8th & F Sts. NW · (202) 633-1000 · npg.si.edu
Metro: Gallery Place-Chinatown
The magnificently restored Patent Office Building which now houses the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum hosted Abraham Lincoln’s second inaugural ball in 1865. Look for portraits of Lincoln in the “Hall of Presidents,” the only complete collection of presidential portraits outside of the White House.
Insider's Secret: Alexander Gardner’s famous "cracked plate" photograph of Lincoln is on display at the National Portrait Gallery, taken just four days before the assassination. The negative broke as the photograph was being processed. A crack appeared in the plate, running across the spot on Lincoln’s forehead where the assassin’s bullet struck—as if to foretell his fate.
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