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To visit the David J. Sencer CDC Museum, all visitors must make reservations at least a week in advance. Walk-in visits are no longer permitted.
Now on Display
The David J. Sencer CDC Museum presents exhibitions that reflect the work of CDC and the historic role of public health in preventing and controlling diseases. New temporary exhibits are always in the works, so please check back with us.
Permanent Exhibitions
This exhibition traces 80 years of the CDC, through its origins and early history, to its expansion into an agency of public health programs emphasizing prevention. The story is told through documents, photographs and objects from the CDC Collection.
Highlights include an early 20th century quarantine sign, a wooden intelligence test, Dr. Joseph Mountin’s microscope, an iron lung, QUAC sticks used during the Biafra famine, a ped-o-jet used in the campaign to eradicate smallpox, and many more fascinating items and stories.
Spanning 100 feet in length, this unparalleled multi-media installation highlights the world of CDC and public health. Global Symphony communicates public health messages through intriguing narratives alternated with multimedia vignettes. The installation serves as an introduction to CDC and public health for all visitors. Narrative videos describe in depth CDC’s rich history, the agency’s contributions to the elimination of polio, the investigation of Legionnaire’s disease, the battle to stem the rise of obesity in the United States, and the study of how humans, animals, and the environment interact in the spread of Ebola.
This large-scale serpentine stone sculpture was created by renowned artist Lameck Bonjisi of Zimbabwe, who died of AIDS in 2003. The Messengers is an example of Shona sculpture, reflecting traditional and contemporary Zimbabwean culture. The intention of the artist was to honor his ancestors and to represent the strength of families. CDC has chosen the work as a symbol of this facility’s mission – to educate all who visit about the interplay of public health, culture, and community.
This mixed-media installation was created in 2016 by artist Amie Esslinger. Collisions was inspired by the dynamic, microscopic world. It spans 5 feet in diameter and was constructed using paper, foil, balsa wood, foam core, acrylic paint, ink, graphite, acrylic varnish, glue, false eyelashes, thread, silica pellets, mica flakes, on a wood panel.
Temporary Exhibitions
This exhibition traces how the United States expanded in both governance and understanding of what it means to safeguard the health of a nation. From the earliest struggles against smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria to the creation of quarantine stations, marine hospitals, and the first federal health agencies, public health has been woven into the American story from the beginning.
Fifty years have passed since Ebola virus disease was first identified in 1976 amid outbreaks in areas now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. Since then, Ebola has profoundly affected the lives of families, communities, health workers, scientists, public health teams, and responders across Central, East, and West Africa and beyond. This exhibition invites reflection on both the human cost of Ebola and the progress made because so many people refused to look away. The story of Ebola is one of grief and bravery, as well as discovery, innovation, solidarity, and enduring resolve.