The National Archives Museum, District of Columbia, United States

5Lynn S 5:00 PM Jun 8, 2022

MUST DO for all Americans
This was one of the highlights of our recent DC vacation. I didn't have the opportunity to visit here on my previous DC trip so I was very excited to go here and view the original founding documents of our nation. Here you can see the ORIGINAL Declaration of Independence (it is faded but you can still make out some of the words and you can definitely make out John Hancock's signature), Constitution and Bill of Rights. I was very thankful that a security guard announced to everyone that there wasn't a line and you could feel free to move around to view the documents, otherwise it might have taken a lot longer. They do not allow photography inside at all and while I understand why, that was a bit of a disappointment. The museum is not large and while you could spend several hours here, 1-2 hours is plenty.

4Chris D 5:00 PM May 1, 2022

A must see every time that I visit DC
A required stop every time I visit DC. The most obvious reason being that the Archives house original copies of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These are located in the rotunda on the second floor. Additionally, there are also several rotating exhibits located in the first floor galleries. The one major complaint about the Archives is that chaos and disorder reign supreme, especially when the rotunda is crowded. There is little to no organization or management of crowds. The guards tell people that they can either take in all of the exhibits from left to right, or that they can go straight up to the three founding documents if they wish. This causes a major backup and delay for those who are attempting to take in the entire exhibit because those who are only there for the founding documents continually file in to the area for them. It would be more efficient to just have everyone pass through the entire exhibit and keep the line moving in a consistent manner. Having read other reviews about the poor attitudes and service from the security personnel, I have to say that during our visit, they were very polite and accommodating. I am hoping that whatever issues may have existed with their engagement of the public have been resolved.