It seems like people are always confused about which museums and entities in the DC area are run by the Smithsonian Institution and which ones aren’t. So I created this handy list. Please note that this list is DC centric and intentionally doesn’t include the Smithsonian museums and entities located in NYC and elsewhere.

Feel free to discuss your favorites and add any other non-Smithsonian museums and entities that people often mistakenly think are Smithsonian but actually aren’t affiliated.

Smithsonian Museums:

1. National Museum of African American History and Culture

2. National Museum of African Art

3. National Air and Space Museum

4. National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center

5. Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery

6. Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum

7. National Museum of American History

8. National Museum of the American Indian

9. Anacostia Community Museum

10. National Museum of Asian Art (Freer and Sackler Galleries)

11. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

12. National Zoo

13. National Museum of Natural History

14. National Postal Museum

Buildings with Exhibit Spaces (have rotating temporary exhibits but aren’t specifically dedicated to one topic):

1. S. Dillon Ripley Center

2. Smithsonian Castle

3. Arts and Industries Building

Archives and Research Centers:

1. Archives of American Art

2. Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

3. Asian Pacific American Center

4. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (in Maryland)

Non-Smithsonian Museums (not an exhaustive list, just a few that people in my life have asked about):

1. National Gallery of Art

2. United States Botanic Garden

3. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

4. National Building Museum

5. National Museum of Women in the Arts

I am planning a visit to one of the Smithsonian museums tomorrow (Thursday) in DC, but I am still undecided which one is the most worth. Based on the museums' schedules, the National Museum of American History and the National Postal Museum will be closed. The National Museum of African American History and Culture requires reserving a timed-entry pass, which none are available for tomorrow. One thing to keep in mind is that my knee is slightly crippled from over-walking this past week, so hopefully a museum that is not overwhelmingly huge and long would suffice.

Anacostia Community Museum
Wednesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
(Closed Sunday through Tuesday)

Arts and Industries Building
Open through July 6, 2022
Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Friday and Saturday until 7 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)
Sculpture Garden open daily 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

National Air and Space Museum
Open March 11–27
Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)

National Air and Space Museum Steven F.
Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia
Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

National Museum of African American
History and Culture
Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Mondays and Tuesdays)
Reserve Free Passes »

National Museum of African Art
Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)

National Museum of American History
Friday through Tuesday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Wednesdays and Thursdays)

National Museum of the American Indian (DC)
Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)

National Museum of Asian Art
Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)

National Museum of Natural History
Wednesday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Mondays and Tuesdays)
Starting March 14, open seven days

National Portrait Gallery and
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Thursday through Sunday 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)

National Postal Museum
Friday through Tuesday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Wednesday and Thursday)

Renwick Gallery of the
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Thursday through Sunday 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)
Closed until Friday, May 13

Smithsonian Institution Building (Castle)
Open daily 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Smithsonian's National Zoo
Thursday through Sunday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.
(Closed Monday through Wednesday)
Starting March 14, open seven days
Reserve Free Passes »

Smithsonian Gardens
Haupt Garden open daily dawn to dusk
All others open 24 hours