Galleries
Room 226 exhibits slide shows and galleries
or artistic and historic images, so browse our collections!
or artistic and historic images, so browse our collections!
Computer History IllustratedComputers have not existed forever! The technology we enjoy today (for reading web pages such as this one) has developed over many centuries, from the abacus to the microchip. Generations of Computers: A Family History relates this colorful story in words and pictures, complete with an extended gallery of historic photographs of people and inventions.
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Earthquake in San FranciscoAt 5:12 AM on April 18, 1906, the San Andreas fault in California shook violently. This was the San Francisco Earthquake! The quake was followed by a series of aftershocks and a fire, caused by broken gas mains, that burned out of control for days. With thousands dead, injuried or homeless, the city's destruction was nearly total. Here the story is retold in historic photographs.
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Kaleidoscopes AnimatedA Kaleidoscope is an optical instrument in which bits of colored glass and angled mirrors create continuously changing symmetric patterns. Employing a computer, colorful abstract images can be painted and animation software used to sequentially transition between these designs. Shapes gently morph and colors easily blend in the kaleidoscopic show that results.
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Portraits of Abraham LincolnThe Lincoln Portrait Slide Show displays some of the studio photographs taken from early in his adulthood (photography did not exist during Lincoln's childhood) through to the end of his presidency. Lincoln is shown evolving from the clean shaven young attorney to the iconic national leader. The Lincoln History Gallery has some of the images we are most familiar with, like those on the penny and five dollar bill, as some you have probably not seen.
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Sandpaintings Navajo StyleTo restore health and harmony, the Navajo people create delicate, colorful images from finely crushed stone. These beautiful, sacred works are Navajo Sandpaintings. They can be appreciated for their artistry while providing greater insight into the culture of one of our native peoples. A gallery of authentic sandpaintings is also included.
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A Star-Spangled Banner PictorialThe writing of the lyrics to our national anthem was sparked by a young lawyer's witnessing a naval battle in the port of Baltimore, Maryland between British and American forces during the War of 1812. This gallery of paintings and photographs illustrate that infamous battle as well as the story of the historic garrison flag that once flew over Fort McHenry.
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Touring Washington DCThe District of Columbia is not only the capital city of the United States, but also one of our nation's most beautiful communities. There are governmental buildings such as the White House, the US Capitol where the Congress meets and the Supreme Court. Washington DC is also the site of presidential monuments for George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The headquarters of the Smithsonian Institute is an impressive castle. And there is even more as these classic photographs demonstrate.
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