Washington, D.C.: Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Institutions

The city's many institutions of higher education include American Univ., the National Defense College, the Catholic Univ. of America, Georgetown Univ., George Washington Univ., Howard Univ., and the Univ. of the District of Columbia. Among many cultural attractions are the National Gallery of Art, the Freer Gallery of Art, and the other centers under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution; the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; the Corcoran Gallery of Art; the Phillips Collection; and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Major visitor draws on the Mall include the National Air and Space Museum, the Holocaust Museum, and the National Museum of the American Indian.

The U.S. Naval Observatory, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, the Smithsonian Institution, the Brookings Institution, and the Carnegie Institution of Washington are among the institutions dedicated to scientific research and education. Also in Washington is the U.S. Soldiers' and Airmen's Home (1851). Nearby are the National Institutes of Health and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (Bethesda, Md.) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture research center (Beltsville, Md.)

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• History
• Government
• Educational, Cultural, and Scientific Institutions
• Landmarks

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