DAR Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1910 |
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| Location | Washington, D.C. |
The DAR Museum is a special place in Washington, D.C. It is an art and history museum run by the Daughters of the American Revolution. You can find it in Memorial Continental Hall. This building is close to DAR Constitution Hall, where some of the museum's events happen.
The museum is famous for its huge collection of over 30,000 items. These objects were made or used in America before the Industrial Revolution. This means they are very old! You can see furniture, silver, paintings, ceramics, and textiles.
The museum also has a fun area called the New Hampshire Toy Attic. Here, kids can play with copies of old toys. It's great for families and offers many activities. The museum also has more than 30 special period rooms to explore.
Contents
Museum History
The DAR Museum started in 1890. This was the same year the National Society of Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR) was founded. The museum began as a way to keep and show family treasures.
As part of the NSDAR, the museum wanted to help save history and promote patriotism. They did this by collecting and showing items from the colonial era. Over the years, the museum's collection grew to more than 30,000 items. Many people and groups helped by donating or selling these historical pieces.
What You Can Do at the Museum
Museum Tours
The museum is open to everyone six days a week. You can explore on your own or take a guided tour. Guides, called docents, can show you the period rooms and other cool parts of the museum. This includes the DAR library and the Americana collection.
The Library
The museum's library is located next door, in DAR Constitution Hall. It's a great place to look up information about history and your family tree. Members of the DAR can use the library for free. Other visitors can enter for a small fee. The library has about 150,000 books about family history.
Programs for Kids
The DAR Museum offers free programs for school groups. These programs teach about interesting topics. For example, you can learn how historical quilts were made. You can also discover what life was like for children in colonial times. The museum also has fun activities for families on weekends.
Special Exhibitions
American Period Rooms
The museum has over 30 period rooms. These rooms are decorated to look like homes from different times in American history. They are set up in a colonial revival style. The rooms come in many sizes and have different types of furniture. You can see everything from men's studies to old bedrooms. There's even a large attic full of children's toys! Each room is supported by a different NSDAR group. You can see pictures of these rooms on the DAR Museum website.
Fashioning The New Woman: 1890–1925
The museum has hosted an exhibition called "Fashioning The New Woman: 1890–1925." This exhibit showed how women's fashion changed from the late 1800s to the 1920s. At first, women wore Victorian styles with many layers. But as women became more active and involved in sports and social causes, their clothes changed. The exhibit explored these changes and the lives of important women who helped shape new fashions.
Quilt Collection
The DAR Museum has a large collection of quilts. It is part of the Quilt Index, which is a searchable database of quilts. The museum has over 500 quilts and coverlets from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of these quilts come with amazing personal stories. They tell about the people who made them and owned them. The museum and NSDAR also used to run a Quilt Camp summer program for kids aged 10 to 17.
See also
In Spanish: Museo DAR para niños
