chronological version of Jesus’ life, distilling his moral teachings, excluding those aspects which appeared to him “contrary to reason.”

An exhibit of paintings by New York City artist Jordan Casteel is currently on display at the New Museum in Manhattan. A comprehensive video tour on the museum’s site explores the exhibit and includes audio of Casteel discussing her work as well as information from the exhibit’s curator. Casteel’s large paintings are primarily portraits that depict people of color and capture daily life through the lens of the Black community.

The elements that make up nearly all that you are and can see first came from the explosion of a massive star. Step inside one such explosion and explore the forces that connect each of us to the stars.

Tour the home of the first President George Washington.

Museum of the American Revolution's virtual tour.

Located in Oklahoma City, The National Cowboy Western & Heritage Museum is America’s premier institution of Western history, art, and culture.

Explore the land and sea alike from your very own home with virtual tours of the Butterly Pavilion and Ocean Hall, or even go back in time with the David H. Koch Hall of Fossils - Deep Time.

Start your Oklahoma History Center 3D virtual tour out under the replica of the Winnie Mae, flown by famed aviator Wiley Post, before "walking" through the entire 215,000 square-foot learning center. Viewing options include regular 3D, a floorplan layout and an incredible dollhouse view.

Pittock Mansion in Portland, Oregon, is lesser known among virtual haunted houses since the location’s reputation pales in comparison to infamous sites like Eastern State Penitentiary. Georgina and Henry Pittock commissioned the grand mansion but both passed away within five years of the project’s completion. Supposedly, because the couple did not get much earthly time to enjoy the house, the spirits linger. Visitors report strange happenings such as ghostly sightings, strange flowery smells, and moving objects.

“¡Presente! A Latino History of the United States,” introduces visitors to critical concepts, moments and biographies that shine a light on the historical and cultural legacy of U.S. Latinos. This exhibition is presented by the National Museum of the American Latino in the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the National Museum of American History.

Want to listen to radio stations throughout the world in one handy place? Radio Garden allows you to instantly listen to over 10,000 radio stations around the world by simply clicking on the green dot on the globe. You can also search by station, format, city and country too. 

The Salem Witch Trials scandalized 17th century Massachusetts. With over 200 citizens (mostly women) accused and a dozen executed, the event captured imaginations for generations to come. You can take an educational online tour of locations associated with the trials such as cemeteries, courthouses, and the path from the jail and execution site. This virtual tour is ideal for the history buffs on your remote team who favor the occult.

Copies of the Torah, Christian Bible, and Qur’an are among the most beautifully illuminated manuscripts of the Middle Ages, illustrated here by three remarkable examples from the Getty Museum's collections.

Welcome to the Museum of the World - an interactive experience through time, continents and cultures featuring some of the most fascinating objects in human history.

This expertly written Libguide gives in-depth details on the show, which ran for seven seasons from 1985-1992. Especially impressive is a scholarly bibliography on The Golden Girls, which is helpful for both pop culture researchers and casual fans.

 A collection of these guide books by Victor Hugo Green, were a valuable resource for African-American travelers in the Jim Crow era. These editions have been digitized and provide a unique look at the discrimination faced by African-Americans in that era.

For more information also see Traveling While Black: A Century of Pleasure & Pain & Pilgrimages.

The Encyclopedia, based on the extensive historical research, has over 280 articles on civil rights movement figures, events, and organizations. It also offers a detailed day-to-day chronology of King's life.

Showcasing extraordinary correspondences from the American Revolution to the present day.

Dedicated to U.S. service members, veterans, and their families.

Inaugural wing, "The Vietnam War," opened March 29^th, 2021.

(In honor of National Vietnam War Veterans Day - every March 29^th)

This digital exhibit provides Native perspectives, images, documents, and other sources to help understand the remarkable nature of the Navajo Treaty of 1868 and why the Navajo maintained an unflinching resolve to return home.

This digital exhibit provides Native perspectives, images, documents, and other sources to help understand the difficult choices and consequences the Pawnee Nation faced when entering into treaty negotiations with the United States.

The 1921 Attack on Greenwood was one of the most significant events in Tulsa’s history. Following World War I, Tulsa was recognized nationally for its affluent African American community known as the Greenwood District. This thriving business district and surrounding residential area was referred to as “Black Wall Street.” In June 1921, a series of events nearly destroyed the entire Greenwood area.

Did you know that you can see what’s happening live at parks without leaving your home? Webcams allow you to get up close to wildlife without disturbing them.

Browse hundreds of webcams throughout the National Park Service. You may catch a glimpse of wildlife!

A virtual tour of The Vatican's most stunning sites, which allows you to marvel at Michelangelo’s ceiling inside the Sistine Chapel. Other marvels to visit include The You Visit tour allows you to wander around the world’s smallest country digitally and even has a tour guide option that offers information on each significant site.

Remember when the yearly Christmas gift catalog arrived in the mail? If you'd like to remember what you could buy and at what price for Christmas, check out this extensive collection of catalogs from Sears, JC Penney's and Montgomery Ward from 1940-2017.

The story of the struggle for the right to vote for women.

More than nine hundred original Work Projects Administration (WPA) posters are in the custody of the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Division, constituting the largest WPA holding in the United States. These original silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters were produced between 1936 and 1943. More information.