Tag: Washington DC

history museums pragmatic historian

History Gives a Place Distinction

By Mary | by Mary

While hubby and I were visiting Maryland, I made an observation about the importance of history to place. As my brother navigated through suburbs along highways to various destinations, I noticed that the commercial districts of those suburbs could have been in Minnesota. Because they were filled with chain stores found nationwide constructed using nondescript building styles, there was no distinction between Maryland suburbs and Minnesota suburbs. Well, except for the vines running up and…

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history museums pragmatic historian time

Library of Congress: The Ultimate Eye Candy

By Mary | by Mary

Continuing from last week’s post about my January trip to Washington DC, I’d like to share my impressions and photos of the Library of Congress. For some reason, this building was open during the partial government shutdown and I’m so very glad it was. First off, the Library of Congress is located in the Thomas Jefferson Building. The building is called that because Thomas Jefferson sold his significant personal library to the United States after…

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history museums pragmatic historian

An Outdoor Museum with Very Large Artifacts

By Mary | by Mary

I recently returned from a trip to the Washington DC area. My brother and his wife invited my husband and me out. It was my first trip to DC and wouldn’t you know it, there was a partial government shutdown. None of the Smithsonian Museums were open. This ended up being a blessing, not because I didn’t want to see any of the Smithsonian-related museums, but because I wanted to see too many of them.…

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