African-American Museum Ends Timed Entry Passes On Weekdays

WASHINGTON, DC -- It has been nearly two years since the National Museum of African American History and Culture opened, and demand was so huge the museum had to use timed entry passes to control how many people were in the museum at once. But this September, the museum will start allowing people to enter on a first-come, first-service basis on weekdays.

You'll still need timed entry passes on weekends, or if you are in a group of 10 or more, but for everyone else you'll be able to just walk up and get in on weekdays, the museum announced.

If you still want to get in on the weekend, September weekend passes have just been released on Wednesday.

The museum first started experimenting with "Walk-Up Wednesdays" back in April. Individuals who went to the museum without timed entry passes could enter on a first-come, first-served basis Wednesdays through April, a program that was later extended into May.

Until then, 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.

The museum has not said whether this program will be extended beyond September.

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.

A total of 4 million visitors have walked through the doors of the NMAAHC since it opened. It was the fourth-most visited Smithsonian institution in 2017 with 2.4 million visitors, behind only the Air and Space Museum (7 million), the Natural History Museum (6 million), and the American History Museum (3.8 million).

Additional reporting by Cameron Luttrell

(Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)