No Passes Needed For African American Museum Wednesdays In April

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The newest and highly popular Smithsonian museum is offering "Walk-Up Wednesdays" throughout April, allowing tourists to visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture without timed passes.

The Museum opened on September 24, 2016 and has since attracted over 2.5 million visitors. It's still the toughest ticket to get in downtown D.C., other than perhaps the Hirshhorn Museum.

Individuals who go to the museum without timed entry passes may enter on a first-come, first-served basis Wednesdays, April 4, 11, 18 and 25.

Until now, visitors have only been able to gain entry to the museum with timed passes.

“Walk-Up Wednesdays in April will help us to determine how to manage visitor demand,” Lonnie G. Bunch III, the founding director, said in a statement. “We are honored and humbled to have struck such a chord with our visitors. They stay an average of four-and-a-half hours on weekdays. We don’t want to disappoint our visitors by reaching capacity and having them wait in long lines for space to become available inside the galleries.

"The goal of this pilot program is to provide greater access for the public while maintaining the safety and security of our visitors,” Bunch III said.

People who have already reserved timed passes for Wednesdays in April are encouraged to bring them because pass holders will receive priority entry, museum staff said.

The museum will continue to require advance reservations for commercial tours and groups of ten or more. All groups are required to present passes to gain entry to the museum.

The museum owns close to 37,000 objects thanks to institutional support and with the help of donors. On display are objects that document the African American journey from the south, the west, covering the civil rights movement, slavery and segregation. The museum also celebrates African American culture from music and photography to literature.

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(Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)