From a press release:

President Lincoln’s Cottage opened Seat of War: A Panoramic View of Civil War Washington Through Historic Prints early this month in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center. This exhibit illuminates President Lincoln’s Civil War Washington through historic prints from our collection. It will run through the new year and close on January 15, 2012.

More info on Lincoln’s cottage here Directions from the Petworth metro here.

Awesome! Thanks to a reader for sending. From the National Museum of the American Indian:

“Thursday – Sunday, Nov. 17-20
10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.

The country of Chile celebrates its Native culture with an art market, an exhibition of traditional arts and crafts, demonstrations, mini-seminars with Chilean educators, daily Chilean wine tastings, traditional dancing and indigenous cuisine will be available in the Mitsitam Native Foods Cafe.”

You can see the full schedule of events here.

From an email:

“The Heurich House Museum, the German brew master’s castle located south of Dupont Circle on New Hampshire Avenue, invites the public to take a holiday Candlelight Tour on Friday, December 9 or Saturday, December 10. The home will be open from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Admission costs $15 for Adults and $5 for Children.

The mansion, often called a hidden gem of northwest Washington, will be decorated for the Victorian-era holiday season. Guests will enjoy performances of traditional German Christmas carols by the Alpine Singers and Washington Sängerbund at 7:00 and 8:00pm each night. The museum will serve traditional sweets donated by local German bakeries, and Saint Nikolaus will make an appearance on Saturday evening.

This annual event is a celebration of Germany’s most important holiday, and takes place in the home of the most successful German merchant in Washington, D.C. Heurich celebrated his achievements by building the mansion in Dupont Circle. A technological marvel, the home was crafted by German artisans, and is considered one of the most intact Victorian homes in the country. Museum Docents conduct weekly tours of the mansion, and it is available for special event rentals.

Heurich’s brewing company was the largest non-governmental employer in the District, and he was the world’s oldest brewer at his death at 102. From the time of the brewery’s closing in the 1950’s, there had been no other brewery in Washington, D.C. until D.C. Brau opened its doors this April 2011.

To pre-purchase tickets or for more information, please visit: here or Email info@heurichhouse.org with questions.”

From an email:

“I wanted to let you know about an event we have coming up at the TM on October 8 – an Otsukimi, or fall moon viewing. We’ve joined up with the Japan America Society of Washington, DC to have a party in the beautiful Textile Museum gardens with sake tastings, mochi (rice cake) making, origami, koto music, bon dancing, and yukata dress-up for kids.

Enjoy a picnic or pre-order an obento boxed dinner, and watch the harvest moon rise.

More details are available here.

WHEN: Saturday, October 8, 6:30-9 PM

WHERE: The Textile Museum, 2320 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008 (metro: Dupont Circle, Q Street exit)

COST : TM and JASW Members: $25 ($40 with obento) – Non-members: $30 ($45 with obento) – Children 15 and under: Free ($15 with obento)

Register online or call JASWDC at 202-833-2456″

From an email:

I thought you might be interestd in an event at the Textile Museum next week – it’s a after-hours PM @ the TM event, called “Twice is Nice,” Wednesday, September 7, 6-9 pm. It’s celebrating everything vintage in a night of fashion, music and drinks in the charming garden.

We have a bunch of local shop owners from around the city participating, some as judges for the best-dressed contest, others donating raffle prizes, mostly gift certificates from their shops. There will be a clothing swap – trade in a pre-loved piece for something new-to-you with the Trash Cats, D.C.’s own clothing exchange experts. There will be Laughing Man Band in the garden, DJ Baby Alcatraz spinning 45’s in the galleries among the Green and Second Lives exhibits, food from local bakers Whisked! and yogurt from Pinkberry, and drinks from Honest Tea and Nude Vodka.

WHEN: Wednesday, September 7, 6-9 PM

WHERE: The Textile Museum, 2320 S Street NW, Washington DC 20008

Metro: Dupont Circle, Q Street exit

COST : $10 per person, museum members receive one free drink. Tickets available online and at door.

From an email:

Friday, September 2, from 6 to 9 p.m.
@ NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY,
COURTYARD CAFE – 8TH and G ST., N.W.

Make it a “Capital” holiday! Avoid Labor Day traffic on the Bay Bridge: skip rush hour and join us for happy hour from 6 to 9 p.m. at the National Portrait Gallery.

Enjoy after-hours access to the “Capital Portraits” exhibition (http://www.npg.si.edu/exhibit/capital) at the start of its final weekend, and celebrate with themed drinks and entertainment.

· Courtyard Cafe (http://npg.si.edu/shop/cafe.html) will be open late, serving a special menu and drinks, including the Rickey — the official cocktail of DC.

· Hang out in the covered Kogod Courtyard with friends to the beats of DJ Natty Boom, who will be spinning Global Booty Beats, international pop, and a mix of music featuring local artists who have led the DC, national, and international musical discourse.

· Local artist Chajana denHarder (http://www.chajana.com) will present a performance art piece in the courtyard during the event.

· Culture Shock DC (http://cultureshockdc.org), a professional hip hop dance troupe, will also perform in the courtyard.

This is a free event.

No tickets or rsvp are required.

Food and drinks will be available for purchase in the Courtyard Café.”

From an email:

“The annual “Made in Hong Kong” Film Festival culminates this weekend, August 20 and 21. The weekend’s events are devoted to the fascinating cross-cultural phenomenon between martial-arts movies and rap music. A “Hop Fu: Hip-hop meets Kung Fu” performance with DJ IXL and DJ Excess of the Kolabz Crew will accompany the screening of Super Ninjas on Saturday, August 20 at 2pm.

On Sunday at 2pm, join us for a screening of Drunken Master followed by a panel discussion at 4pm, “The Hip Hop/Kung Fu Afro-Asian Connection,” co-presented by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office with the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program.

All events take place at the Freer Gallery of Art Meyer Auditorium (Freer Gallery of Art Jefferson Drive at 12th St SW). Attendance is free and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Auditorium doors open approximately 30 minutes before each show. More details can also be found at the Gallery’s website.”

“Dear PoPville,

My 3.5 year old nephew will be visiting next month, and I’m looking to put together some fun items for him to do. The last time he came, we did the Air & Space Museum and the Zoo, so those are probably off the list. The Natural History Museum is probably a must-do, but we’re looking for some more non-museum options. We live in Adams Morgan and since they’re driving down from New York, they probably don’t want to do too much additional driving. Are there any cool playgrounds that have water features (besides the plaza in CH)? Is Kenilworth Gardens fun for kids?”

We once spoke about recommendations for for things to do with a 7 and 10 year old but does anyone have good ideas for a 3 and a half year old? Any museums that cater to the very young?

“Dear PoPville,

The Crime & Punishment Museum has these young people out sometimes around the Gallery Place metro handing out coupons for tickets to the museum. They’re always young people dressed up in these orange jumpsuits. On the day I took these pictures there was one white female and one black female in the group handing out the coupons, but everyone else, and everyone else that I’ve ever seen doing it, is an African American male. The outfits have a patch that says Crime & Punishment Museum but they’re very realistic if you’re not paying close attention. It just seems like a poor choice. Anyway, I’d definitely be interested to see what others thought.”

In late June WAMU’s DCentric reported:

Employees have worn the outfits for three years. Although most of those handing out coupons in Chinatown were black men, all employees are required to wear prison jumpsuits when they engage in promotional activities, community activities or sales calls, wrote Janine Vaccarello, the museum’s chief operating officer, in an email to DCentric.

Personally I’m not a huge fan of this marketing campaign. I think it’d be better if they are going to wear costumes then they should wear period costumes like bootleggers from the 1920s or Al Capone style (like advertised on the side of their building). Something much more obvious. What do you guys think – smart marketing or stupid stunt?

From an press release:

In remembrance of the 146th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, President
Lincoln’s Cottage will display one of five American flags that were hanging in Ford’s Theatre the night of the assassination. The flag will be on display for one week only beginning on April 11, 2011.

The flag is said to have been grabbed in haste from the bunting on the presidential box and used to cushion Lincoln’s head after he was shot. Thomas Gourlay, a part-time theater manager, kept the blood-stained flag that night, after Lincoln was moved to the Peterson House across the street from Ford’s Theatre. Jeannie Gourlay, actress in “Our American Cousin”, which was playing that night, and daughter of Thomas Gourlay, kept the flag in her possession until she died in 1924. It was donated to Pike County Historical Society by her son in 1954. The flag will be displayed in the Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center, adjacent to the Cottage.

In addition to this display, President Lincoln’s Cottage will host James Swanson, author of Manhunt and Bloody Crimes, on April 14, the anniversary of the assassination. The event is part of the Cottage Conversation evening lecture series. Swanson is renowned as an expert on the Lincoln assassination. Due to its immense popularity, this is currently a wait-list-only event as general admission tickets sold out in February. For more information on Cottage Conversations visit here.

President Lincoln’s Cottage, located in Washington, D.C., is the most significant site associated with Abraham Lincoln’s presidency open to the public today. Although the Cottage is in a pastoral setting 3 miles north of the White House, life here brought Lincoln and his family closer to the war. Lincoln commuted three miles daily by horseback or coach to the White House, last visiting the Cottage the day before his assassination. The New York Times said of the Cottage: “Its power is the power of association, its contact with a historical presence; we literally walk in a great figure’s footsteps.”

Opened to the public for the first time in 2008, the Cottage offers intimate, guided tours providing an in-depth, media- enhanced experience highlighting Lincoln’s ideas and actions through historical images and voices. The Robert H. Smith Visitor Education Center houses thematic galleries and changing exhibitions providing visitors of all ages opportunities for in- depth exploration of Lincoln’s life and times.

For information about visiting President Lincoln’s Cottage, go to www.lincolncottage.org.