Always Becoming

The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers.The museum has three facilities. The National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., opened on September 21, 2004, on Fourth Street and Independence Avenue, Southwest. The George Gustav Heye Center, a permanent museum, is located at the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House in New York City, opened in October of 1994. The Cultural Resources Center, a research and collections facility, is located in Suitland, Maryland. The foundations for the present collections were first assembled in the former Museum of the American Indian in New York City, which was established in 1916, and which became part of the Smithsonian in 1989.

Mary Ann Hall (1814 or 1815 – January 29, 1886) ran a successful brothel from the 1840s until about 1878 at 349 Maryland Avenue SW, Washington, D.C., about four blocks west of the U.S. Capitol. Before the National Museum of the American Indian was built on the site in 1999, the Smithsonian Institution conducted an archeological excavation of the foundations and garbage dump of the house. The expensive tableware in the garbage dump was made of ironstone and porcelain. Food remnants include meat, fowl, fish, and exotic fruits like coconuts and berries. French champagne corks were especially numerous. She built a three-story house on the site which rose greatly in value. Her business was apparently very successful and she died with a net worth of $87,000 - worth over $2,000,000 in 2005 dollars.In 1864 the Union Army's Provost Marshal published a list of brothels in Washington and Mary Ann Hall's had 18 "inmates," making it the largest in the city.She was buried with her sister and other family members under "large and dignified" memorials at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C.Her summer home in Arlington was later owned by Presley Marion Rixey and is now Marymount University.

The Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building (formerly the Social Security Administration Building) is a historic building at 330 Independence Avenue, Southwest, Washington, D.C., United States.

The United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), known until 2018 as the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), is an independent agency of the United States government that broadcasts news and information. It is considered an arm of U.S. diplomacy.The USAGM supervises Voice of America (VOA) and Office of Cuba Broadcasting as well as state-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Middle East Broadcasting Networks and Open Technology Fund.

Phoebe Waterman Haas Public Observatory with a 16–inch telescope is a U.S. public observatory located at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) is a program of the Administration for Children and Families, an office within the United States Department of Health and Human Services, created with the passing of the United States Refugee Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-212). The Office of Refugee Resettlement offers support for refugees seeking safe haven within the United States, including victims of human trafficking, those seeking asylum from persecution, survivors of torture and war, and unaccompanied alien children. The mission and purpose of the Office of Refugee Resettlement is to assist in the relocation process and provide needed services to individuals granted asylum within the United States.Since 1975, the United States has assisted in the resettlement of more than 3 million refugees. Annual admissions of refugees to the United States since the 1980 Refugee Act was enacted have ranged from 27,100 to as many as 207,116.In Fiscal Year 2019, Refugee and Resettlement Assistance comprised a discretionary budget of $1.905 billion. The largest share of that, $1.303 billion, was designated for the Unaccompanied Alien Children program housing child migrants. Other major programs include Transitional and Medical Services, $354 million; Refugee Support Services, $207 million; and the Trafficking Victims Support Program, $27 million. The Office of Refugee Resettlement is currently headed by Director Robin Dunn Marcos, who formerly served as International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) senior director for resettlement, asylum, and integration programming.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) is the principal advisory group to the United States Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on policy development and provides coordination and support for HHS's strategic and policy planning, planning and development of legislation, program evaluation, data gathering, policy-related research, and regulatory program. ASPE refers both to the position, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, and the office directed by that position. Since its authorization in 1965, ASPE has played an instrumental role as an internal strategy group, think tank, and incubator supporting the priorities and needs of the Secretary, and consequently, the Department as a whole.

Southwest Federal Center is a business district in Southwest Washington, D.C., nearly entirely occupied by offices for various branches of the U.S. Government, including many of the museums of the Smithsonian Institution. Southwest Federal Center lies between Independence Avenue and the National Mall to the north, the Southeast-Southwest Freeway (Interstate 395) and the Washington Channel to the south, South Capitol Street to the east, and 15th Street SW to the west. Several U.S. Cabinet Departments have headquarters or large office complexes in the area, including the Agriculture (including a separate building dedicated to the Forest Service), Transportation, HUD, Health and Human Services, Education, and Energy Departments. The most prominent are the Department of Agriculture, which is housed in a neoclassical building complex that lines both sides of Independence Avenue, and the arcing high-rise of HUD, which is characterized by a unique installation of illuminated fiberglass rings in its 7th Street plaza. Additionally, NASA Headquarters is located in a large building at the corner of 4th and E Streets. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is also located in the Southwest Federal Center area. The office buildings for the U.S. House of Representatives line Independence Avenue on the south side of the U.S. Capitol; two of these, the Rayburn and Ford House Office Buildings, are located in Southwest Federal Center (although the Ford building is not actually located on Independence Avenue, but is on 3rd Street between D Street and Virginia Avenue SW). The Smithsonian museums in Southwest Federal Center include the Hirshhorn Museum, the National Air and Space Museum, and the Museum of the American Indian, the Freer and Sackler galleries, the National Museum of African Art, and the Arts and Industries Building, as well as the Smithsonian Castle that forms the main offices for the Institution. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, though not affiliated with the Smithsonian, is also located in the vicinity. The few non-governmental businesses in the neighborhood include five hotels, St. Dominic's Catholic Church, a few restaurants, a power station for the neighborhood, the First District police station, and commercial spaces (e.g., convenience stores, bank branches, coffee shops, etc.) in the lobbies of the hotels and office buildings. Also, L'Enfant Plaza, a multi-building complex and promenade that includes both government and civilian offices (as well as an indoor shopping mall), is located off Independence Avenue. The Southwest Federal Center is served by the Smithsonian and Federal Center SW Metro stations on the Orange, Blue, Silver Lines, and by the L'Enfant Plaza station on the Green, Yellow, Silver, Orange, and Blue Lines.

The Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building is a federally owned office building located at 330 C Street SW in Washington, D.C. in the United States. The Egyptian Revival structure was originally named the Railroad Retirement Board Building. It was designed by Charles Klauder and Louis A. Simon and completed on September 15, 1940. Although intended for the Railroad Retirement Board, its first occupant was to the United States Department of War. By Act of Congress, it was renamed the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Building on October 21, 1972, becoming the first federal building to be named for a woman. The Switzer Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 2007.

The Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial is a United States presidential memorial in Washington, D.C. honoring Dwight David Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II and the 34th President of the United States. Located to the south of the National Mall, the national memorial is set in a park-like plaza, with large columns framing a mesh tapestry depicting the site of the Normandy landings, and sculptures and bas-reliefs arrayed in the park. Architect Frank Gehry designed the memorial and Sergey Eylanbekov sculpted the bronze statues of Eisenhower in various settings. The memorial's tapestry artist was Tomas Osinski, and the inscription artist, Nicholas Waite Benson. On October 25, 1999, the United States Congress created the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial Commission, and charged it with creating "...an appropriate permanent memorial to Dwight D. Eisenhower...to perpetuate his memory and his contributions to the United States." Originally designed as a "roofless" temple outlined by large columns, and mesh tapestry "walls", the preliminary design proved controversial. After several years of hearings and several design changes by Gehry, including reducing the number of columns and tapestries, final design approvals were given in 2017, and the groundbreaking ceremony was held at the 4-acre (1.6 ha) site on November 3 of that year, which was attended by dignitaries. The dedication ceremony was initially scheduled for May 8, 2020, the 75th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day, but was postponed to September 17, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Purple Tunnel of Doom was the name ascribed to the I-395 Third Street tunnel in downtown Washington, D.C., where thousands of holders of purple tickets lined up to witness the first inauguration of Barack Obama on January 20, 2009. Ticket colors corresponded to assigned viewing areas. Many were not admitted, despite having stood in line for hours.

The Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building is a federal office building in Washington, D.C., which serves as the headquarters of the United States Department of Education.