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SECOND FLOOR | EXHIBIT
From These Lands: Sharing Our Natural and Cultural Heritage
Discover our national story through the museum’s unparalleled collections.
Explore more than 600 specimens and cultural items representing all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the five U.S. territories people call home.
From ancient fossils and dazzling minerals to cherished cultural belongings and groundbreaking scientific discoveries, encounter connections between people, places, and the natural world.
From These Lands and related programming are part of “Smithsonian’s Our Shared Future: 250,”
a Smithsonian-wide initiative commemorating the nation’s 250th birthday.
This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of lead sponsor Esri.
Major support was provided by The Bill and Dianne Ryan Family, with additional contributions by Amazon, MidFirst Bank, and our State Sponsors.
Exhibit Highlights
Discover the waterways, terrain, and other natural features that connect the states in a large-scale animated map.
Make and send a virtual postcard featuring natural history symbols from your state.
Watch a bark cloth artist from American Samoa create contemporary pieces that continue a long tradition.
Touch a real American mastodon tooth.
Would you eat the state appetizer of Rhode Island?
Watch a jumbled fossil slab come to life as the bones reassemble themselves into a lifelike animation.
Encounter an alligator gar, an ancient lineage of fish.
Take a (rocky) road trip passing through White Sands National Park.
Find a blue mineral named after the founder of the Smithsonian.
Look for Martha, the last individual of the extinct passenger pigeon.
Find your state’s seashell without a trip to the seashore.
Come face-to-face with a wall of 320 insect specimens from every state and territory.
Learn from a forager how to find North America's only native caffeinated plant.
Discover how sea otters keep kelp forests healthy.
Dive into an ancient inland sea where these iridescent ammonite fossils formed.
Marvel at the craftsmanship of one of Guam’s master blacksmiths.
Encounter a California condor specimen tracked since birth.
Feel a replica of this carved walrus tooth made by an Alaska Native artist.
Learn about America’s once thriving freshwater mussel button industry.
