>> may 14th at the smithsonian the national museum of american history. and we will have a talk and tasting and samplings and wonderful things including sushi. and tikes are available on the website, they're $40 and all the proceeds go to support the ongoing research, collecting and education of the american food history project. >> and not just the afterhours, you have an actual kitchen the first floor of the museum so you show all the time. what are some food trends or trends that have define what had our history is? >> well, the kitchen is opening on jewel 1st. and one of the things we are following this year is invasion and food. the year of invasion at the museum. and most people when they think about the current state of food in america, people talk about going back to traditions. but actually what we're finding is that that's always been part of american history and the only tradition is no tradition. >> living history. thank you for being with us. the next news is at 5:00. we are >> kyle: so, we're in the ferrari, and i'm pretty sure we broke the

this will be a small piece of a very large centerpiece at the smithsonian's national museum of african american history and culture really takes shape. >> it is important for us to understand how our history is so combined and interconnected. these stories have these overarching themes. >> at a time when race relations in this country are strained, how important is it to see the building across the street taking shape? >> i think it is critical for our society. it is important for us to have a space, to have a brick and mortar building that provides an opportunity for these critical and important conversatiace and history. reporter: a lot of construction going on here at the national mall. the 400,000 square foot facility sits on five acres of land right next to the washington monument. the large window overlays have been installed. the museum will open sometime next year. the exhibit opens to the public tomorrow. jummy: 7 is on your side. doctors are predicting this to be one of the worst allergy seasons in years. this tree pollen report map shows some of the hardest hit areas includi

the smithsonian's national museum of african history and culture will include remnants from a sunken slave ship that sunk in 1794 on the way to brazil. there were more than 400 slaves on board. half of the people on board made it to shore, only to be sold into slavery. the museum is set to open next year. and ruined. a rare event that drew people out of the thousands, and we are on storm watch tonight. devon kellye: people tried to snap photographs of what is known as manhattanhenge, named after stonehenge. unfortunately, it was a little too hazy. there are only four times it happens. the last will be july 12 and 13, but, still, a beautiful sunset nonetheless. devon: yes, and i love those little neat things that you do not know of. kellye: yes, and you have two more chances. devon: more chances for some storms coming our way also. more heat and committee. and then the heat and committed he go away. good news for us. we can see the end of this heat. still on the doppler seven radar, some scattered showers and storms, and isolated storms, and there is information coming in. the weather

the $500 million national museum of african-american history and culture. the building has been a long struggle, scott pelley got a preview from lonnie bunch, the museum's founding director. >> we're on the ground floor. this is where the visitors will come in. this will be their first experience in the museum. so what's going to be here? >> they'll walk in either from the mall or constitutional avenue and they'll run into amazing pieces of african-american art. >> when all of this is finally complete, what will america have? >> america will have a place that allows them to remember to remember how much we as a country have been improved changed, challenged and made better by the african-american experience. they'll have a place that they can call home, but they'll also have a place that will make them change. >> reporter: but even this place is only space until you fill it. >> oh, my goodness. now, did somebody already look at some of these things? >> no. >> no? >> reporter: seven years ago the smithsonian began rummages the attics and basements of america

as this debate continues, the smithsonian is completing a monumental project, the $500 million national museum of african american history and culture. the idea was authorized by an act of congress, which called it, "a tribute to the negro's contribution to the achievements of america." the words are jarring because the act was written in 1929. building the museum has been a long struggle, just like the story it hopes to tell. beside the monument to washington, a slave holding president, the museum is breaking free of the ground on the mall's last five acres. eight decades after congress framed a museum on paper, and then failed to fund it, the dream is being written, this time in steel and stone: ten floors-- five above ground, five below; its complexion, rendered in shades of bronze, a building of color against history's white marble. you've been at this nine years now. it's a big job. >> lonnie bunch: well, as i tell people, at 8:00 in the morning i have the best job in america and at 2:00 in the morning it's the dumbest thing i've ever done in my life. this is a romare bearden from

edmund morris, into genetic coal director of the smithsonian's museum of african art. you can see these any time at www.c-span.org. next, your calls and comments on washington journal. then, the memorial day ceremony with remarks by president obama. >> tonight, on the communicators , tj kennedy on the creation of one nationwide broadband communications network for first responders. >> police officers, firefighters, emergency medical technicians that are on the scene of the incident would have the ability to have a video of things from the scene being sent to incoming responders, to have pictures. to be able to have important situational data on where everybody is in the particular situation. today, not everybody would be able to see where the ambulances were staged. a mass casualty situation, you could situated for -- leverage it for the situation. what if they could actually place that on a patient and be able to get vital signs. think of the innovation at that could happen. you would know where all of your patients were, you contract their vital signs and send them t

. >>> a new monument is rising on the national mall. if you've driven constitution avenue recently, you've probably noticed the bronze aluminum panels going up around the glass see of the smithsonian museum of -- sheaf of the smithsonian museum of african american culture. >> a story of slavery, tragedy and difficulty, but also a story of america as a work in progress being changed by people who demand that america live up to its stated ideals. >> the artifact will tell a history of both pain and joy, a slave cabin, a child shackles from the middle passage and also michael jackson's fedora and louie armstrong's trumpet. the director promises it will be finished in time for president obama to cut the ribbon before he leaves office in january, 2017. >>> always watching always tracking, wusa9's first alert weather, d.c.'s most accurate. >> was that humidity i tasted in the air today, just a smidge of it? >> a midge, but with upper 70s, low 80s it's bearable. it's 90s we have to worry about, but a pretty decent day. the showers are well wes

a new exhibit will open at the smithsonian national portrait gather today. called "i pop the celebrity gaze." focusing on the celebrities and curators look at how the images are cull vated. it has new painting portures and the portrait by the leading artist. it will be on display through july 20, 102016. alison: think there are selfies involved? if there are current celebrities in this there probably are. scott: up next on "abc7 news at 4:00" -- fairfax county on the cuttage edge. the new training that crew just started there. why it will save lives. alison: plus -- >> i heard a boost and looked up front. looked at my fire. alison: terrifying wreck in the heart of a city that scrambled for officer's after they came across this in the middle of the night. >> i'm horace holmes. maryland woman called "7 on your side" after a trip on a scott: tonight, "7 on your side" looks in the story after prince george's county woman who claims a local bus company left her out in cold and out more than $1000. alison: she told our troubleshooter horace holmes she rented a par

, we quite naturally conjure up images or memories of the museum here on the national mall or if you've been here its lush gardens. but on a resent trip with president obama, we found something amazing. as massive commercial vessels pass through the pan macha nal, this boat carries scientists to an island in colorado one of the world's most important tropical research facilities and a scientific jewel of the smithsonian institution. barrow colorado, is where the pan tune lake is. it has served no purpose other than research. attracting scientists since the first crude huts and labs were built here in 1923. nowhere on earth is there more complete research data on tropical forests. >> you can go back in the literature and get the whole story. >> reporter: matt larson directs the institute. >> reporter: in the thick forest we found howler monkeys and odd look rodents called aguedies. lessons learned from interest tree species and hillside water drainage have led to the successful refor is station of trees. from trees to bees known as new gloss senior kid bees, they pollinate orchid now err