Washington, A revolutionary-era gunboat, George Washington’s uniform, Thomas Jefferson’s portable desk, and Melania Trump’s gown for the 2025 inaugural were among the objects at a unique exhibition at a museum to celebrate the 250th anniversary of US Independence.
The exhibition at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, titled “In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness”, uses iconic artefacts and everyday objects from key moments in history, spanning from the 18th to the 21st century, that together bring America’s extensive history to life.
“We like to say that the story of America is so big it takes an entire museum,” Anthea M. Hartig, the museum’s director, told a group of reporters.
Spread across 25,000,000 sq feet across three floors of the museum are 250 objects that highlight 250 stories, not just from 1776, the founding year of the US, but covering the entire span of 250 years, right up to the present.
“So 250 dreams, 250 actions, 250 steps forward. Sometimes backwards, but always action involved in American history,” said Theodore Gonsalves, the project director of the exhibition that opens on Thursday.
Seventy-six of the featured objects will be on public display for the first time or have been shown only rarely.
Among the exhibition’s most compelling centrepieces is the gunboat Philadelphia, the oldest surviving intact American fighting vessel. It’s one of the most remarkable surviving artefacts of the Revolutionary era.
Built in 1776 as part of a Continental fleet assembled to slow British forces on Lake Champlain, the vessel sank during the Battle of Valcour Island after being struck by enemy fire.
Recovered in 1935 and later moved to the museum, the gunboat is now undergoing a major conservation effort.
Visitors can watch museum experts at work through viewing windows as they stabilise the vessel’s ageing timbers and iron fastenings, helping preserve the ship for future generations.
Also on display are the original portable desk used by Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence in 1776, a faux-pearl necklace worn by Abigail Adams, the wife of the second US President, the Star-Spangled Banner that inspired the national anthem, and George Washington’s military uniform.
The gloves worn by a player from the Miracle on Ice team hockey player as he skated toward an underdog Olympics victory for the US in 1980, a steelworker’s hard hat from the September 11 attacks and a handmade Earth Day flag from 1970 are also among the exhibits on display.
A special immersive mural, “Access the Revolution”, commemorates the 50th anniversary of Metro Rail in Washington, DC.
Also among the exhibits is a massive filing cabinet that once belonged to the comedian Phyllis Diller that contains over 52,000 handwritten jokes, each on a different note card.
The elaborate notes have details about the date the joke was used, changes Diller made to it and the reaction from the audience.
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