National Geographic Museum Blog

“After 33 dives to the wreck, averaging 14 hours each, I have spent more time on the ship than Captain Smith himself did. In all that exploration, the strongest memories are these out-of-body experiences of ghostwalking through the corridors and stairwells of Titanic via my ROV avatar. Its gothic ruin exists now in a ghostly limbo, neither in our world nor completely gone from it. The rusticles have transformed Edwardian elegance into a phantasmagorical cavern, a surreal underworld ruled only by dream logic. But despite the sheer alienness of the place, I felt a tingling déjà vu exploring there. Having walked the faithfully built movie set for many weeks, I would turn a corner in the wreck and already know, before the bot’s video camera revealed it, what would be there. It was an eerie feeling but also strangely comforting, as if I were somehow home.”

Read more here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/04/titanic/cameron-text

As a new member of the Dupont Kalorama Museum Consortium, National Geographic Museum will be participating in the Dupont Kalorama Museum Consortium Walk Weekend, taking place Saturday June 2 and Sunday June 3, 2012. Admission to National Geographic Museum and eight other neighborhood museums is free. For more information please visit, DKMC Walk Weekend. Join us and experience the Museum for free!

Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend is the perfect excuse to explore D.C.’s “off-the-mall” museums. In addition to a wide variety of exhibitions, many sites are offering special programs. Enjoy period music and bring a picnic to the gardens at Dumbarton House, stop by The Textile Museum’s Celebration of Textiles, take part in Jazz n’Family Fun Days at The Phillips Collection, come tell your stories about that special man in your family circle at the National Museum of American Jewish Military History or get your picture taken in a vintage automobile at Wilson House.

Brewmaster and beer expert *Garrett Oliver*—whose definitive Oxford Companion to Beer was published to rave reviews last fall—returns by popular demand with a selection of “big but beautiful” beers…beers that combine brawn with true elegance and an ability to age well. Come to this annual celebration of beer and find out why, as Garrett says, “A beer isn’t beautiful just because it’s big.”

Light refreshments included, ID required.

Presented with support from RFD Washington, and with assistance from B.U.R.P (Brewers United for Real Potables).

Travel writer and syndicated columnist Joyce Maynard captures time and place precisely in prose.  Author of 11 books, Maynard has written poignantly for National Geographic Traveler on her travels in Europe and North America. She and Don George, Editor-at-Large for Traveler, will discuss the way outer journeys inspire and inform inner journeys, and the demands and pleasures of travel with loved ones on May 8th.

Read Joyce Maynard’s reflections on the landscape of British Columbia in Traveler.

BOOK CLUBS:  Bring your book club, and get a group discount on tickets!  Check our group sales page for more details.

Change has come to Cuba, providing new opportunities for its people—and for US citizens who can now travel legally to this long-embargoed island nation. Juan Jose Valdes, the Society’s Geographer, and a native of Cuba, will share his personal story as a young refugee from the island, culminating in his work on the Geographic’s highly-detailed new map of Cuba.  Award-winning travel writer Christopher Baker, who leads Geographic-sponsored trips to the island, will take us on a vivid virtual tour of Havana’s Old City, the island’s rich nature preserves, and its fascinating blend of cultures.

Find out more : http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/special-events/2012/04/13/discovering-soul-cuba/

This event is sold out.

The Battle of Shiloh caused more casualties in two days than the entire Revolutionary War. As Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump and The Crimson Tide, reveals in his new National Geographic book, Shiloh, the battle destroyed everyone’s assumptions that Civil War victory would come quickly and cheaply.  Hear Groom’s account of this epochal battle on the eve of its 150th anniversary.

Also, before the event, we will have a drawing for free copies of National Geographic’s acclaimed Civil War map, courtesy of National Geographic Maps.

Find more here: http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/speakers/2012/04/05/shiloh/

Year after year the editors, writers, and photographers of National Geographic magazine bring readers captivating coverage of “the world and all that’s in it.” 2011 was no exception. Among the many topics from the past year were stories of orphan elephants, explosive volcanoes, the nuclear zone in Japan, reindeer hunters, and female empowerment in Brazil. A handful of carefully chosen images help shape each article. Yet, thousands of worthy photographs never make the cut.

Selected from images shot on assignment for 29 articles, the photographs in this exhibition offer a glimpse at the richness of what is left behind after editing is complete. Take a peek behind the scenes to learn about the merits of the photograph, why it caught the editor’s eye, or how the photographer got the shot.

Join us one month from today with an extraordinary look at how National Geographic Images are captured.

Join us on March 13th @ 7pm for an amazing special exhibition.

The late environmental, social, and political activist Wangari Maathai earned a Nobel Peace Prize for her work with the Green Belt Movement. She founded this Kenyan organization in 1977 to encourage the planting of trees to protect the soil and provide women with wood for cooking and building. Join her daughter Wanjira Maathai, documentary filmmakers Lisa Merton and Alan Dater, and Green Belt’s U.S. director Stephen Mills for a special tribute to an environmental hero of our time. A reception will follow this event.

Co-presented with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital.