National Portrait Gallery - Washington, DC

Address:8th and F St., NW
Washington, District of Columbia
Tel: (202) 275-1738

Spend the afternoon with George Washington and Marilyn Monroe! This national treasure trove of famous Americans' images takes visitors on a fascinating trip through cultural history.

The National Portrait Gallery is located in the Old Patent Office Building, which is the third oldest federal building in the city. It has marble and granite porticoes modeled after the Parthenon. The Gallery's incredible collections are grouped into exhibits such as "Bravo," "Champions," and "Twentieth Century Americans," where visitors can see portraits of leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr., artists such as Mary Cassatt and George Gershwin, activists like Sequoyah and Rosa Parks, and icons of pop culture such as Babe Ruth. Kids can enjoy the vast collection by doing the scavenger hunt on the top floor which is fun for all ages. The Upper West Side Café offers coffee, sandwiches, salads, and pastries, while the outdoor Portico Café is open in suitable weather for espresso and wine.

The National Portrait Gallery is located at Eighth and F Streets, NW, above the Gallery Place-Chinatown Metrorail station (Red, Yellow and Green lines). Come celebrate great Americans of the past and drink a toast to the future in the magnificent National Portrait Gallery.

A "conversation about America" will be on view in a series of 17 galleries and alcoves chronologically arranged to take the visitor from the days of contact between Native Americans and European explorers through the struggles of independence to the Gilded Age. Major figures from Pocahontas to Chief Joseph, Alexander Hamilton to Henry Clay, and Nathaniel Hawthorne to Harriet Beecher St owe will be among those included. Three of the galleries will be devoted exclusively to the Civil War, examining this conflict in depth.