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Archive Press Images

Rockets outside AIB
‘Rocket Row,’ a display of space rockets along the outside of the Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building’s west entrance in 1959, when AIB held aviation and space collections prior to construction of the National Air and Space Museum, Image # SIA-2002-12168, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Whale skeleton
Early natural history displays at the Smithsonian’s US National Museum, today the Arts + Industries building, Late 19th c., Image #SIA-2002-12132, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Kids looking at moon rock
Kids gather around a moon rock in 1969, displayed in the Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building’s rotunda just 6 weeks after the Apollo mission first returned to earth, Image #SIA-OPA-1564-28, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Chemistry lab
A chemistry lab for experiments in the Arts + Industries Building, early 1900s, Image #SIA-MAH-11087B-000002, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Natural history objects
Early displays in the Arts + Industries Building, 1890s, Image #SIA-MNH-2599, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Lecture
Audiences crowd for a public lecture in the newly-opened Arts + Industries Building, 1890s, Image# SIA-2002-10632. Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Early exhibition display
Early natural history displays at the Smithsonian’s US National Museum, today the Arts + Industries building, Late 19th c, Image #SIA-NHB-16855, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Inauguration ball
The Arts + Industries Building, then the U.S. National Museum, decorated for the inaugural ball of James A. Garfield and Chester A. Arthur, the first public use of the new museum building, Image #SIA-AI-19070, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Building enterance with visitors
Crowds gather to visit the newly opened U.S. National Museum on the National Mall, 1880s-90s, Image #SIA-2002-10624, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Star spangled banner
Smithsonian conservationists care for the Star Spangled Banner, displayed in the Arts + Industries Building until the early 1960s. Courtesy Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Spirit of St. Louis
Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis on display in the Arts + Industries Building, late 1920s, Image #SIA-2002-12192-000002, Courtesy Smithsonian Institution Archives.
Smithsonian Castle
The earliest known photo of the Smithsonian’s headquarters, known as the ‘Castle,’ under construction in 1850, William Langenheim (1807-1874) and Frederick Langenheim (1809-1879), photographers, Smithsonian Institution Castle Collection. Gift of Tom Rall, Arlington, Virginia.
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